Career Leaders for Bases on Balls

A base-on-balls is an officially recognized statistic that counts the number of times a batter reaches first base after accepting four pitches outside the strike zone. Prior to 1889, the rule regarding the walk statistic was different and used the following rules of the day: 1876-1879 nine balls, 1880-1882 eight balls, 1882-1884 seven balls, 1884-1885 six balls, 1886 seven balls, 1887-1888 five balls and from 1889 forward it has and still remains four balls.

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred (100) all-time career leaders in Major League bases on balls. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

 

"If he'd just tip his cap once, he (Ted Williams) could be elected Mayor of Boston in five minutes." - Hall of Famer Eddie Collins (16th Overall Base on Balls Leader)
Base on Balls
All Time Leaders

'Top 100'

Barry Bonds 2,558 1
Rickey Henderson 2,190 2
Babe Ruth 2,062 3
Ted Williams 2,021 4
Joe Morgan 1,865 5
Carl Yastrzemski 1,845 6
Mickey Mantle 1,733 7
Mel Ott 1,708 8
Frank Thomas 1,667 9
Eddie Yost 1,614 10
Darrell Evans 1,605 11
Stan Musial 1,599 12
Pete Rose 1,566 13
Harmon Killebrew 1,559 14
Jim Thome 1,550 15
Lou Gehrig 1,508 16
Mike Schmidt 1,507 17
Eddie Collins 1,499 18
Willie Mays 1,464 19
Jimmie Foxx 1,452 20
Eddie Mathews 1,444 21
Gary Sheffield 1,435 22
Frank Robinson 1,420 23
Wade Boggs 1,412 24
Hank Aaron 1,402 25
Jeff Bagwell 1,401 26
Dwight Evans 1,391 27
Tris Speaker 1,381 28
Reggie Jackson 1,375 29
Rafael Palmeiro 1,353 30
Willie McCovey 1,345 31
Eddie Murray 1,333 32
Tim Raines 1,330 33
Tony Phillips 1,319 34
Mark McGwire 1,317 35
Fred McGriff 1,305 36
Luke Appling 1,302 37
Edgar Martinez 1,283 38
Al Kaline 1,277 39
John Olerud 1,275 40
Ken Singleton 1,263 41
Jack Clark 1,262 42
Rusty Staub 1,255 43
Ty Cobb 1,249 44
Willie Randolph 1,243 45
Chipper Jones 1,242 46
Ken Griffey, Jr. 1,240 47
Jimmy Wynn 1,224 48
Dave Winfield 1,216 49
Manny Ramirez 1,212 50
Pee Wee Reese 1,210 51
Jason Giambi 1,205 52
Richie Ashburn 1,198 53
Brian Downing 1,197 54
Lou Whitaker 1,197  
Chili Davis 1,194 56
Billy Hamilton 1,187 57
Charlie Gehringer 1,186 58
Bobby Abreu 1,160 59
Craig Biggio 1,160  
Donie Bush 1,158 61
Brian Giles 1,157 62
Luis Gonzalez 1,155 63
Max Bishop 1,153 64
Toby Harrah 1,153  
Harry Hooper 1,136 66
Jimmy Sheckard 1,135 67
Brett Butler 1,129 68
Cal Ripken, Jr. 1,129  
Ron Santo 1,108 70
Carlos Delgado 1,097 71
George Brett 1,096 72
Paul Molitor 1,094 73
Lu Blue 1,092 74
Stan Hack 1,092  
Paul Waner 1,091 76
Graig Nettles 1,088 77
Bobby Grich 1,087 78
Mark Grace 1,075 79
Bob Johnson 1,075  
Robin Ventura 1,075  
Ozzie Smith 1,072 82
Harlond Clift 1,070 83
Keith Hernandez 1,070  
Bernie Williams 1,069 85
Bill Dahlen 1,064 86
Harold Baines 1,062 87
Joe Cronin 1,059 88
Ron Fairly 1,052 89
Billy Williams 1,045 90
Norm Cash 1,043 91
Eddie Joost 1,043  
Roy Thomas 1,042 93
Todd Helton 1,041 94
Max Carey 1,040 95
Rogers Hornsby 1,038 96
Jim Gilliam 1,036 97
Roberto Alomar 1,032 98
Sal Bando 1,031 99
Jesse Burkett 1,029 100
Current Through 2008 Season


Sam Crawford (leader in 1903, 1910, & 1913 through 1915) is the only player in the history of Major League Baseball with more than three-hundred (300+) career triples.

During the 1912 season Owen "Chief" Wilson set the single season triples record — yet he never led the league in triples again.

Did you know that Sam Crawford (1903, 1910, 1913-1915), Stan Musial (1943, 1946, 1948-1949, 1951) and Willie Wilson (1980, 1982, 1985 1987-1988) are the only three (3) players who have the led the league in triples for a Major League record five (5) seasons?