List of Major League Baseball career assists as an outfielder leaders explained

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. Unlike putouts, exactly one of which is awarded for every defensive out, an out can result in no assists being credited (as in strikeouts, fly outs and line drives), or in assists being credited to multiple players (as in relay throws and rundown plays). An outfielder (OF) is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter, who are identified as the left fielder (LF), the center fielder (CF), and the right fielder (RF). 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; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, outfielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the outfielders are assigned the numbers 7 (left field), 8 (center field), and 9 (right field).

Outfielders are most commonly credited with an assist when they throw the ball to an infielder who tags a runner attempting to advance on the basepaths, even on a caught fly ball that results in an out (see tag up); of special importance are throws to the catcher if the runner is trying to reach home plate to score a run, perhaps on a sacrifice fly. Outfielders will often record assists by throwing out runners who try to advance farther than the batter, such as going from first to third base on a single, or batter/runners who try to stretch a hit into a longer one. Outfielders also earn assists on relay throws to infielders after particularly deep fly balls, by throwing to a base to record an out on an appeal play, or in situations where they might deflect a fly ball before another defensive player makes the catch; in extraordinary instances, right fielders have occasionally recorded assists by throwing out batters at first base after fielding uncaught line drives that reached them quickly. Outfielders record far fewer assists than other players due to the difficulty of making an accurate throw in time to retire a runner from a great distance; middle infielders routinely record more assists in a single season than outfielders do in their entire careers. Assists are an important statistic for outfielders, giving a greater indication about an outfielder's throwing arm than assists by infielders do. In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills.

The list of career leaders is dominated by players from the 1890s through 1920s, including the dead-ball era, due to that period's emphasis on more aggressive baserunning. None of the top 16 players were active after 1934, and only one of the top 50 was active after 1947; none of the top 80 has been active since 1983. Only five of the top 29 single-season totals were recorded after 1894, and only one of the top 157 was recorded after 1936; only four of the top 445 have been recorded since 1963, none of them since 1983. Because game accounts and box scores often did not distinguish between the outfield positions, there has been some difficulty in determining precise defensive statistics prior to 1901; because of this, and because of the similarity in their roles, defensive statistics for the three positions are frequently combined. Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career assists as an outfielder with 449,^[1] ^[2] ^[3] nearly 200 more than any player whose career began after 1920; he is the only outfielder with more than 400 career assists. Starling Marte, who had 92 assists through the 2023 season to place him tied for 357th all-time, is the leader among active players.

Key

Rank	Rank amongst leaders in career assists. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player	Name of player
Main pos.	Primary outfield position played during career (LF, CF, or RF)
MLB	Total career assists as an outfielder in Major League Baseball
	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame

List

Stats updated as of May 31, 2024.

