RBI Records / Runs Batted in Records

Major League Baseball RBI Records

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a record book full of baseball milestones for runs batted in — including career RBI records, single season RBI records, exclusive month-by-month RBI records and game related RBI records.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Babe Ruth never had to contend with anything like that when he was establishing his record." - Hall of Famer (and multiple RBI record holder) Hank Aaron

Runs Batted In Records / RBI Records

Career RBI Records

Most RBIs in a Career
(Top 1,000)
AL Babe Ruth Boston 230 2,201
New York 1,971
NL Hank Aaron Milwaukee 1,305 2,202
Atlanta 897
ML Hank Aaron Milwaukee [NL] 1,305 2,297
Atlanta [NL] 897
Milwaukee [AL] 95

Runs Batted In Records / RBI Records

Single Season RBI Records

Most RBIs in a Season
(Top 500)
AL Lou Gehrig New York 184 1931
NL Hack Wilson Chicago 191 1930
Most RBIs in a Season
By A Lefthander
AL Lou Gehrig New York 184 1931
NL Chuck Klein Philadelphia 170 1930
Most RBIs in a Season
By A Pitcher
AL Wes Ferrell Cleveland 29 1931
NL Tony Cloninger Atlanta 23 1966
Most RBIs in a Season
By A Righthander
AL Hank Greenberg Detroit 183 1937
NL Hack Wilson Chicago 191 1930
Most RBIs in a Season
By A Rookie
AL Ted Williams Boston 145 1939
NL Albert Pujols St. Louis 130 2001
Most RBIs in a Season
By A Switch-Hitter
AL Mark Teixeira Texas 144 2005
NL Lance Berkman Houston 136 2006
Most Seasons
Leading The League in RBIs
(Yearly Leaders)
AL Babe Ruth Boston 6 1919
New York 1920
New York 1921
New York 1923
New York 1926
New York 1928
NL Cap Anson Chicago 8 1880
Chicago 1881
Chicago 1882
Chicago 1884
Chicago 1885
Chicago 1886
Chicago 1888
Chicago 1891
Most Seasons
Leading The League in RBIs
Consecutively
(Yearly Leaders)
AL Ty Cobb Detroit 3 1907
Detroit 1908
Detroit 1909
Cecil Fielder Detroit 1990
Detroit 1991
Detroit 1992
Babe Ruth Boston 1919
New York 1920
New York 1921
NL Cap Anson Chicago 3 1880
Chicago 1881
Chicago 1882
Cap Anson Chicago 1884
Chicago 1885
Chicago 1886
George Foster Cincinnati 1976
Cincinnati 1977
Cincinnati 1978
Rogers Hornsby St. Louis 1920
St. Louis 1921
St. Louis 1922
Joe Medwick St. Louis 1936
St. Louis 1937
St. Louis 1938

Most Seasons
With 100+ RBIs
(Every Player With 10+)

Bold = League Records

AL Alex Rodriguez Seattle 4 14
Texas 3
New York 7
ML Albert Pujols St. Louis [NL] 10 14
Los Angeles [AL] 4
AL Jimmie Foxx Philadelphia 7 13
Boston 6
AL Lou Gehrig New York 13 13
AL Babe Ruth Boston 1 13
New York 12
NL Barry Bonds Pittsburgh 3 12
San Francisco 9
ML Miguel Cabrera Florida [NL] 4 12
Detroit [AL] 8
ML Manny Ramirez Cleveland [AL] 5 12
Boston [AL] 6
Boston [AL] / Los Angeles [NL] 1
AL Al Simmons Philadelphia 9 12
Chicago 2
Detroit 1
NL Hank Aaron Milwaukee 7 11
Atlanta 4
AL Goose Goslin Washington 5 11
St. Louis 3
Detroit 3
AL Frank Thomas Chicago 10 11
Oakland 1
ML Joe Carter Cleveland [AL] 3 10
San Diego [NL] 1
Toronto [AL] 6
ML Vladimir Guerrero Montreal [NL] 5 10
Los Angeles [AL] 4
Texas [AL] 1
NL Willie Mays New York 2 10
San Francisco 8
NL Stan Musial St. Louis 10 10
AL David Ortiz Boston 10 10
AL Rafael Palmeiro Texas 1 10
Baltimore 4
Texas 5

