Introduction to Sabermetrics

For those of you who don't know much about baseball (and especially its statistics) but still want to follow when I post about it, this post is for you. (Everyone familiar should note that I use the symbol 4B interchangeably with HR, and then you can either skip the rest of this post or error-check me).

Sabermetrics is the term coined by the man in the field of sabermetrics, Bill James, after the Society of American Baseball Research (please correct me if that's wrong), or SABR. Basically, it's the study of Baseball statistics. There are several symbols for statistics worth knowing:
Batting
G = games
H = hits
BB = walks
IBB = intentional walks
HBP = Hit by pitch
SF = sacrifice fly
SH = sacrifice (usually bunt)
SB = stolen bases
CS = caught stealing
AB = at bats
PA = plate appearances
TB = total bases
BA = batting average (H/AB)
OBP = on-base percentage (times on base/PA)
SLUG = Slugging percentage (TB/AB)
1B = singles
2B = doubles
3B = triples
HR (I also use 4B but this is uncommon) = Home Runs
OPS = On-base plus slugging
R = runs scored
RBI = runs batted in
GDP = grounded into double play

Fielding
E = errors
A = assists
PO = put-outs

Pitching
G = games (or appearances)
W = wins
L = losses
GS = Games started
IP = innings pitched
R = runs allowed
ER = earned runs allowed
ERA = Earned Run Average (ER/9IP)
CG = Complete Games
SHO = shutouts
H,HR,BB,IBB,HBP, and SO are the same as for batting
WHIP = baserunners allowed/inning
GF = Games Finished (in relief)
HO = holds
SV = saves
BK = balks
WP = wild pitches
PO = pick-offs
K = strikeout (yes, SO does as well, but K is more common/traditional)