List of major League Baseball career on - base percentage Leaders - wikipedia List of major League Baseball career on - base percentage Leaders Ted Williams has the highest career on - base percentage in MLB history, led the American League in 12 seasons ( also a record ), and held the single - season on - base percentage record for 61 years. In baseball statistics, on - base percentage ( OBP ) is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder 's choice, dropped or uncaught third strike, fielder 's obstruction, or catcher 's interference. OBP is calculated in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) by dividing the sum of hits, walks, and times hit by a pitch by the sum of at - bats, walks, times hit by pitch and sacrifice flies. A hitter with a. 400 on - base percentage is considered to be great and rare ; only 55 players in MLB history with at least 3,000 career plate appearances ( PA ) have maintained such an OBP. Left fielder Ted Williams, who played 19 seasons for the Boston Red Sox, has the highest career on - base percentage,. 4817, in MLB history. Williams led the American League ( AL ) in on - base percentage in twelve seasons, the most such seasons for any player in the major leagues. Barry Bonds led the National League ( NL ) in ten seasons, a NL record. Williams also posted the then - highest single - season on - base percentage of. 5528 in 1941, a record that stood for 61 years until Bonds broke it with a. 5817 OBP in 2002. Bonds broke his own record in 2004, setting the current single - season mark of. 6094. Mickey Cochrane is the only catcher and Arky Vaughan is the only shortstop with a career mark of at least. 400. Of the 43 players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame with a career on - base percentage of. 400 or higher, 27 have been elected. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played at least 10 major league seasons, have been either retired for five seasons or deceased for six months, and have not been banned from MLB. These requirements leave 6 living players ineligible who have played in the past 5 seasons ; 5 players ( Bill Joyce, Ferris Fain, Jake Stenzel, Bill Lange, and George Selkirk ) who did not play 10 seasons in MLB ; and Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was banned for his role in the Black Sox Scandal. Contents 1 Key 2 List 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References Key Rank Rank amongst leaders in career on - base percentage. A blank field indicates a tie. Player Name of the player. BA Total career on - base percentage. * Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bold Denotes active player. List Joey Votto, the active leader in career on - base percentage and 12th all - time. Stats updated as of April 17, 2018. Rank Player OBP Ted Williams *. 4817 Babe Ruth *. 4739 John McGraw *. 4657 Billy Hamilton *. 4552 5 Lou Gehrig *. 4474 6 Barry Bonds. 4443 7 Bill Joyce. 4349 8 Rogers Hornsby *. 4337 9 Ty Cobb *. 4330 10 Jimmie Foxx *. 4283 11 Tris Speaker *. 4279 12 Joey Votto. 4267 13 Eddie Collins *. 4244 14 Ferris Fain. 4241 15 Dan Brouthers *. 4234 16 Max Bishop. 4230 17 Shoeless Joe Jackson. 4227 18 Mickey Mantle *. 4205 19 Mickey Cochrane *. 4192 20 Frank Thomas *. 4191 21 Edgar Martínez. 4178 22 Stan Musial *. 4167 23 Cupid Childs. 4157 24 Wade Boggs *. 4150 25 Jesse Burkett *. 4149 26 Todd Helton. 4140 Mel Ott *. 4140 28 Roy Thomas. 4135 29 Lefty O'Doul. 4133 30 Hank Greenberg *. 4118 31 Ed Delahanty *. 4112 32 Manny Ramirez. 4106 33 Charlie Keller. 4099 34 Eddie Stanky. 4098 35 Mike Trout. 4096 36 Harry Heilmann *. 4095 37 Jackie Robinson *. 4089 38 Roy Cullenbine. 4082 39 Jake Stenzel. 4078 40 Jeff Bagwell *. 4076 41 Denny Lyons. 4074 42 Riggs Stephenson. 4065 43 Lance Berkman. 4060 44 Arky Vaughan *. 4058 45 Joe Harris. 4044 46 Paul Waner *. 4043 47 Charlie Gehringer *. 4036 48 Joe Cunningham. 4035 49 Pete Browning. 4028 50 Lu Blue. 4022 Rank Player OBP 51 Jim Thome *. 4019 52 Joe Kelley *. 4017 53 Rickey Henderson *. 4012 54 Chipper Jones *. 4011 55 Larry Walker. 4002 56 Bill Lange. 4001 57 Brian Giles. 3998 George Selkirk. 3998 59 Luke Appling *. 3994 60 Jason Giambi. 3993 61 Paul Goldschmidt. 3990 62 Nick Johnson. 3989 63 Ross Youngs *. 3985 64 Joe DiMaggio *. 3983 Elmer Valo. 3983 66 Ralph Kiner *. 3980 John Olerud. 3980 68 Mike Smith. 3977 69 Ed Morgan. 3975 70 Johnny Mize *. 