I had some issues with this argument, mainly the comparison of hits to runs scored. After thinking the issue through, I realized it's more fair and thorough to compare the number of times a player gets on base to the number of runs he produces, either by driving them in or by crossing home plate himself. So I devised this formula:
(runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / (hits + walks)
(A home run counts as both a run scored and a run batted in, so subtracting home runs from the sum of runs scored and runs batted in ensures that this formula doesn't inflate run-production numbers.)
The resulting number represents how many runs a hitter produces each time he reaches base. For example, Alex Rodriguez led the majors in 2010 by producing 0.845 runs each time he reached base.
This number is useful, but it can be deceiving. A player with 70 hits, 30 walks, 15 homers, 60 RBI and 35 runs scored would produce an A-Rod-like 0.8 runs each time he reached base. But over a full season, those numbers would also result in both a batting average and an on-base percentage below .250 -- not A-Rod-like at all.
To make the number of runs produced per times on base more valuable, you have to factor in how often the player gets on base. So I tweaked my math, taking the result of the original formula and multiplying it by the player's on base-percentage:
(runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / (hits + walks) x on-base percentage
But of course, the formula for on-base percentage is:
(hits + walks) / plate appearances
Which means the full formula is:
((runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / (hits + walks)) x((hits + walks) / plate appearances)
And that simplifies to:
(runs scored + runs batted in - home runs) / plate appearances
After doing all this work, I looked around online and found several similar attempts to quantify run production, but none that took this same exact approach. The names "run production average," "run production percentage" and "run production index" were all taken (and one was even trademarked), so I'll just call this stat "runs produced per plate appearance" (RPPPA).
I took the 2010 MLB statistics and calculated RPPPA for every hitter who qualified for the batting title, and guess who had the third-lowest number? That's right: Ichiro. Here are the full results:
| PLAYER | TEAM | RPPPA |
| Miguel Cabrera | DET | .311 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | COL | .308 |
| Troy Tulowitzki | COL | .305 |
| Josh Hamilton | TEX | .293 |
| Alex Rodriguez | NYY | .288 |
| Joey Votto | CIN | .288 |
| Carlos Quentin | CHW | .286 |
| Delmon Young | MIN | .283 |
| Carl Crawford | TB | .280 |
| Mark Teixeira | NYY | .278 |
| Albert Pujols | STL | .276 |
| Evan Longoria | TB | .275 |
| Ryan Howard | PHI | .274 |
| Vladimir Guerrero | TEX | .274 |
| Jose Bautista | TOR | .273 |
| Corey Hart | MIL | .271 |
| Robinson Cano | NYY | .271 |
| Jonny Gomes | CIN | .271 |
| Ryan Braun | MIL | .268 |
| Joe Mauer | MIN | .267 |
| Chase Utley | PHI | .267 |
| Alex Rios | CHW | .262 |
| Paul Konerko | CHW | .260 |
| David Ortiz | BOS | .260 |
| Matt Holliday | STL | .260 |
| Jayson Werth | PHI | .259 |
| Drew Stubbs | CIN | .258 |
| Dan Uggla | FLA | .257 |
| Brett Gardner | NYY | .252 |
| Adrian Beltre | BOS | .252 |
| Scott Rolen | CIN | .251 |
| Aubrey Huff | SF | .248 |
| Adam LaRoche | ARI | .247 |
| Nick Swisher | NYY | .245 |
| Hanley Ramirez | FLA | .245 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | WSH | .245 |
| Jason Kubel | MIN | .243 |
| David Wright | NYM | .243 |
| Rickie Weeks | MIL | .242 |
