What is Passed Balls ?

Passed balls are a catcher specific statistic. A passed ball is charged to a catcher or team when a player is unable to handle a pitch that is thought to be reasonably handled and a baserunner is able to take an additional base they would have otherwise not been able to take. Generally, for Passed Balls, lower is better. (Source)

What is a good Passed Balls?

What does good Passed Balls mean? "Good" baseball stats can be very subjective and mean different things to different people. I have attempted to quantify good and bad by taking season and career stats for MLB players with a minimum number of played outs. In this case 100 for career and 50 for a season. To find good and bad within this cohort of players I calculated the first and third quartiles, anything between these quartiles I consider average. This makes up the middle 50% of players. In an example where higher is better for a stat, below the first quartile (bottom 25% of players) would be bad and above the 3rd quartile (top 25% of players) would be good. For stats where lower is better, flip around good and bad.
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Career, Season, and Season Average Passed Balls Records

For my hot take on Passed Balls records most of the same rules apply from the first section. To be considered for my prestigious lists the player must meet a certain threshold of played outs. Since this is a Fielding stat to be considered for the career list the player must have over 100 played outs, for a season consideration the player must have had 75 played outs. Additionally, the player's final game must have been after 1899.
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Distribution of Career Passed Balls by Player Generation

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Distribution of Season Passed Balls by Player Generation

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Distribution of Career Passed Balls by Player Position

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Distribution of Season Passed Balls by Player Position

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