Rank	Player (2024 As)	Main Pos.	Assists as an outfielder			Other leagues, notes
Rank	MLB	Main Pos.	American League	National League		Other leagues, notes
1	Tris Speaker *	CF	449	449	0	Holds the American League single-season record (35 in 1909 and 1912)
2	Ty Cobb	CF	392	392	0	Held American League record, 1912-1916, 1917-1918
3	Jimmy Ryan	CF	375	23	327	Includes 25 in Players' League; held major league record, 1900-1924; held National League record, 1898-1927
4	Tom Brown	CF	349	0	186	Includes 131 in American Association, 32 in Players' League; held major league record, 1894-1900
	George Van Haltren	CF	349	0	312	Includes 21 in American Association, 16 in Players' League
6	Harry Hooper	RF	344	344	0
7	Max Carey	CF	339	0	339
8	Jimmy Sheckard	LF	307	0	307	Held the modern (post-1900) single-season record, 1903-1907
9	Clyde Milan	CF	294	294	0
10	Orator Shafer	RF	290	0	244	Includes 24 in Union Association, 21 in American Association, 1 in National Association; held major league record, 1879-1889, 1890-1894; held National League record, 1878-1887; holds the single-season record of 50 (set in 1879)
11	King Kelly	RF	285	0	282	Includes 2 in Players' League, 1 in American Association; held major league record, 1889-1890; held National League record, 1887-1898
12	Sam Thompson	RF	283	0	283
13	Sam Rice	RF	278	278	0
14	Dummy Hoy	CF	274	16	209	Includes 26 in American Association, 23 in Players' League
15	Jesse Burkett	LF	270	62	208
16	Sam Crawford	RF	268	197	71
17	Roberto Clemente	RF	266	0	266
	Tommy McCarthy	RF	266	0	132	Includes 123 in American Association, 11 in Union Association
19	Patsy Donovan	RF	265	15	233	Includes 17 in American Association
20	Willie Keeler	RF	258	90	168
21	Mel Ott	RF	256	0	256
22	Fred Clarke	LF	254	0	254
23	George Gore	CF	243	0	232	Includes 11 in Players' League
	Mike Griffin	CF	243	0	153	Includes 57 in American Association, 33 in Players' League
25	Hugh Duffy	CF	241	5	179	Includes 34 in Players' League, 23 in American Association
	Paul Waner	RF	241	0	241
27	Ed Delahanty	LF	238	17	216	Includes 5 in Players' League
28	Paul Hines	CF	237	0	213	Includes 16 in National Association, 8 in American Association
29	Zack Wheat	LF	232	8	224
30	Jim O'Rourke	LF	228	0	191	Includes 25 in Players' League, 12 in National Association
	Chicken Wolf	RF	228	0	0	Includes 228 in American Association (league record)
32	Hugh Nicol	RF	226	0	46	Includes 180 in American Association
	Cy Williams	CF	226	0	226
34	Fielder Jones	CF	225	150	75	Held American League record, 1906-1912
35	Pop Corkhill	CF	224	0	28	Includes 196 in American Association
36	Dode Paskert	CF	223	0	223
37	Edd Roush	CF	222	0	197	Includes 25 in Federal League
38	Goose Goslin	LF	221	221	0
	Tillie Walker	LF	221	221	0
40	Paul Radford	RF	217	0	169	Includes 32 in American Association, 16 in Players' League
41	Joe Kelley	LF	212	7	205
42	Duffy Lewis	LF	210	210	0
43	Steve Brodie	CF	209	4	205
	Ned Hanlon	CF	209	0	193	Includes 16 in Players' League
45	Bob Johnson	LF	208	208	0
46	Bobby Veach	LF	207	207	0
	Curt Welch	CF	207	0	8	Includes 199 in American Association
48	Babe Ruth	RF	204	203	1
49	George Wood	LF	203	0	143	Includes 35 in Players' League, 25 in American Association
50	Jack Tobin	RF	202	150	0	Includes 52 in Federal League
51	Hank Aaron	RF	201	0	201
	John Titus	RF	201	0	201
53	George Burns	LF	197	0	197
	Elmer Flick	RF	197	106	91
	Kip Selbach	LF	197	54	143
56	Charlie Jamieson	LF	196	196	0
	Willie Mays	CF	196	0	195	Includes 1 in Negro American League (incomplete)
58	Carl Yastrzemski	LF	195	195	0
59	Chuck Klein	RF	194	0	194	Holds the modern (post-1900) single-season record of 44 (set in 1930)
	Frank Schulte	RF	194	10	184
61	Kiki Cuyler	RF	191	0	191
	Ross Youngs	RF	191	0	191
63	Tommy Griffith	RF	189	0	189
64	Cy Seymour	CF	188	32	156
	Roy Thomas	CF	188	0	188
66	Harry Heilmann	RF	183	167	16
	Shoeless Joe Jackson	RF	183	183	0
68	Billy Hamilton	CF	182	0	158	Includes 24 in American Association
69	Max Flack	RF	181	0	139	Includes 42 in Federal League
70	Mike Mitchell	RF	180	11	169	Held the modern (post-1900) single-season record, 1907-1930
71	Richie Ashburn	CF	178	0	178
72	Shano Collins	RF	177	177	0
	Chief Wilson	RF	177	0	177
74	Gavvy Cravath	RF	176	8	168
	Joe Hornung	LF	176	0	144	Includes 32 in American Association
	Nemo Leibold	CF	176	176	0
	Sherry Magee	LF	176	0	176
	Red Murray	RF	176	0	176
79	Johnny Callison	RF	175	11	164
80	Emmett Seery	LF	174	0	110	Includes 26 in Union Association, 21 in Players' League, 17 in American Association
81	Barry Bonds	LF	173	0	173
	Les Mann	LF	173	0	156	Includes 17 in Federal League
	Burt Shotton	CF	173	152	21
84	Doc Cramer	CF	172	172	0
	Dick Johnston	CF	172	0	123	Includes 30 in American Association, 19 in Players' League
	Vada Pinson	CF	172	56	116
87	Jim Fogarty	RF	171	0	154	Includes 17 in Players' League
88	Al Kaline	RF	170	170	0
89	Al Simmons	LF	169	161	8
90	Jimmy Slagle	CF	168	0	168
91	Ginger Beaumont	CF	167	0	167
	Ken Williams	LF	167	154	13
93	Dave Winfield	RF	166	74	92
94	Rusty Staub	RF	165	12	153
	Harry Stovey	LF	165	0	54	Includes 87 in American Association, 24 in Players' League
96	Pete Hotaling	CF	163	0	113	Includes 50 in American Association
	Charley Jones	LF	163	0	66	Includes 95 in American Association, 2 in National Association
98	Jesse Barfield	RF	162	162	0
	Johnny Bates	CF	162	0	155	Includes 7 in Federal League
	Chick Stahl	CF	162	83	79

