List of Major League Baseball career assists as an outfielder leaders
In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is credited to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) before the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also credited if a putout would have occurred, had another fielder not committed an error. For example, a shortstop might field a ground ball cleanly, but the first baseman might drop his throw. In this case, an error would be charged to the first baseman, and the shortstop would be credited with an assist.
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. An outfielder's duty is to try to catch long fly balls before they hit the ground or to quickly catch or retrieve and return to the infield any other balls entering the outfield. Outfielders normally play behind the six other members of the defense who play in or near the infield. By convention, each of the nine defensive positions in baseball is numbered. The outfield positions are 7 (left field), 8 (center field), and 9 (right field). These numbers are shorthand designations useful in baseball scorekeeping and are not necessarily the same as the squad numbers worn on player uniforms.
Tris Speaker[1][2][3] is the all-time leader in career assists as an outfielder with 449. Speaker is the only outfielder with more than 400 career assists.
Key[]
Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career assists. A blank field indicates a tie. |
Player (2021 As) | Number of recorded assists during the 2021 Major League Baseball season. |
A | Total career assists. |
* | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. |
---|---|
Bold | Denotes active player.[a] |
List[]
- Stats updated as of June 25, 2021
Rank | Player (2021 As) | A as OF |
---|---|---|
1 | Tris Speaker * | 449 |
2 | Ty Cobb * | 392 |
3 | Jimmy Ryan | 375 |
4 | Tom Brown | 349 |
George Van Haltren | 349 | |
6 | Harry Hooper * | 344 |
7 | Max Carey * | 339 |
8 | Jimmy Sheckard | 307 |
9 | Clyde Milan | 294 |
10 | Orator Shafer | 290 |
11 | King Kelly * | 285 |
12 | Sam Thompson * | 283 |
13 | Sam Rice * | 278 |
14 | Dummy Hoy | 274 |
15 | Jesse Burkett * | 270 |
16 | Sam Crawford * | 268 |
17 | Roberto Clemente * | 266 |
Tommy McCarthy * | 266 | |
19 | Patsy Donovan | 265 |
20 | Willie Keeler * | 258 |
21 | Mel Ott * | 256 |
22 | Fred Clarke * | 254 |
23 | George Gore | 243 |
Mike Griffin | 243 | |
25 | Hugh Duffy * | 241 |
Paul Waner * | 241 | |
27 | Ed Delahanty * | 238 |
28 | Paul Hines | 237 |
29 | Zack Wheat * | 232 |
30 | Jim O'Rourke * | 228 |
Chicken Wolf | 228 | |
32 | Hugh Nicol | 226 |
Cy Williams | 226 | |
34 | Fielder Jones | 225 |
35 | Pop Corkhill | 224 |
36 | Dode Paskert | 223 |
37 | Edd Roush * | 222 |
38 | Goose Goslin * | 221 |
Tillie Walker | 221 | |
40 | Paul Radford | 217 |
41 | Joe Kelley * | 212 |
42 | Duffy Lewis | 210 |
43 | Steve Brodie | 209 |
Ned Hanlon * | 209 | |
45 | Bob Johnson | 208 |
46 | Bobby Veach | 207 |
Curt Welch | 207 | |
48 | Babe Ruth * | 204 |
49 | George Wood | 203 |
50 | Jack Tobin | 202 |
Rank | Player (2021 As) | A as OF |
---|---|---|
51 | Hank Aaron * | 201 |
John Titus | 201 | |
53 | George Burns | 197 |
Elmer Flick * | 197 | |
Kip Selbach | 197 | |
56 | Charlie Jamieson | 196 |
Willie Mays * | 196 | |
58 | Carl Yastrzemski * | 195 |
59 | Chuck Klein * | 194 |
Frank Schulte | 194 | |
61 | Kiki Cuyler * | 191 |
Ross Youngs * | 191 | |
63 | Tommy Griffith | 189 |
64 | Cy Seymour | 188 |
Roy Thomas | 188 | |
66 | Harry Heilmann * | 183 |
Shoeless Joe Jackson | 183 | |
68 | Billy Hamilton * | 182 |
69 | Max Flack | 181 |
70 | Mike Mitchell | 180 |
71 | Richie Ashburn * | 178 |
72 | Shano Collins | 177 |
Chief Wilson | 177 | |
74 | Gavvy Cravath | 176 |
Joe Hornung | 176 | |
Nemo Leibold | 176 | |
Sherry Magee | 176 | |
Red Murray | 176 | |
79 | Johnny Callison | 175 |
80 | Emmett Seery | 174 |
81 | Barry Bonds | 173 |
Les Mann | 173 | |
Burt Shotton | 173 | |
84 | Doc Cramer | 172 |
Dick Johnston | 172 | |
Vada Pinson | 172 | |
87 | Jim Fogarty | 171 |
88 | Al Kaline * | 170 |
89 | Al Simmons * | 169 |
90 | Jimmy Slagle | 168 |
91 | Ginger Beaumont | 167 |
Ken Williams | 167 | |
93 | Dave Winfield * | 166 |
94 | Rusty Staub | 165 |
Harry Stovey | 165 | |
96 | Pete Hotaling | 163 |
Charley Jones | 163 | |
98 | Jesse Barfield | 162 |
Johnny Bates | 162 | |
Chick Stahl | 162 |
Notes[]
- ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.
References[]
- ^ "Tris Speaker Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ^ Jensen, Don. "Tris Speaker Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ^ "Tris Speaker Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
External links[]
- "Career Leaders & Records for Assists as OF". Baseball-Reference.com.
- Major League Baseball statistics
- Major League Baseball lists