Single Season Leaders for On Base Percentage in the National League

The on base percentage statistic was originally created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950s as a means to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base. The statistic did not originally include the sacrifice fly denomination, but when it was officially adapted in 1984 it appeared using the sacrifice fly. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred single season National League leaders in on base percentage. We've also included raw averages to further clarify the truly best single season percentages and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"(Tim) McCarver began gushing about (Barry) Bonds's greatness and then, in hyperbole that would have made a used car salesman proud, proclaimed that Barry Bonds is a better baseball player than Ted Williams." - Harold Friend in McCarver's Wrong: Ted Is Better Than Barry (BaseballLibrary.org)
On Base Percentage
Single Season National League Leaders

'Top 100'
Barry Bonds .609 (.6094) 2004 San Francisco Giants NL 1
Barry Bonds .582 (.5817) 2002 San Francisco Giants NL 2
John McGraw .547 (.5475) 1899 Baltimore Orioles NL 3
Barry Bonds .529 (.5291) 2003 San Francisco Giants NL 4
Billy Hamilton .523 (.5228) 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL 5
Barry Bonds .515 (.5151) 2001 San Francisco Giants NL 6
Rogers Hornsby .507 (.5072) 1924 St. Louis Cardinals NL 7
Joe Kelley .502 (.5024) 1894 Baltimore Orioles NL 8
Hugh Duffy .502 (.5017) 1894 Boston Beaneaters NL 9
Ed Delahanty .500 (.5000) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 10
Rogers Hornsby .498 (.4983) 1928 Boston Braves NL 11
Arky Vaughan .491 (.4909) 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 12
Billy Hamilton .490 (.4903) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 13
Rogers Hornsby .489 (.4890) 1925 St. Louis Cardinals NL 14
Jesse Burkett .486 (.4858) 1895 Cleveland Spiders NL 15
King Kelly .483 (.4831) 1886 Chicago White Stockings NL 16
Ed Delahanty .478 (.4784) 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL 17
Billy Hamilton .477 (.4772) 1896 Boston Beaneaters NL 18
Cupid Childs .475 (.4755) 1894 Cleveland Spiders NL 19
John McGraw .475 (.4752) 1898 Baltimore Orioles NL 20
Hughie Jennings .472 (.4721) 1896 Baltimore Orioles NL 21
Ed Delahanty .472 (.4719) 1896 Philadelphia Phillies NL 22
Chipper Jones .470 (.4700) 2008 Atlanta Braves NL 23
Bill Joyce .470 (.4699) 1896 New York Giants NL 24
Washington Senators NL
Mark McGwire .470 (.4699) 1998 St. Louis Cardinals NL  
Joe Kelley .469 (.4695) 1896 Baltimore Orioles NL 26
Todd Helton .469 (.4685) 2004 Colorado Rockies NL 27
Jesse Burkett .468 (.4683) 1897 Cleveland Spiders NL 28
Cupid Childs .467 (.4668) 1896 Cleveland Spiders NL 29
Joe Morgan .466 (.4664) 1975 Cincinnati Reds NL 30
Gary Sheffield .465 (.4653) 1996 Florida Marlins NL 31
Lefty O'Doul .465 (.4652) 1929 Philadelphia Phillies NL 32
Ed Delahanty .464 (.4641) 1899 Philadelphia Phillies NL 33
Willie Keeler .464 (.4637) 1897 Baltimore Orioles NL 34
Todd Helton .463 (.4634) 2000 Colorado Rockies NL 35
Cupid Childs .463 (.4631) 1893 Cleveland Spiders NL 36
Jesse Burkett .463 (.4625) 1899 St. Louis Perfectos NL 37
Dan Brouthers .462 (.4619) 1889 Boston Beaneaters NL 38
Albert Pujols .462 (.4618) 2008 St. Louis Cardinals NL 39
Fred Clarke .462 (.4617) 1897 Louisville Colonels NL 40
Billy Hamilton .461 (.4612) 1897 Boston Beaneaters NL 41
Jesse Burkett .461 (.4611) 1896 Cleveland Spiders NL 42
Barry Bonds .461 (.4607) 1996 San Francisco Giants NL 43
Eddie Stanky .460 (.4597) 1950 New York Giants NL 44
Rogers Hornsby .459 (.4594) 1929 Chicago Cubs NL 45
Jesse Burkett .459 (.4594) 1893 Cleveland Spiders NL  
Jack Clark .459 (.4588) 1987 St. Louis Cardinals NL 47
Rogers Hornsby .459 (.4586) 1922 St. Louis Cardinals NL 48
Mel Ott .458 (.4585) 1930 New York Giants NL 49