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Main Pos.	Assists as an outfielder			Other leagues, notes
MLB	Main Pos.	American League	National League		Other leagues, notes
Tony Gwynn	RF	160	0	160
Andre Dawson	RF	157	0	157
Ken Griffey Jr.	CF	154	109	45
Larry Walker	RF	154	0	154
Joe DiMaggio	CF	153	153	0
Enos Slaughter	RF	152	10	142
Lloyd Waner	CF	151	0	151
Casey Stengel	RF	147	0	147
Billy Williams	LF	143	0	143
Lou Brock	LF	142	0	142
Kirby Puckett	CF	142	142	0
Ted Williams	LF	140	140	0
Joe Medwick	LF	139	0	139
Minnie Miñoso	LF	139	137	2
Jim Rice	LF	137	137	0
Frank Robinson *	RF	135	40	95
Tim Raines	LF	134	46	88
Reggie Jackson	RF	133	133	0
Rickey Henderson	LF	131	118	13
Stan Musial	LF	130	0	130
Billy Southworth	RF	127	7	120
Vladimir Guerrero	RF	126	42	84
Duke Snider	CF	123	0	123
Mickey Mantle	CF	117	117	0
Earl Averill	CF	115	113	2
Chick Hafey	LF	106	0	106
Heinie Manush	LF	105	97	8
Willie Stargell	LF	102	0	102
Hack Wilson	CF	98	0	98
Larry Doby	CF	88	88	0
Ralph Kiner	LF	80	2	78
John Montgomery Ward	CF	77	0	77
George Davis	CF	74	0	74
Oscar Charleston	CF	71	0	0	Includes 46 in Negro National League (first), 17 in Eastern Colored League, 8 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Tony Oliva	RF	71	71	0
Harold Baines	RF	69	69	0
Earle Combs	CF	69	69	0
Cool Papa Bell	CF	67	0	0	Includes 38 in Negro National League (first), 22 in Negro National League (second), 7 in East–West League (incomplete)
Turkey Stearnes	CF	59	0	0	Includes 41 in Negro National League (first), 14 in Negro National League (second), 4 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Honus Wagner	RF	56	0	56
Robin Yount	CF	54	54	0
Monte Irvin	LF	52	0	45	Includes 7 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Freddie Lindstrom	CF	49	0	49
Roger Bresnahan	CF	47	4	43
Cristóbal Torriente	CF	39	0	0	Includes 39 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Deacon White	RF	31	0	27	Includes 4 in National Association
Mule Suttles	LF	28	0	0	Includes 22 in Negro National League (first), 6 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Willard Brown	CF	25	0	0	Includes 25 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Harry Wright	CF	23	0	1	Includes 22 in National Association
Cap Anson	LF	21	0	6	Includes 15 in National Association
Craig Biggio	CF	21	0	21
Pete Hill	LF	19	0	0	Includes 19 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Hank Greenberg	LF	17	17	0
Orlando Cepeda	LF	15	0	15
Willie McCovey	LF	14	0	14
Martín Dihigo	CF	9	0	0	Includes 5 in Eastern Colored League, 4 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Paul Molitor	CF	5	5	0
Todd Helton	LF	2	0	2
Joe Mauer	RF	0	0	0

External links

Web site: Career Leaders & Records for Assists as OF. Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes and References

Web site: Tris Speaker Career Stats. Baseball Reference. June 24, 2021.
Web site: Tris Speaker Bio. Jensen. Don. Society For American Baseball Research. June 24, 2021.
Web site: Tris Speaker Hall of Fame Profile. National Baseball Hall of Fame. August 1, 2021.