Most Seasons
With 100+ RBIs
Consecutively
(Every Player With 10+)

Bold = League Records

AL Jimmie Foxx Philadelphia 7 13
Boston 6
AL Lou Gehrig New York 13 13
AL Alex Rodriguez Seattle 3 13
Texas 3
New York 7
AL Al Simmons Philadelphia 9 11
Chicago 2
ML Miguel Cabrera Florida [NL] 4 11
Detroit [AL] 7
NL Albert Pujols St. Louis 10 10
Most Seasons
With 150+ RBIs
AL Lou Gehrig New York 7 1927
1930
1931
1932
1934
1936
1937
NL Sammy Sosa Chicago 2 1998
2001
Hack Wilson Chicago 1929
1930
Most Seasons
With 150+ RBIs
Consecutively
AL Lou Gehrig New York 3 1930 - 1932
Babe Ruth New York 1929 - 1931
NL Hack Wilson Chicago 2 1929 - 1930

Runs Batted In Records / RBI Records

Month-by-Month RBI Records | Original Research by Glenn Rooth

Most RBIs
In March
AL Domingo Santana Seattle 10 2019
NL Cody Bellinger Los Angeles 8 2019
Christian Yelich Milwaukee 8 2019
Most RBIs
In April
AL Juan Gonzalez Texas 35 1998
NL Barry Bonds San Francisco 32 1996
Mark McGwire St. Louis 1998
Albert Pujols St. Louis 2006
Most RBIs
In May
AL Ty Cobb Detroit 43 1925
NL Cy Williams Philadelphia 44 1923
Most RBIs
In June
AL Hank Greenberg Detroit 47 1935
NL Mel Ott New York 47 1929
Most RBIs
In July
AL Lou Gehrig New York 49 1930
NL Cap Anson Chicago 43 1894
Most RBIs
In August
AL Joe DiMaggio New York 53 1939
NL Sam Thompson Philadelphia 61 1894
Most RBIs
In September
AL Babe Ruth New York 43 1927
NL Sam Thompson Philadelphia 54 1895
Most
In October
AL Carlos Beltran Kansas City 12 2001
Hal McRae Kansas City 12 1980
NL Richie Sexson Milwaukee 14 2001

Runs Batted In Records / RBI Records

Game Specific RBI Records

Most RBIs in a Game AL Tony Lazzeri New York 11 05-24-1936
NL Jim Bottomley St. Louis 12 09-16-1924
Mark Whiten St. Louis 09-07-1993
Most RBIs in a Game
By A Leadoff Batter
AL Bill Glynn Cleveland 8 07-05-1954
Jim Northrup Detroit 07-11-1973
Mookie Betts Boston 07-02-2017
NL Augie Bergamo St. Louis 8 07-04-1945
Ronnie Belliard Colorado 09-23-2003
Most RBIs in a Game
By A Pitcher
AL Vic Raschi New York 7 08-04-1953
NL Tony Cloninger Atlanta 9 07-03-1966
Henry Staley Boston 06-01-1893

Most RBIs in a Game
First Game Ever
(Since Official RBIs [1920])

Bold = League Record

AL Pat Borders Toronto 5 04-06-1988
Ben Grieve Oakland 09-03-1997
NL Starlin Castro Chicago 6 05-07-2010
Joe Cunningham St. Louis 5 06-30-1954
Walter Mueller Philadelphia 05-07-1922
Most RBIs
In A Doubleheader
AL Earl Averill Cleveland 11 09-17-1930
Cleveland 09-17-1930
Boog Powell Baltimore 07-06-1966
Baltimore 07-06-1966
Jim Tabor Boston 07-04-1939
Boston 07-04-1939
NL Nate Colbert San Diego 13 08-01-1972
San Diego 08-01-1972
Mark Whiten St. Louis 09-07-1993
St. Louis 09-07-1993
Most RBIs
In 2 Consecutive Games
AL Tony Lazzeri New York 15 05-23-1936 (4)
05-24-1936 (11)
NL Sammy Sosa Chicago 14 08-10-2002 (9)
08-11-2002 (5)

