# List of Major League Baseball career putouts as a center fielder leaders

In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by PO or fly out when appropriate) is given to a defensive player who records an out by tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base, catching a batted or thrown ball and tagging a base to put out a batter or runner (a force out), catching a thrown ball and tagging a base to record an out on an appeal play, catching a third strike (a strikeout), catching a batted ball on the fly (a fly out), or being positioned closest to a runner called out for interference. The center fielder (CF) is one of the three outfielders, the defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. Center field is the area of the outfield directly in front of a person standing at home plate and facing beyond the pitcher's mound. The outfielders' duty is to try to catch long fly balls before they hit the ground or to quickly catch or retrieve and return to the infield any other balls entering the outfield. Generally having the most territory to cover, the center fielder is usually the fastest of the three outfielders, although this can also depend on the relative strength of their throwing arms and the configuration of their home field, due to the deepest part of center field being the farthest point from the infield and home plate. The center fielder normally plays behind the shortstop and second baseman, who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, center fielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the center fielder is assigned the number 8.
The overwhelming majority of putouts recorded by center fielders, almost to exclusivity, result from catching fly balls. However, in extraordinary circumstances, an outfielder may record a putout by receiving a throw to force out or tag out a runner while covering a base if one or more infielders are out of position to retrieve an errant throw, or by tagging a runner stranded between bases in a rundown play; however, even in such circumstances, outfielders will more typically act as a backup to infielders than cover a base themselves. Historically, putout totals for outfielders rose after 1920 with the end of the dead-ball era; the same circumstances that had kept home run totals low, such as overused baseballs and legal adulterations including the spitball, had similarly hindered the type of power hitting which lent itself to long fly balls. But as strikeout totals have risen in baseball in recent decades, the frequency of other defensive outs including flyouts has declined; as a result, putout totals for outfielders have likewise declined. Through the 2022 season, 27 of the top 30 single-season center field putout totals were recorded between 1924 and 1986; only five of the top 112 have been recorded since 2003.
Because game accounts and box scores often did not distinguish between the outfield positions, there has been some difficulty in determining precise defensive statistics before 1901; because of this, and because of the similarity in their roles, defensive statistics for the three positions are frequently combined. Although efforts to distinguish between the three positions regarding games played during this period and reconstruct the separate totals have been largely successful, separate putout totals are unavailable; players whose totals are missing the figures for pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Because they are expected to cover more territory in the outfield than their counterparts on either side, often being the fastest player of the three, center fielders typically record the highest putout totals; six of the top seven career leaders in outfield putouts, and 14 of the top 18, were center fielders. Willie Mays is the all-time leader in putouts as a center fielder with 7,024; he is the only player to record more than 7,000 career putouts as a center fielder.

## Key

| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career putouts. A blank field indicates a tie. |
| Player (2025 POs) | Number of recorded putouts during the 2025 Major League Baseball season |
| MLB | Total career putouts as a center fielder in Major League Baseball |
| * | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame |
| † | Denotes total is missing figures for pre-1901 games |
| Bold | Denotes active player |