| Colby Rasmus | STL | .242 |
| Hunter Pence | HOU | .241 |
| Michael Cuddyer | MIN | .241 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | CLE | .241 |
| Adam Dunn | WSH | .241 |
| Chris Young | ARI | .241 |
| Aramis Ramirez | CHC | .240 |
| Marlon Byrd | CHC | .238 |
| Michael Young | TEX | .236 |
| Derek Jeter | NYY | .236 |
| Martin Prado | ATL | .236 |
| Andres Torres | SF | .234 |
| Mark Reynolds | ARI | .232 |
| Curtis Granderson | NYY | .230 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | SD | .229 |
| Jason Heyward | ATL | .229 |
| Victor Martinez | BOS | .228 |
| James Loney | LAD | .228 |
| Torii Hunter | LAA | .228 |
| Derrek Lee | ATL/CHC | .228 |
| Luke Scott | BAL | .228 |
| Casey McGehee | MIL | .227 |
| Alfonso Soriano | CHC | .227 |
| Alex Gonzalez | TOR/ATL | .227 |
| Andre Ethier | LAD | .225 |
| Jason Bartlett | TB | .225 |
| Kurt Suzuki | OAK | .224 |
| Justin Upton | ARI | .224 |
| Raul Ibanez | PHI | .223 |
| Juan Uribe | SF | .223 |
| Ben Zobrist | TB | .222 |
| Angel Pagan | NYM | .221 |
| Gaby Sanchez | FLA | .221 |
| B.J. Upton | TB | .221 |
| Cody Ross | SF/FLA | .221 |
| Bobby Abreu | LAA | .221 |
| Alexei Ramirez | CHW | .220 |
| Brian McCann | ATL | .220 |
| Jay Bruce | CIN | .220 |
| Prince Fielder | MIL | .219 |
| Ryan Ludwick | STL/SD | .219 |
| Matt Kemp | LAD | .218 |
| Jeff Francoeur | TEX/NYM | .218 |
| Adam Jones | BAL | .218 |
| Juan Pierre | CHW | .216 |
| J.D. Drew | BOS | .215 |
| Shane Victorino | PHI | .215 |
| Mike Napoli | LAA | .215 |
| Brandon Phillips | CIN | .215 |
| Carlos Pena | TB | .214 |
| Hideki Matsui | LAA | .214 |
| Vernon Wells | TOR | .213 |
| Jose Reyes | NYM | .213 |
| Jose Guillen | KC/SF | .212 |
| Austin Jackson | DET | .212 |
| Billy Butler | KC | .211 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | KC | .210 |
| Placido Polanco | PHI | .210 |
| Andrew McCutchen | PIT | .210 |
| Dexter Fowler | COL | .209 |
| Ike Davis | NYM | .209 |
| Kelly Johnson | ARI | .208 |
| Ian Desmond | WSH | .208 |
| Omar Infante | ATL | .207 |
| Stephen Drew | ARI | .207 |
| Rajai Davis | OAK | .207 |
| Howard Kendrick | LAA | .207 |
| Carlos Lee | HOU | .207 |
| Jhonny Peralta | CLE/DET | .206 |
| Brennan Boesch | DET | .205 |
| Denard Span | MIN | .205 |
| Orlando Hudson | MIN | .205 |
| Johnny Damon | DET | .205 |
| Lyle Overbay | TOR | .204 |
| Aaron Hill | TOR | .204 |
| Michael Bourn | HOU | .204 |
| Jeff Keppinger | HOU | .203 |
| Kevin Kouzmanoff | OAK | .202 |
| Marco Scutaro | BOS | .201 |
| Skip Schumaker | STL | .200 |
| Garrett Jones | PIT | .198 |
| Miguel Tejada | BAL/SD | .197 |
| Orlando Cabrera | CIN | .196 |
| Jorge Cantu | TEX/FLA | .193 |
| Elvis Andrus | TEX | .191 |
| Casey Blake | LAD | .189 |
| Daric Barton | OAK | .189 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | CHW | .189 |
| Ty Wigginton | BAL | .188 |
| Starlin Castro | CHC | .188 |
| Cliff Pennington | OAK | .187 |
| Chase Headley | SD | .187 |
| Scott Podsednik | KC/LAD | .185 |
| Brandon Inge | DET | .184 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | SEA | .181 |
| Pablo Sandoval | SF | .181 |
| Nick Markakis | BAL | .181 |
| Yadier Molina | STL | .181 |
| Alberto Callaspo | LAA/KC | .180 |
| Adam Lind | TOR | .176 |
| Melky Cabrera | ATL | .175 |
| Alcides Escobar | MIL | .175 |
| Yunel Escobar | TOR/ATL | .168 |
| Erick Aybar | LAA | .167 |
| Ryan Theriot | CHC/LAD | .160 |
| Jose Lopez | SEA | .159 |
| Nyjer Morgan | WSH | .159 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | SEA | .154 |
| Cesar Izturis | BAL | .143 |
| Chone Figgins | SEA | .142 |
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