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) prior to 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. The catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to these primary duties, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the catcher is assigned the number 2.
Catchers are most frequently credited with an assist when they throw out a runner attempting a stolen base, but other situations leading to an assist include bunts where the catcher fields the batted ball near home plate and throws out the batter at first base (or another runner), an uncaught third strike after which the catcher throws out the batter trying to reach first base, rundown plays in which a runner is stranded between bases, and throwing out runners who fail to tag up after a fly ball out. As the frequency of strikeouts has risen in baseball, the number of other fielding outs has declined; the rise of power hitting has also led to a decline in more daring baserunning. Consequently, the list of career assist leaders is dominated by catchers from the dead-ball era prior to 1920, when runners made more aggressive attempts to advance around the bases in risky situations; none of the top 20 players were active after 1931, and only three players since 1950 have reached even 60% of the record. None of the top 65 single-season totals were recorded after 1920, and none of the top 340 were recorded after 1928; only 13 seasons of 100 assists have been recorded since 1945, peaking at 108, far short of the record of 238. As a result, both the career and single-season records are likely among Major League Baseball's most unbreakable records.
Deacon McGuire[1] [2] is the all-time leader with 1,860 career assists. Only 48 catchers have recorded 1,000 or more career assists.
| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career assists. A blank field indicates a tie. | |
| Player (2024 As) | Number of recorded assists during the 2024 Major League Baseball season | |
| MLB | Total career assists as a catcher in Major League Baseball | |
| Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
| Bold | Denotes active player.[3] |
| Rank | Player (2024 As) | Assists as catcher | Other leagues, notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | American League | National League | ||||
| 1 | Deacon McGuire | 1,860 | 370 | 1,176 | Includes 314 in American Association | |
| 2 | Ray Schalk | 1,811 | 1,811 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Steve O'Neill | 1,698 | 1,698 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Red Dooin | 1,590 | 0 | 1,590 | ||
| 5 | Charles Zimmer | 1,580 | 0 | 1,439 | Includes 141 in American Association; held NL record, 1898-1911; held single-season record, 1890-1903 | |
| 6 | Johnny Kling | 1,554 | 0 | 1,554 | Held National League record, 1912-1915 | |
| 7 | Ivey Wingo | 1,487 | 0 | 1,487 | ||
| 8 | Wilbert Robinson | 1,454 | 136 | 629 | Includes 689 in American Association | |
| 9 | Bill Bergen | 1,444 | 0 | 1,444 | Held National League record, 1911-1912 | |
| Pop Snyder | 1,444 | 0 | 566 | Includes 713 in American Association, 149 in National Association, 16 in Players' League; held major league record, 1877-1901; held NL record, 1876-1883; held single-season record, 1876-1886 | ||
| 11 | Wally Schang | 1,420 | 1,420 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Duke Farrell | 1,418 | 97 | 1,120 | Includes 132 in Players' League, 69 in American Association | |
| 13 | George Gibson | 1,386 | 0 | 1,386 | ||
| 14 | Oscar Stanage | 1,381 | 1,381 | 0 | Held American League record, 1918-1922; holds AL single-season record | |
| 15 | Malachi Kittridge | 1,363 | 306 | 1,057 | ||
| 16 | Lou Criger | 1,342 | 1,004 | 338 | Held American League record, 1903-1907, 1908-1909; held AL single-season record, 1903-1908 | |
| 17 | Frank Snyder | 1,332 | 0 | 1,332 | ||
| 18 | Bill Killefer | 1,319 | 145 | 1,174 | ||
| 19 | Billy Sullivan | 1,314 | 1,217 | 97 | Held American League record, 1909–1918 | |
| 20 | Jack Warner | 1,309 | 359 | 950 | ||
| 21 | Gabby Hartnett | 1,254 | 0 | 1,254 | ||
| 22 | Bill Rariden | 1,231 | 0 | 778 | Includes 453 in Federal League; holds the single-season record of 238 (set in 1915) | |
| 23 | Iván Rodríguez | 1,227 | 1,066 | 161 | ||
| 24 | Gary Carter | 1,203 | 0 | 1,203 | ||
| 25 | Roger Bresnahan | 1,195 | 85 | 1,110 | ||
| 26 | Bob Boone | 1,174 | 601 | 573 | ||
| 27 | Muddy Ruel | 1,136 | 1,136 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Rick Ferrell | 1,127 | 1,127 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Al López | 1,115 | 28 | 1,087 | ||
| 30 | Hank Severeid | 1,112 | 1,086 | 26 | ||
| 31 | Heinie Peitz | 1,095 | 0 | 1,095 | ||