## List

* Stats updated as of the end of the season.
| Rank | Player (2025 POs) | Putouts as a center fielder | Putouts as a center fielder | Putouts as a center fielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Rank | Player (2025 POs) | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| 1 | Willie Mays* | 7,024 | 0 | 7,024 | |
| 2 | Tris Speaker* | 6,757 | 6,757 | 0 | Held modern major league record, 1915-1971; held the single-season record, 1914-1917; held the American League single-season record, 1914-1920 |
| 3 | Richie Ashburn* | 5,803 | 0 | 5,803 | Held National League record, 1958-1967; holds the single-season record of 532 (set in 1951) |
| 4 | Steve Finley | 5,348 | 439 | 4,909 | |
| 5 | Willie Davis | 5,279 | 100 | 5,179 | |
| 6 | Ty Cobb* | 5,156 | 5,156 | 0 | Held the modern single-season record, 1911-1914 |
| 7 | Ken Griffey Jr.* | 5,147 | 3,706 | 1,441 | |
| 8 | Brett Butler | 4,947 | 1,704 | 3,243 | |
| 9 | Kenny Lofton | 4,758 | 3,554 | 1,204 | |
| 10 | Amos Otis | 4,743 | 4,696 | 47 | |
| 11 | Marquis Grissom | 4,706 | 354 | 4,352 | |
| 12 | Mike Cameron | 4,700 | 2,437 | 2,263 | |
| 13 | Doc Cramer | 4,661 | 4,661 | 0 | |
| 14 | Max Carey* | 4,580 | 0 | 4,580 | Held National League record, 1924-1958; held the single-season record, 1917-1920, 1923-1924; held NL single-season record, 1917-1928 |
| 15 | Bernie Williams | 4,576 | 4,576 | 0 | |
| 16 | Andruw Jones | 4,456 | 33 | 4,423 | |
| 17 | Devon White | 4,413 | 3,091 | 1,322 | |
| 18 | Garry Maddox | 4,387 | 0 | 4,387 | |
| 19 | Jim Edmonds | 4,341 | 1,522 | 2,819 | |
| 20 | Edd Roush* | 4,327 | 3 | 3,989 | Includes 335 in Federal League |
| 21 | Paul Blair | 4,270 | 4,167 | 103 | |
| 22 | Lloyd Waner* | 4,225 | 0 | 4,225 | |
| 23 | Joe DiMaggio* | 4,161 | 4,161 | 0 | |
| 24 | Carlos Beltrán | 4,133 | 2,025 | 2,108 | |
| 25 | Fred Lynn | 4,093 | 4,080 | 13 | |
| 26 | Chet Lemon | 4,081 | 4,081 | 0 | Holds the American League single-season record (509 in 1977) |
| 27 | Curt Flood | 4,019 | 17 | 4,002 | |
| 28 | Mickey Mantle* | 4,016 | 4,016 | 0 | |
| 29 | Adam Jones | 3,964 | 3,962 | 2 | |
| 30 | Torii Hunter | 3,948 | 3,948 | 0 | |
| 31 | Kirby Puckett* | 3,853 | 3,853 | 0 | |
| 32 | Vada Pinson | 3,816 | 368 | 3,448 | |
| 33 | Bill Bruton | 3,808 | 1,264 | 2,544 | |
| 34 | Earl Averill* | 3,699 | 3,697 | 2 | |
| 35 | Duke Snider* | 3,641 | 0 | 3,641 | |
| 36 | Bill Virdon | 3,637 | 0 | 3,637 | |
| 37 | César Cedeño | 3,636 | 0 | 3,636 | |
| 38 | Rick Manning | 3,533 | 3,533 | 0 | |
| 39 | Clyde Milan | 3,518 | 3,518 | 0 | |
| 40 | Dom DiMaggio | 3,513 | 3,513 | 0 | |
| 41 | Willie Wilson | 3,465 | 3,346 | 119 | |
| 42 | Dwayne Murphy | 3,442 | 3,439 | 3 | |
| 43 | Sam West | 3,412 | 3,412 | 0 | |
| 44 | Larry Doby* | 3,395 | 3,393 | 0 | Includes 2 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| 45 | Cy Williams | 3,383 | 0 | 3,383 | |
| 46 | Lance Johnson | 3,379 | 2,358 | 1,021 | |
| 47 | Dode Paskert | 3,378 | 0 | 3,378 | Held modern National League record, 1917-1924 |
| 48 | Lloyd Moseby | 3,349 | 3,349 | 0 | |
| 49 | Willie McGee | 3,336 | 137 | 3,199 | |
| 50 | Jim Busby | 3,265 | 3,261 | 4 | Held the American League single-season record, 1954-1977 |
| 51 | Omar Moreno | 3,253 | 432 | 2,821 | |
| 52 | Rick Monday | 3,246 | 1,329 | 1,917 | |
| 53 | Mike Trout (0) | 3,236 | 3,236 | 0 | |
| 54 | Johnny Damon | 3,144 | 3,144 | 0 | |
| 55 | Vernon Wells | 3,132 | 3,132 | 0 | |
| 56 | Jimmy Piersall | 3,121 | 3,058 | 63 | |
| 57 | Lenny Dykstra | 3,090 | 0 | 3,090 | |
| 58 | Brian McRae | 3,084 | 1,616 | 1,468 | |
| 59 | Robin Yount* | 3,056 | 3,056 | 0 | |
| 60 | Curtis Granderson | 2,989 | 2,792 | 197 | |
| 61 | Mickey Rivers | 2,967 | 2,967 | 0 | |
| 62 | Andrew McCutchen (0) | 2,959 | 0 | 2,959 | |
| 63 | Gary Pettis | 2,940 | 2,924 | 16 | |
| 64 | Dave Henderson | 2,926 | 2,916 | 10 | |
| 65 | Baby Doll Jacobson | 2,911 | 2,911 | 0 | Held the single-season record, 1924-1928; held the American League single-season record, 1924-1954 |
| 66 | Earle Combs* | 2,898 | 2,898 | 0 | |
| 67 | Taylor Douthit | 2,873 | 0 | 2,873 | Held the single-season record, 1928-1951 |
| 68 | Sam Chapman | 2,846 | 2,846 | 0 | |
| 69 | Andre Dawson* | 2,826 | 0 | 2,826 | |
| 70 | Hy Myers | 2,818 | 0 | 2,818 | |
| 71 | Ray Lankford | 2,804 | 0 | 2,804 | |
| 72 | Carlos Gómez | 2,781 | 1,234 | 1,547 | |
| 73 | Andy Van Slyke | 2,762 | 40 | 2,722 | |
| 74 | Coco Crisp | 2,761 | 2,761 | 0 | |
| 75 | Bill North | 2,759 | 1,800 | 959 | |
| 76 | B. J. Upton | 2,758 | 2,061 | 697 | |
| 77 | Otis Nixon | 2,751 | 1,606 | 1,145 | |
| 78 | Jim Landis | 2,745 | 2,743 | 2 | |
| 79 | Mike Kreevich | 2,742 | 2,741 | 1 | |
| 80 | Juan Pierre | 2,740 | 0 | 2,740 | |
| 81 | Aaron Rowand | 2,729 | 1,060 | 1,669 | |
| 82 | Michael Bourn | 2,699 | 689 | 2,010 | |
| 83 | Del Unser | 2,684 | 1,306 | 1,378 | |
| 84 | Mookie Wilson | 2,682 | 406 | 2,276 | |
| 85 | Jimmy Wynn | 2,669 | 0 | 2,669 | |
| 86 | Mickey Stanley | 2,666 | 2,666 | 0 | |
| 87 | Terry Moore | 2,651 | 0 | 2,651 | |
| 88 | Denard Span | 2,632 | 1,165 | 1,467 | |
| 89 | Bill Tuttle | 2,600 | 2,600 | 0 | |
| 90 | Gorman Thomas | 2,582 | 2,582 | 0 | |
| 91 | Jacoby Ellsbury | 2,575 | 2,575 | 0 | |
| 92 | Lorenzo Cain | 2,566 | 1,615 | 951 | |
| 93 | Ruppert Jones | 2,543 | 1,684 | 859 | |
| 94 | Roy Thomas † | 2,526 | 0 | 2,526 | Held modern major league record, 1905-1915; held modern National League record, 1902-1917; held the modern single-season record, 1905-1911; held modern NL single-season record, 1903-1917 |
| 95 | Bobby Thomson | 2,516 | 36 | 2,480 | |
| 96 | César Gerónimo | 2,505 | 77 | 2,428 | |
| 97 | Fred Schulte | 2,493 | 2,371 | 122 | |
| 98 | Vince DiMaggio | 2,490 | 0 | 2,490 | |
| 99 | Kevin Kiermaier (0) | 2,438 | 2,375 | 63 | |
| 100 | Austin Jackson | 2,432 | 2,228 | 204 | |