Barry Bonds .458 (.4585) 1993 San Francisco Giants NL  
Rogers Hornsby .458 (.4583) 1921 St. Louis Cardinals NL 51
Todd Helton .458 (.4580) 2003 Colorado Rockies NL 52
Roy Thomas .457 (.4566) 1899 Philadelphia Phillies NL 53
Bill Lange .456 (.4562) 1895 Chicago Colts NL 54
Joe Kelley .456 (.4562) 1895 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Barry Bonds .456 (.4559) 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 56
Babe Herman .455 (.4547) 1930 Brooklyn Robins NL 57
Hack Wilson .454 (.4544) 1930 Chicago Cubs NL 58
Hughie Jennings .454 (.4544) 1898 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Elmer Smith .454 (.4541) 1896 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 60
Jeff Bagwell .454 (.4540) 1999 Houston Astros NL 61
John McGraw .454 (.4539) 1893 Baltimore Orioles NL 62
Rico Carty .454 (.4536) 1970 Atlanta Braves NL 63
Roy Thomas .453 (.4532) 1903 Philadelphia Phillies NL 64
Joe Cunningham .453 (.4531) 1959 St. Louis Cardinals NL 65
Lefty O'Doul .453 (.4530) 1930 Philadelphia Phillies NL 66
Arky Vaughan .453 (.4530) 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates NL  
Billy Hamilton .453 (.4528) 1891 Philadelphia Phillies NL 68
Willie McCovey .453 (.4526) 1969 San Francisco Giants NL 69
Ralph Kiner .452 (.4522) 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 70
Larry Walker .452 (.4518) 1997 Colorado Rockies NL 71
Mike Tiernan .452 (.4517) 1896 New York Giants NL 72
Bill Terry .452 (.4515) 1930 New York Giants NL 73
John McGraw .451 (.4513) 1894 Baltimore Orioles NL 74
Roy Thomas .451 (.4508) 1900 Philadelphia Phillies NL 75
Jeff Bagwell .451 (.4506) 1996 Houston Astros NL 76
Brian Giles .450 (.4503) 2002 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 77
Stan Musial .450 (.4502) 1948 St. Louis Cardinals NL 78
Lance Berkman .450 (.4498) 2004 Houston Astros NL 79
Phil Cavarretta .449 (.4494) 1945 Chicago Cubs NL 80
Larry Walker .449 (.4493) 2001 Colorado Rockies NL 81
Billy Hamilton .449 (.4492) 1900 Boston Beaneaters NL 82
Stan Musial .449 (.4490) 1951 St. Louis Cardinals NL 83
Mel Ott .449 (.4488) 1929 New York Giants NL 84
Richie Ashburn .449 (.4486) 1955 Philadelphia Phillies NL 85
Rogers Hornsby .448 (.4483) 1927 New York Giants NL 86
Mel Ott .448 (.4477) 1936 New York Giants NL 87
Jesse Burkett .447 (.4474) 1894 Cleveland Spiders NL 88
John Olerud .447 (.4473) 1998 New York Mets NL 89
Tony Gwynn .447 (.4469) 1987 San Diego Padres NL 90
Jake Stenzel .447 (.4467) 1895 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 91
Joe Kelley .447 (.4467) 1897 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Mike Tiernan .447 (.4467) 1889 New York Giants NL  
Barry Bonds .446 (.4464) 1997 San Francisco Giants NL 94
Dolph Camilli .446 (.4462) 1937 Philadelphia Phillies NL 95
Jack Fournier .446 (.4460) 1925 Brooklyn Robins NL 96
Paul Waner .446 (.4459) 1928 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 97
Paul Waner .446 (.4456) 1936 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 98
Bobby Abreu .446 (.4456) 1999 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Dan Brouthers .445 (.4450) 1886 Detroit Wolverines NL 100
Current Through 2009 Season


Did you know that in 2004 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants became the first and only Major League player in history to have a single season on base percentage greater and 0.599?

The code to write the single season on base percentage league splits was developed in 2005, launched during 2006 and made possible by your support — please continue helping us create these kinds of pages by supporting our site.

The American League single season record for on base percentage was set in 1941 by Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. The National League single season record for on base percentage is on this page. Is either the Career Leader for On Base Percentage?
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