Most RBIs
In Any Inning

Bold = League Record

AA Ed Cartwright St. Louis 7 09-23-1890
AL Alex Rodriguez New York 7 10-04-2009
6th Inning
Bobby Abreu New York 6 09-12-2006
1st Inning
Joe Astroth Philadelphia 09-23-1950
6th Inning
Raul Ibanez Seattle 08-04-2008
7th Inning
Bob Johnson Philadelphia 08-29-1937
1st Inning
Jim Lemon Washington 09-05-1959
3rd Inning
Tom McBride Boston 08-04-1945
4th Inning
Gil McDougald New York 05-03-1951
9th Inning
Sam Mele Chicago 06-10-1952
4th Inning
David Ortiz Boston 08-12-2008
1st Inning
Carlos Quintana Boston 07-30-1991
3rd Inning
Matt Stairs Oakland 07-05-1996
1st Inning
Matt Williams Cleveland 08-27-1997
4th Inning
NL Fernando Tatis St. Louis 8 04-23-1999
3rd Inning

Most Games
With An RBI
Consecutively
1 RBI in Each Game

Bold = League Record

AL Tris Speaker Philadelphia 14 05-16-1928
05-30-1928
Mike Sweeney Kansas City 13 06-23-1999
07-04-1999
Taffy Wright Chicago 13 05-04-1941
05-20-1941
NL Ray Grimes Chicago 17 06-27-1922
07-23-1922
Mike Piazza New York 15 06-14-2000
07-02-2000
Jorge Cantu Florida 14 09-29-2009
04-15-2010
George Van Haltren New York 14 07-25-1895
08-10-1895
Nap Lajoie Philadelphia 13 04-19-1899
05-03-1899
Runs Batted In Records | RBI Records |Research by Baseball Almanac
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baseball almanac fast facts

The American & National League record for runs batted during a game are listed above, but posted below are batters with at least ten RBIs in a game—a feat rarer than a perfect game or four home run game:

# 10 RBIs in a Game Team LG Pos Date RBIs
1. Jim Bottomley St. Louis NL 1B 09-16-1924 12
2. Mark Whiten St. Louis NL CF 09-07-1993 12
3. Wilbert Robinson Baltimore NL C 06-10-1892 11
4. Tony Lazzeri New York AL 2B 05-24-1936 11
5. Phil Weintraub New York NL 1B 04-30-1944 11
6. Rudy York Boston AL 1B 07-27-1946 10
7. Walker Cooper Cincinnati NL C 07-06-1949 10
8. Norm Zauchin Boston AL 1B 05-27-1955 10
9. Reggie Jackson Oakland AL RF 06-14-1969 10
10. Fred Lynn Boston AL CF 06-18-1975 10
11. Nomar Garciaparra Boston AL SS 05-10-1999 10
12. Alex Rodriguez New York AL 3B 04-26-2005 10
13. Garret Anderson Los Angeles AL LF 08-21-2007 10
14. Anthony Rendon Washington NL 3B 04-30-2017 10
15. Scooter Gennett Cincinnati NL LF 06-06-2017 10
16. Mark Reynolds Washington NL 1B 07-07-2018 10

Did you know that hall of famer Richie Ashburn of the National League Philadelphia Phillies (twenty in 1959) & Morrie Rath of the American League Chicago White Sox (nineteen in 1912) hold their respective league records for fewest runs batted in during a complete season (one-hundred fifty games played)?

On September 2, 1996, Mike Greenwell of Boston had nine runs batted in during a ten inning game. This is the record for most runs batted in where one player accounted for ALL of a team's RBIs.