| 32 | Eddie Ainsmith | 1,088 | 914 | 174 | ||
| 33 | Luke Sewell | 1,084 | 1,084 | 0 | ||
| 34 | Jack Clements | 1,082 | 0 | 1,050 | Includes 32 in Union Association | |
| 35 | Frank Bowerman | 1,077 | 0 | 1,077 | ||
| 36 | Silver Flint | 1,071 | 0 | 1,052 | Includes 19 in National Association; held National League record, 1883-1898 | |
| 37 | Yadier Molina | 1,062 | 0 | 1,062 | ||
| 38 | Otto Miller | 1,053 | 0 | 1,053 | ||
| 39 | Charlie Bennett | 1,048 | 0 | 1,048 | ||
| Carlton Fisk | 1,048 | 1,048 | 0 | |||
| 41 | Tony Peña | 1,045 | 332 | 713 | ||
| 42 | Cy Perkins | 1,037 | 1,037 | 0 | ||
| 43 | Ed McFarland | 1,024 | 338 | 686 | ||
| 44 | Buck Ewing | 1,017 | 0 | 910 | Includes 107 in Players' League | |
| 45 | Bill Holbert | 1,013 | 588 | 425 | ||
| 46 | Jim Sundberg | 1,007 | 966 | 41 | ||
| 47 | Doc Bushong | 1,001 | 0 | 506 | Includes 495 in American Association | |
| 48 | Hank Gowdy | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | ||
| 49 | Chief Meyers | 996 | 0 | 996 | ||
| 50 | Pat Moran | 990 | 0 | 990 | Held single-season record, 1903-1914; holds NL single-season record | |
| 51 | Jason Kendall | 989 | 207 | 782 | ||
| 52 | Jack O'Connor | 987 | 160 | 503 | Includes 324 in American Association | |
| 53 | Bob O'Farrell | 980 | 0 | 980 | ||
| Lance Parrish | 980 | 826 | 154 | |||
| 55 | Jimmy Archer | 979 | 16 | 963 | ||
| 56 | Ossee Schreckengost | 969 | 858 | 111 | Held American League record, 1907-1908 | |
| 57 | Benito Santiago | 960 | 60 | 900 | ||
| 58 | Brad Ausmus | 956 | 159 | 797 | ||
| 59 | Bill Dickey | 954 | 954 | 0 | ||
| 60 | Russell Martin | 941 | 361 | 580 | ||
| 61 | Jimmie Wilson | 931 | 0 | 931 | ||
| 62 | Ted Simmons | 915 | 144 | 771 | ||
| 63 | Larry McLean | 905 | 0 | 905 | ||
| 64 | Rollie Hemsley | 897 | 634 | 263 | ||
| 65 | Connie Mack | 864 | 0 | 724 | Includes 140 in Players' League; held NL single-season record, 1888-1890 | |
| 66 | Joe Sugden | 861 | 401 | 460 | ||
| 67 | Walter Schmidt | 858 | 0 | 858 | ||
| 68 | King Kelly | 857 | 0 | 692 | Includes 105 in American Association, 60 in the Players' League | |
| 69 | Bill Carrigan | 854 | 854 | 0 | ||
| 70 | Ed Sweeney | 852 | 835 | 17 | ||
| 71 | Johnny Bench | 850 | 0 | 850 | ||
| 72 | Ernie Lombardi | 845 | 0 | 845 | ||
| 73 | Mickey Cochrane | 840 | 840 | 0 | ||
| 74 | Mike González | 838 | 0 | 838 | ||
| 75 | John Henry | 826 | 38 | 788 | ||
| 76 | Jocko Milligan | 825 | 0 | 154 | Includes 605 in American Association, 66 in the Players' League | |
| 77 | A. J. Pierzynski | 823 | 694 | 129 | ||
| 78 | Boileryard Clarke | 806 | 337 | 469 | ||
| 79 | Gus Mancuso | 803 | 0 | 803 | ||
| 80 | Yogi Berra | 798 | 797 | 1 | ||
| 81 | Art Wilson | 796 | 1 | 487 | Includes 308 in Federal League | |
| 82 | Admiral Schlei | 792 | 0 | 792 | ||
| 83 | Sam Agnew | 773 | 773 | 0 | ||
| 84 | Rick Dempsey | 768 | 677 | 91 | ||
| 85 | Pop Schriver | 764 | 0 | 760 | Includes 4 in American Association | |
| 86 | Del Crandall | 759 | 15 | 744 | ||
| 87 | Darrell Porter | 754 | 505 | 249 | ||
| 88 | Zack Taylor | 752 | 2 | 750 | ||
| 89 | Les Nunamaker | 745 | 745 | 0 | ||
| 90 | Gabby Street | 744 | 673 | 71 | Held AL single-season record, 1909-1911 | |
| 91 | Thurman Munson | 742 | 742 | 0 | ||
| 92 | Mike Scioscia | 737 | 0 | 737 | ||
| 93 | Mike Piazza | 733 | 0 | 733 | ||
| 94 | Val Picinich | 732 | 496 | 236 | ||
| 95 | Brian McCann | 729 | 242 | 487 | ||
| 96 | Doc Powers | 724 | 668 | 56 | Held American League record, 1901-1903; held AL single-season record, 1901-1903 | |
| 97 | Bill Freehan | 721 | 721 | 0 | ||
| 98 | Johnny Bassler | 708 | 708 | 0 | ||
| 99 | Johnny Edwards | 703 | 0 | 703 | ||
| 100 | John Grim | 696 | 0 | 658 | Includes 38 in American Association | |
| Jorge Posada | 696 | 696 | 0 | |||
| Player | Assists as catcher | Other leagues, notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | American League | National League | |||
| Roy Campanella | 605 | 0 | 550 | Includes 55 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) | |
| Deacon White | 502 | 0 | 297 | Includes 205 in National Association | |
| Biz Mackey | 467 | 0 | 0 | Includes 160 in Negro National League (first), 146 in Negro National League (second), 128 in Eastern Colored League, 33 in American Negro League (incomplete) | |
| Joe Torre | 428 | 0 | 428 | ||
| Joe Mauer | 323 | 323 | 0 | ||
| Josh Gibson | 319 | 0 | 0 | Includes 319 in Negro National League (incomplete) | |
| Jim O'Rourke | 312 | 0 | 300 | Includes 12 in National Association | |
| Craig Biggio | 202 | 0 | 202 | ||
| Jimmie Foxx | 60 | 60 | 0 | ||
| Louis Santop | 25 | 0 | 0 | Includes 25 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete) | |