## Other Hall of Famers

| Player | Putouts as a center fielder | Putouts as a center fielder | Putouts as a center fielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Player | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| Hack Wilson* | 2,102 | 0 | 2,102 | |
| Al Simmons* | 1,899 | 1,899 | 0 | |
| Kiki Cuyler* | 1,551 | 0 | 1,551 | |
| Sam Rice* | 1,521 | 1,521 | 0 | Held the single-season record, 1920-1923; held the American League single-season record, 1920-1924 |
| Rickey Henderson* | 1,227 | 1,176 | 51 | |
| Turkey Stearnes* | 1,197 | 0 | 0 | Includes 710 in Negro National League (first), 380 in Negro National League (second), 107 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Cool Papa Bell* | 1,158 | 0 | 0 | Includes 615 in Negro National League (first), 462 in Negro National League (second), 81 in East–West League (incomplete) |
| Al Kaline* | 1,156 | 1,156 | 0 | |
| Oscar Charleston* | 1,026 | 0 | 0 | Includes 645 in Negro National League (first), 242 in Eastern Colored League, 139 in American Negro League (incomplete) |
| Sam Crawford* † | 899 | 899 | 0 | |
| Freddie Lindstrom* | 762 | 0 | 762 | |
| Hank Aaron* | 741 | 0 | 741 | |
| Chick Hafey* | 724 | 0 | 724 | |
| Heinie Manush* | 695 | 695 | 0 | |
| Stan Musial* | 690 | 0 | 690 | |
| Cristóbal Torriente* | 624 | 0 | 0 | Includes 624 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete) |
| Casey Stengel* | 612 | 0 | 612 | |
| Craig Biggio* | 562 | 0 | 562 | |
| Billy Southworth* | 522 | 72 | 450 | |
| Dave Winfield* | 485 | 205 | 280 | |
| Tim Raines* | 421 | 2 | 419 | |
| Reggie Jackson* | 414 | 414 | 0 | |
| Carl Yastrzemski* | 409 | 409 | 0 | |
| Roger Bresnahan* † | 398 | 26 | 372 | |
| Willard Brown* | 395 | 1 | 0 | Includes 394 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Tony Gwynn* | 376 | 0 | 376 | |
| Mel Ott* | 288 | 0 | 288 | |
| Lou Brock* | 241 | 0 | 241 | |
| Billy Hamilton* † | 232 | 0 | 232 | |
| Elmer Flick* † | 225 | 225 | 0 | |
| Ralph Kiner* | 205 | 0 | 205 | |
| Hugh Duffy* † | 142 | 127 | 15 | |
| Joe Kelley* † | 134 | 98 | 36 | |
| Larry Walker* | 129 | 0 | 129 | |
| Harry Heilmann* | 122 | 122 | 0 | |
| Pete Hill* | 112 | 0 | 0 | Includes 112 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete) |
| Paul Molitor* | 112 | 112 | 0 | |
| Martín Dihigo* | 66 | 0 | 0 | Includes 51 in Negro National League (second), 13 in American Negro League, 2 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete) |
| Monte Irvin* | 46 | 0 | 1 | Includes 45 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| Joe Medwick* | 44 | 0 | 44 | |
| Honus Wagner* † | 29 | 0 | 29 | |
| George Davis* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ed Delahanty* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ned Hanlon* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim O'Rourke* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Montgomery Ward* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Harry Wright* † | 0 | 0 | 0 | |