Expert: Tom Schott - 5/7/2007

Question
What is the average amount (percentage) of runs scored by homeruns in a game or season for one ball club?

Answer
Chris,

 This is a really excellent question. The answer depends, of course, on the time you're talking about. During the modern era, since 1900, there has been a steady rise in home runs as a percentage of total hits by teams. Since 1994, for example, the percentage has not dipped below 3.0 with the exception of 1995 and 1997 when it was a barely below that (2.95 and 2.99, respectively). From 1949 to 1993, the percentage was always over 2.0, averaging about 2.6. During that time, the percentage dropped below 2.0 only three times: in 1968, 1976, and the strike-mangled year of 1981. (It was partially for this reason that the pitcher's mound was lowered after the 1968 season.) The live ball era began in 1921; that year for the first time the home run percentage of the team's hits went over 1 percent. in 1920 the percentage had been 0.75. In 1921, it was 1.10.

The lowest percentage in the modern era was 0.31 in 1907; the highest was 3.40 in 2000. The average for the entire time 1901 to 2006 is 2.02.

Tom