Career Leaders for On Base Percentage

The on base percentage statistic was originally created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950's as a means to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base. It did not originally include the sacrifice fly denomination but when it was officially adapted in 1984 it appeared using the formula written above.

Note: 1,000 career games played & at-bats are needed to make this list of the one-hundred (100) greatest on base percentage leaders, raw averages are presented in parenthesis to further distinguish the top one-hundred, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"If I was being paid thirty thousand ($30,000.00) a year, the very least I could do was hit .400." - Hall of Famer Ted Williams (1st Overall On Base Percentage Leader)
On Base Percentage
All Time Leaders

'Top 100'
Ted Williams .482 (.4817) 1
Babe Ruth .474 (.4739) 2
John McGraw .465 (.4655) 3
Billy Hamilton .455 (.4552) 4
Lou Gehrig .447 (.4474) 5
Barry Bonds .444 (.4443) 6
Rogers Hornsby .434 (.4337) 7
Ty Cobb .433 (.4330) 8
Todd Helton .428 (.4284) 9
Jimmie Foxx .428 (.4283) 10
Tris Speaker .428 (.4279) 11
Albert Pujols .425 (.4250) 12
Eddie Collins .424 (.4244) 13
Ferris Fain .424 (.4241) 14
Dan Brouthers .423 (.4233) 15
Joe Jackson .423 (.4227) 16
Max Bishop .423 (.4227)  
Mickey Mantle .421 (.4205) 18
Mickey Cochrane .419 (.4192) 19
Frank Thomas .419 (.4191) 20
Edgar Martinez .418 (.4178) 21
Stan Musial .417 (.4167) 22
Cupid Childs .416 (.4158) 23
Jesse Burkett .415 (.4151) 24
Wade Boggs .415 (.4150) 25
Mel Ott .414 (.4140) 26
Roy Thomas .413 (.4135) 27
Lance Berkman .413 (.4131) 28
Denny Lyons .413 (.4130) 29
Hank Greenberg .412 (.4118) 30
Ed Delahanty .411 (.4114) 31
Manny Ramirez .411 (.4109) 32
Charlie Keller .410 (.4099) 33
Eddie Stanky .410 (.4098) 34
Harry Heilmann .410 (.4095) 35
Pete Browning .409 (.4089) 36
Jackie Robinson .409 (.4089)  
Jason Giambi .408 (.4083) 38
Roy Cullenbine .408 (.4082) 39
Jeff Bagwell .408 (.4076) 40
Chipper Jones .408 (.4075) 41
Riggs Stephenson .407 (.4065) 42
Jim Thome .406 (.4058) 43
Arky Vaughan .406 (.4058)  
Bobby Abreu .405 (.4048) 45
Paul Waner .404 (.4043) 46
Brian Giles .404 (.4039) 47
Charlie Gehringer .404 (.4036) 48
Joe Cunningham .403 (.4035) 49
Lu Blue .402 (.4022) 50
Joe Kelley .402 (.4017) 51
Rickey Henderson .401 (.4012) 52
Larry Walker .400 (.4002) 53
Luke Appling .399 (.3994) 54
Elmer Smith .399 (.3988) 55
Ross Youngs .399 (.3985) 56
Tip O'Neill .399 (.3985)  
Joe DiMaggio .398 (.3983) 58
Elmer Valo .398 (.3983)  
John Olerud .398 (.3980) 60
Ralph Kiner .398 (.3980)  
Johnny Mize .397 (.3971) 62
Roger Connor .397 (.3970) 63
Earle Combs .397 (.3969) 64
John Kruk .397 (.3966) 65
Richie Ashburn .396 (.3964) 66
Mike Hargrove .396 (.3958) 67
Hack Wilson .395 (.3951) 68
Earl Averill .395 (.3947) 69
Cap Anson .395 (.3945) 70
Johnny Pesky .394 (.3943) 71
Mark McGwire .394 (.3941) 72
Stan Hack .394 (.3940) 73
Eddie Yost .394 (.3940)  
Frank Chance .394 (.3937) 75
Gary Sheffield .394 (.3937)  
Ken Williams .393 (.3933) 77
Wally Schang .393 (.3931) 78
Rod Carew .393 (.3930) 79
Mike Griffin .393 (.3930)  
Bob Johnson .393 (.3928) 81
Bill Terry .393 (.3927) 82
George Grantham .392 (.3924) 83
Joe Morgan .392 (.3921) 84
Jack Fournier .392 (.3921)  
J.D. Drew .392 (.3919) 86
Mike Tiernan .392 (.3917) 87
Honus Wagner .391 (.3909) 88
Joe Sewell .391 (.3909)  
Augie Galan .390 (.3904) 90
Hughie Jennings .390 (.3902) 91
Dave Magadan .390 (.3902)  
Harlond Clift .390 (.3901) 93
Joe Cronin .390 (.3895) 94
Buddy Myer .389 (.3894) 95
Alex Rodriguez .389 (.3891) 96
Elmer Flick .389 (.3890) 97
Frank Robinson .389 (.3890)  
Vladimir Guerrero .389 (.3889) 99
Minnie Minoso .389 (.3885) 100
Current Through 2008 Season


Ted Williams (first overall) set the original Major League "standard" / record for highest on base percentage during a single season with .551 during 1941, a record broken by Barry Bonds (sixth overall) during the 2002 season (.582) then shattered in 2004 (.609).

You can learn how to calculate on base percentage today by visiting our statistics section and with that formula, and knowing that it takes at least one-thousand (1,000) games played, easily determine how Brian Giles, Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero recently made the top 100.

Did you know that Wade Boggs (twenty-fourth overall) had five (5) consecutive seasons, 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989, during his career where he led the American League in on-base percentage setting the American League record? Click here to see the National League / Major League OBP record holder and try to make a guess as to who it is before you click the link.
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