Career Leaders for At-Bats / RBI Ratio

What percentage of a major league baseball player's at-bats result in a run being drive in and how often over the course of a major league career were they driving in the runs? The list below reflects those who over the course of a career had the best at-bats / runs batted in ratio.

Important notes: 1,000 career games played & at-bats are needed to make this list and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"Professional hitters talk about the swing as though it's a living thing, something with which they're not completely familiar. 'You see this guy's (Manny Ramirez , #6 career AB/RBI Ratio leader) bat speed, and you know you can't teach that,' says Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar.'You can't teach a guy like [Philadelphia closer] Billy Wagner, who's all of 5'9", to throw 100 miles per hour, and you can't teach somebody to swing 150 miles per hour through the zone.' " - Columnist Charles P. Pierce in Sports Illustrated (A Cut Above, July 5, 2004)
AB / RBI Ratio
All Time Leaders

'Top 100'
Babe Ruth 26.35 (26.3484) 1
Lou Gehrig 24.93 (24.9344) 2
Hank Greenberg 24.57 (24.5715) 3
Ted Williams 23.86 (23.8645) 4
Jimmie Foxx 23.63 (23.6292) 5
Mark McGwire 22.85 (22.8544) 6
Manny Ramirez 22.73 (22.7260) 7
Joe DiMaggio 22.53 (22.5334) 8
Hack Wilson 22.33 (22.3319) 9
Sam Thompson 21.71 (21.7079) 10
Juan Gonzalez 21.42 (21.4155) 11
Albert Pujols 21.24 (21.2383) 12
Albert Belle 21.17 (21.1686) 13
Frank Thomas 21.05 (21.0487) 14
David Ortiz 20.88 (20.8778) 15
Al Simmons 20.86 (20.8585) 16
Carlos Delgado 20.85 (20.8466) 17
Johnny Mize 20.75 (20.7512) 18
Cap Anson 20.65 (20.6461) 19
Alex Rodriguez 20.45 (20.4490) 20
Jim Thome 20.44 (20.4356) 21
Roy Campanella 20.36 (20.3567) 22
Barry Bonds 20.27 (20.2701) 23
Jason Giambi 20.14 (20.1396) 24
Lance Berkman 20.13 (20.1271) 25
Charlie Keller 20.05 (20.0528) 26
Jose Canseco 19.94 (19.9377) 27
Harry Heilmann 19.76 (19.7637) 28
Mel Ott 19.67 (19.6701) 29
Jeff Bagwell 19.61 (19.6101) 30
Hal Trosky 19.61 (19.6086)  
Rudy York 19.56 (19.5553) 32
Cecil Fielder 19.55 (19.5462) 33
Richie Sexson 19.51 (19.5138) 34
Ed Delahanty 19.51 (19.5070)  
Ralph Kiner 19.50 (19.5005) 36
Bob Meusel 19.49 (19.4886) 37
Harmon Killebrew 19.44 (19.4427) 38
Willie Stargell 19.43 (19.4273) 39
Rogers Hornsby 19.38 (19.3809) 40
Vladimir Guerrero 19.37 (19.3713) 41
Mike Piazza 19.32 (19.3170) 42
Vic Wertz 19.31 (19.3146) 43
Dan Brouthers 19.31 (19.3116)  
Ken Griffey, Jr. 19.27 (19.2726) 45
Jay Buhner 19.25 (19.2500) 46
Al Rosen 19.25 (19.2483)  
Mo Vaughn 19.23 (19.2336) 48
Todd Helton 19.19 (19.1948) 49
Bill Dickey 19.19 (19.1905)  
Mike Schmidt 19.10 (19.0972) 51
Jim Bottomley 19.03 (19.0336) 52
Larry Walker 18.98 (18.9807) 53
Willie McCovey 18.97 (18.9704) 54
Yogi Berra 18.93 (18.9279) 55
Sammy Sosa 18.92 (18.9152) 56
Tony Lazzeri 18.91 (18.9138) 57
Chipper Jones 18.83 (18.8315) 58
Joe Cronin 18.79 (18.7888) 59
Gus Zernial 18.78 (18.7848) 60
Ken Williams 18.78 (18.7783)  
Magglio Ordonez 18.72 (18.7170) 62
Mickey Mantle 18.63 (18.6250) 63
Duke Snider 18.61 (18.6147) 64
Dick Stuart 18.59 (18.5889) 65
Goose Goslin 18.59 (18.5883)  
Hank Aaron 18.58 (18.5781) 67
Bob Johnson 18.54 (18.5405) 68
Pat Burrell 18.53 (18.5296) 69
Chuck Klein 18.52 (18.5168) 70
Hugh Duffy 18.49 (18.4891) 71
Gary Sheffield 18.47 (18.4738) 72
Danny Tartabull 18.46 (18.4594) 73
Darryl Strawberry 18.46 (18.4570)  
Scott Rolen 18.41 (18.4067) 75
Kevin Mitchell 18.38 (18.3841) 76
Gabby Hartnett 18.33 (18.3302) 77
Earl Averill 18.32 (18.3221) 78
Moises Alou 18.29 (18.2885) 79
Tony Clark 18.29 (18.2851)  
Hank Sauer 18.27 (18.2652) 81
Gavvy Cravath 18.20 (18.1979) 82
Larry Doby 18.14 (18.1376) 83
Bob Horner 18.14 (18.1361)  
Gil Hodges 18.12 (18.1223) 85
Dave Kingman 18.12 (18.1219)  
Joe Medwick 18.11 (18.1139) 87
Frank Robinson 18.11 (18.1091)  
Jeff Kent 18.11 (18.1062)  
David Justice 18.08 (18.0800) 90
Vern Stephens 18.07 (18.0699) 91
Chick Hafey 18.01 (18.0108) 92
Johnny Bench 17.97 (17.9681) 93
Jeff Heath 17.97 (17.9664)  
Roy Sievers 17.96 (17.9584) 95
Mike Sweeney 17.93 (17.9268) 96
Jorge Posada 17.89 (17.8853) 97
Dante Bichette 17.88 (17.8812) 98
Tino Martinez 17.87 (17.8737) 99
Jim Edmonds 17.87 (17.8731) 100
Current Through 2007 Season


Does the AB / RBI Ratio accurately describe which players drive in the runs most frequently? Is there a better SABRMetric type stat you use? Share your opinion on our baseball message boards today.

Did you know that the highest ranking (#6) non-hall of famer on this chart was Manny Ramirez? The highest inactive / non-hall of fame player is Mark McGwire and the highest player not eligible for hall of fame induction is Charlie Keller.

Some "monster" sluggers are not even close to making the chart. Here are the members of the 500 Home Runs Club who missed the list: Ernie Banks, Reggie Jackson, Eddie Mathews, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray & Rafael Palmeiro.
Advertising | All-Star Game | Autographs | Awards | Ballparks | The Ballplayers | Baseball Cards | Baseball Families | Biographies | Book Shelf | College Baseball
Division Series | Downloads | Fabulous Feats | Famous Firsts | Feedback | Fun & Games | Grave Sites | Hall of Fame | Hitting Charts | Humor & Jokes | Interviews
Legendary Lists | Managers | Movie Time | News Feeds | Newsletter | Obituaries | Opening Day | Pitching Charts | Poetry & Song | Quotes | Record Books | Rules
Scoring | Search & Find | Statmaster | Stats 101 | Support | Team by Team | US Presidents | Umpires | World Series | Year by Year

Copyright © 2000-2008. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Design by Geisler Young. Hosted by Hosting 4 Less.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.