If you’re a fan of the popular video game franchise Call of Duty, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve come across the word “ops” before — especially if you’re particularly fond of the iconic Black Ops series. Still, what does “ops” mean?

Read on as we explore the word ops to uncover its definition, origin, and more.

What Is the Definition of OPS?

When used in a military, business, police, or gaming context, the word OPS usually means “operations,” but this isn’t the only definition behind our word of the day. In fact, the term “OPS” has a few meanings:

According to the Collins Dictionary, the word ops refers to the wife of Saturn and the Roman goddess of abundance and fertility (the counterpart of Ancient Asia Minor’s Cybele Greece’s Rhea) in Roman mythology.

When used in terms of baseball, Your Dictionary says “ops” means on-base (percentage) plug slugging (percentage).

The Macmillan Dictionary defines ops as the organization of planned activities involving a lot of people — especially military activities.

After reviewing these dictionary definitions, we can conclude that the word “ops” may refer to a few things, including as Roman mythology and baseball. Ops is also slang for “opposition.”

How Is OPS Calculated in Baseball?

To obtain a player’s OPS, we need to include other statistics and as you may have guessed, what we need is already in the acronym itself — On-Base (percentage) plus Slugging (percentage).

First, let’s take a deeper look at these two statistics:

OBP (On-Base Percentage) is a straight and to the point statistic. OBP is calculated no matter the circumstance: Did the player get hit at the plate? Were they able to get a base hit? Was the pitcher forced to walk them?

None of these questions truly matter for on-base percentage. No matter the circumstance, it’s calculated in their OBP if a player makes it on base.

SLG (Slugging average/percentage) — Slugging percentage or average is a formula that looks at the number of hits and the quality. SLG utilizes not only how many hits a player obtains but also looks at how many bases they achieved each at-bat.

For instance, if a player has one at-bat and hits a single, that player would have an SLG of 1.000. On the other hand, if a player were to hit a home run at a single at-bat, their SLG would be 4.000.

Now that we have gone into the nitty-gritty of these two stats, you may be wondering how OPS is calculated. It’s easy! Just add the player’s OBP and SLG. The goal of an OPS is simply to get the full picture of an individual’s ability to hit the ball.

What Are Other Commonly Used Baseball Statistics?

AB — At bat
HR — Homerun
IBB — Intentional walk
XBH — Extra base hit
G — Games played
LOB — Left on base
HBP — Hit by pitch
IBB — Intentional walk
OBP — On-base percentage
PA — Plate appearance
GO/AO — Ground out to air out ration
BB — Walk
WO — Walk-off
AVG — Batting average
GSH — Grand slam
SLG — Slugging percentage or Slugging average
SB — Stolen base
TB — Total bases
3B — Triple
SB% — Stolen base percentage
GIDP — Ground into double play
CS — Caught stealing
2B — Double
ROE — Reached on error
R — Run
1B — Single
SF — Sacrifice fly
SH — Sacrifice bunt
RBI — Runs batted in

Who Holds the Career Record for OPS in the MLB?

Wondering who holds the record for career OPS? We’ve got you covered. While New York Yankees player Babe Ruth may have been an easy guess for first place, read on below to see who else is in the top 15 for career OPS in Major League Baseball:

Babe Ruth — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.1636 with 10626 Plate Appearances
Ted William — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.1155 with 9792 Plate Appearances
Lou Gehrig — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0798 with 9665 Plate Appearances
Oscar Charleston — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0632 with 3920 Plate Appearances
Barry Bonds — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0512 with 12606 Plate Appearances
Jimmie Fox — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0376 with 9677 Plate Appearances
Turkey Stearnes — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0335 with 4291 Plate Appearances
Mule Suttles — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0288 with 3649 Plate Appearances
Hank Greenberg — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0169 with 6098 Plate Appearances
Roger Hornsby — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0103 with 9481 Plate Appearances
Mike Trout — On-Base Plus Slugging 1.0055 with 5823 Plate Appearances
Manny Ramirez — On-Base Plus Slugging .9960 with 9774 Plate Appearances
Mark Mcgwire — On-Base Plus Slugging .9823 with 7660 Plate Appearances
Mickey Mantle — On-Base Plus Slugging .9773 with 9910 Plate Appearances
Joe Dimaggio — On-Base Plus Slugging .9971 with 7672 Plate Appearances

Does OPS Mean Anything Else?

As a matter of fact, OPS has a few potential meanings. The acronym OPS also stands for:

Operations
Office of Public Safety
Optical Picture Stabilization
Operations Provisioning System
Office Printing Solutions
Office of Pipeline Safety
Online Printing Service
Oil Pressure Switch
Office of Price Stabilization
Omaha Public Schools
Stock Options
Operator Status (IRC)
Optional Pension Scheme
Online Profile System
Occasional Papers Series
Output Switch
Office of Prosecution Services

Conclusion

Our word of the day has a few meanings. More often than not, OPS is used to refer to a statistic that combines a hitter’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage in baseball.

Sources:

Ops definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

What does ops mean? : Best 7 Definitions of Ops | Your Dictionary

OPS (noun) definition and synonyms | Macmillan Dictionary

Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.