List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders
In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and pronounced as if it were multiplied by 1,000: a player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred." A point (or percentage point) is understood to be .001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken to more than three decimal places.
Outfielder Ty Cobb, whose career ended in 1928, has the highest batting average in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.[1] He batted .366 over 24 seasons, mostly with the Detroit Tigers. In addition, he won a record 11 batting titles for leading the American League in BA over the course of an entire season. He batted over .360 in 11 consecutive seasons from 1909 to 1919.[2] Oscar Charleston is second all-time with a career batting average of .364.[3] He had the highest career batting average in the history of the combined Negro leagues from 1920 to 1948.[4] Rogers Hornsby has the third highest BA of all-time, at .358.[1] He won seven batting titles in the National League (NL) and has the highest NL average in a single season since 1900, when he batted .424 in 1924. He batted over .370 in six consecutive seasons.[5]
Shoeless Joe Jackson is the only other player to finish his career with a batting average over .350.[1] He batted .356 over 13 seasons before he was permanently suspended from organized baseball in 1921 for his role in the Black Sox Scandal.[6] Lefty O'Doul first came to the major leagues as a pitcher, but after developing a sore arm, he converted to an outfielder and won two batting titles.[7] The fifth player on the list, and the last with at least a .345 BA, is Ed Delahanty. Delahanty's career was cut short when he fell into the Niagara Falls and died during the 1903 season.[8]
The last player to bat .400 in a season, Ted Williams,[9] ranks tied for 10th on the all-time career BA list. Babe Ruth hit for a career .342 average and is 13th on the list. A player must have a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances to qualify for the list.[1]
Key[]
Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career batting average. A blank field indicates a tie. |
Player | Name of the player. |
BA | Total career batting average. |
* | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. |
---|---|
Bold | Denotes active player.[note 1] |
List[]
Rank | Player | BA |
---|---|---|
1 | Ty Cobb * | .3662 |
2 | Oscar Charleston * | .3643 |
3 | Rogers Hornsby * | .3585 |
4 | Shoeless Joe Jackson | .3558 |
5 | Jud Wilson * | .3519 |
6 | Lefty O'Doul | .3493 |
7 | Turkey Stearnes * | .3490 |
8 | Ed Delahanty * | .3458 |
9 | Tris Speaker * | .3447 |
10 | Billy Hamilton * | .3444 |
Ted Williams * | .3444 | |
12 | Dan Brouthers * | .3424 |
13 | Babe Ruth * | .3421 |
14 | Dave Orr | .3420 |
15 | Harry Heilmann * | .3416 |
16 | Pete Browning | .3415 |
17 | Willie Keeler * | .3413 |
18 | Bill Terry * | .3412 |
19 | Lou Gehrig * | .3401 |
George Sisler * | .3401 | |
21 | Mule Suttles * | .3390 |
22 | Jesse Burkett * | .3382 |
Tony Gwynn * | .3382 | |
Nap Lajoie * | .3382 | |
25 | Jake Stenzel | .3378 |
26 | Riggs Stephenson | .3361 |
27 | Al Simmons * | .3342 |
28 | Cap Anson * | .3341 |
29 | John McGraw * | .3336 |
30 | Eddie Collins * | .3332 |
Paul Waner * | .3332 | |
32 | Mike Donlin | .3326 |
33 | Sam Thompson * | .3314 |
34 | Stan Musial * | .3308 |
Willie Wells * | .3308 | |
36 | Bill Lange | .3298 |
Heinie Manush * | .3298 | |
38 | Biz Mackey * | .3281 |
39 | Wade Boggs * | .3279 |
40 | Rod Carew * | .3278 |
41 | Honus Wagner * | .3276 |
42 | Tip O'Neill | .3260 |
43 | Cool Papa Bell * | .3255 |
Hugh Duffy * | .3255 | |
Bob Fothergill | .3255 | |
46 | Jimmie Foxx * | .3253 |
47 | Earle Combs * | .3247 |
48 | Joe DiMaggio * | .3246 |
49 | Babe Herman | .3245 |
50 | Joe Medwick * | .3236 |
Rank | Player | BA |
---|---|---|
51 | Hurley McNair | .3232 |
52 | Edd Roush * | .3227 |
53 | Sam Rice * | .3223 |
54 | Ross Youngs * | .3222 |
55 | Kiki Cuyler * | .3210 |
56 | Charlie Gehringer * | .3204 |
57 | Chuck Klein * | .3201 |
58 | Mickey Cochrane * | .3196 |
Pie Traynor * | .3196 | |
60 | Ken Williams | .3192 |
61 | Kirby Puckett * | .3181 |
62 | Earl Averill * | .3178 |
63 | Vladimir Guerrero* | .3176 |
Arky Vaughan * | .3176 | |
65 | Bill Everitt | .3174 |
66 | Roberto Clemente * | .3173 |
Joe Harris | .3173 | |
68 | Chick Hafey * | .3170 |
69 | Joe Kelley * | .3169 |
80 | Zack Wheat * | .3167 |
71 | Roger Connor * | .3164 |
Todd Helton | .3164 | |
Lloyd Waner * | .3164 | |
74 | George Van Haltren | .3163 |
75 | Frankie Frisch * | .3161 |
76 | Goose Goslin * | .3160 |
77 | Lew Fonseca | .3158 |
78 | Bibb Falk | .3145 |
79 | Cecil Travis | .3142 |
80 | Hank Greenberg * | .3135 |
81 | Jack Fournier | .3132 |
82 | Elmer Flick * | .3130 |
83 | Ed Morgan | .3128 |
Jackie Robinson * | .3128 | |
85 | Nomar Garciaparra | .3127 |
Larry Walker * | .3127 | |
87 | Bill Dickey * | .3125 |
88 | Dale Mitchell | .3122 |
Manny Ramírez | .3122 | |
90 | Johnny Mize * | .3121 |
Joe Sewell * | .3121 | |
92 | Fred Clarke * | .3120 |
Deacon White * | .3120 | |
94 | Bug Holliday | .3119 |
95 | Barney McCosky | .3118 |
96 | Hughie Jennings * | .3117 |
97 | Edgar Martínez * | .3115 |
98 | Johnny Hodapp | .3114 |
Freddie Lindstrom * | .3114 | |
100 | Bing Miller | .3113 |
See also[]
- List of Major League Baseball players with a .400 batting average in a season
- List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career OPS leaders
Notes[]
- ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Career Leaders & Records for Batting Average". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
- ^ "Ty Cobb Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ "Oscar Charleston Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
- ^ "The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
- ^ "Rogers Hornsby Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ "SportsCenter Flashback: The Chicago Black Sox banned from baseball". ESPN Classic. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ McKenna, Brian. "Lefty O'Doul". SABR.org. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ^ "The Ballplayers – Ed Delahanty". BaseballLibrary.com. The Idea Logical Company, Inc. Archived from the original on December 15, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
- ^ Goldstein, Richard (July 6, 2002). "Ted Williams, Red Sox Slugger And Last to Hit .400, Dies at 83". The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
External links[]
- "Career Leaders & Records for Batting Average". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
- Major League Baseball lists
- Major League Baseball statistics