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.
"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 RecordsCareer RBI Records |
|||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
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 | ||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
Runs Batted In Records / RBI RecordsSingle Season RBI Records |
|||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
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 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 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 | |
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
Runs Batted In Records / RBI RecordsMonth-by-Month RBI Records | Original Research by Glenn Rooth |
|||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
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 | |
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
Runs Batted In Records / RBI RecordsGame Specific RBI Records |
|||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
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 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 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 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 | |||||
RBI Records | LG | Name(s) | Team(s) | Data | |
Runs Batted In Records | RBI Records |Research by Baseball Almanac |
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.