3971 71 Earle Combs *. 3969 Roger Connor *. 3969 73 John Kruk. 3966 74 Richie Ashburn *. 3964 75 Mike Hargrove. 3958 76 Hack Wilson *. 3951 77 Bobby Abreu. 3950 78 Earl Averill *. 3947 79 Miguel Cabrera. 3944 80 Johnny Pesky. 3943 81 Mark McGwire. 3941 82 Cap Anson *. 3940 Frank Chance *. 3940 Stan Hack. 3940 Eddie Yost. 3940 86 Ken Williams. 3933 87 Wally Schang. 3931 88 Rod Carew *. 3930 Gary Sheffield. 3930 90 Bob Johnson. 3928 91 Bill Terry *. 3927 92 George Grantham. 3924 Tip O'Neill. 3924 94 Jack Fournier. 3921 Joe Morgan *. 3921 96 Mike Tiernan. 3919 97 Joe Mauer. 3918 98 Honus Wagner *. 3911 99 Joe Sewell *. 3909 100 Hughie Jennings *. 3907 See also Baseball portal List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders List of Major League Baseball career OPS leaders Notes Jump up ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season. References General `` Career Leaders & Records for On - Base % ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 10, 2015. Specific Jump up ^ `` Official Rules : 10.00 The Official Scorer ''. MLB.com. Retrieved January 15, 2010. Jump up ^ Verducci, Tom ( April 5, 2004 ). `` Smart Stats, Dumb Stats ''. CNN Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 14, 2010. Jump up ^ Lewis, Michael ( 2003 ). Moneyball : The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. United States : W.W. Norton & Company Inc. p. 127. ISBN 0 - 393 - 05765 - 8. ^ Jump up to : `` Ted Williams Statistics and History ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Yearly League Leaders & Records for On - Base % ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Barry Bonds Statistics and History ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Single - Season Leaders & Records for On - Base % ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Mickey Cochrane Statistics and History ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Arky Vaughan Statistics and History ''. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 14, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Rules for Election : BBWAA ''. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved June 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Neyer, Rob ( August 2, 2001 ). `` Say it ai n't so... for Joe and the Hall ''. ESPN Classic. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved January 15, 2010. Major League Baseball records Baseball statistics ( types of records ) General Record holders Single - game records Single - season records Record breakers by season Records considered unbreakable Batting leaders Career Batting average On - base percentage Times on base Slugging percentage OPS Hits 3,000 club Progressive Singles Doubles Triples Home runs 500 club Progressive Extra base hits RBIs Total bases Walks Intentional HBP Strikeouts Games played At - bats Plate appearances Annual Batting average Doubles Triples Home runs RBI Season Batting average Triples Home run Progressive Game Home runs Hitting for the cycle Grand slams RBI Game Inning Hits Misc Consecutive game hitting streak On - base plus slugging Hits Home runs Doubles Triples RBIs Baserunning leaders Career Runs Stolen bases Annual Runs Stolen bases Game Runs Misc Stolen bases Runs Pitching leaders Career Wins 300 club Losses Games started Games finished Innings pitched Strikeouts 3,000 club Saves Complete games Shutouts ERA WHIP Walks Hit batsmen Wild pitches Batters faced Annual Wins Saves Shutouts Strikeouts ERA Game No - hitter Perfect game List of perfect games Strikeouts Game Inning Immaculate innings Misc Wins Fielding leaders Career Putouts 1B 2B SS 3B OF LF CF RF Errors 1B 2B SS 3B OF LF Assists Passed balls Annual Putouts Errors Managing records Wins and winning percentage Multiple stat records Triple Crown 20 -- 20 -- 20 club 30 -- 30 club 40 -- 40 club Other Consecutive games played Longest winning streaks Longest losing streaks Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Major_League_Baseball_career_on-base_percentage_leaders&oldid=837141421 '' Categories : Major League Baseball lists Major League Baseball statistics Hidden categories : Featured lists Talk Contents About Wikipedia Português Edit links This page was last edited on 19 April 2018, at 00 : 11. 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Question: who has the highest on base percentage of all time
Answer: Barry Bonds