# List of Major League Baseball career assists as an outfielder leaders

In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is credited to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also credited if a putout would have occurred, had another fielder not committed an error. For example, a shortstop might field a ground ball cleanly, but the first baseman might drop his throw. In this case, an error would be charged to the first baseman, and the shortstop would be credited with an assist. Unlike putouts, exactly one of which is awarded for every defensive out, an out can result in no assists being credited (as in strikeouts, fly outs and line drives), or in assists being credited to multiple players (as in relay throws and rundown plays). An outfielder (OF) is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter, who are identified as the left fielder (LF), the center fielder (CF), and the right fielder (RF). An outfielder's 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. Outfielders normally play behind the six other members of the defense who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, outfielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the outfielders are assigned the numbers 7 (left field), 8 (center field), and 9 (right field).
Outfielders are most commonly credited with an assist when they throw the ball to an infielder who tags a runner attempting to advance on the basepaths, even on a caught fly ball that results in an out (see tag up); of special importance are throws to the catcher if the runner is trying to reach home plate to score a run, perhaps on a sacrifice fly. Outfielders will often record assists by throwing out runners who try to advance farther than the batter, such as going from first to third base on a single, or batter/runners who try to stretch a hit into a longer one. Outfielders also earn assists on relay throws to infielders after particularly deep fly balls, by throwing to a base to record an out on an appeal play, or in situations where they might deflect a fly ball before another defensive player makes the catch; in extraordinary instances, right fielders have occasionally recorded assists by throwing out batters at first base after fielding uncaught line drives that reached them quickly. Outfielders record far fewer assists than other players due to the difficulty of making an accurate throw in time to retire a runner from a great distance; middle infielders routinely record more assists in a single season than outfielders do in their entire careers. Assists are an important statistic for outfielders, giving a greater indication about an outfielder's throwing arm than assists by infielders do. In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills.
The list of career leaders is dominated by players from the 1890s through 1920s, including the dead-ball era, due to that period's emphasis on more aggressive baserunning. None of the top 16 players were active after 1934, and only one of the top 50 was active after 1947; none of the top 80 has been active since 1983. Only five of the top 29 single-season totals were recorded after 1894, and only one of the top 157 was recorded after 1936; only four of the top 445 have been recorded since 1963, none of them since 1983. Because game accounts and box scores often did not distinguish between the outfield positions, there has been some difficulty in determining precise defensive statistics prior to 1901; because of this, and because of the similarity in their roles, defensive statistics for the three positions are frequently combined. Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career assists as an outfielder with 449, nearly 200 more than any player whose career began after 1920; he is the only outfielder with more than 400 career assists. Starling Marte, who had 106 assists through the 2024 season to place him tied for 357th all-time, is the leader among active players.

## Key

| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career assists. A blank field indicates a tie. |
| Player | Name of player |
| Main pos. | Primary outfield position played during career (LF, CF, or RF) |
| MLB | Total career assists as an outfielder in Major League Baseball |
| * | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame |

## List

* Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.
| Rank | Player (2025 As) | Main Pos. | Assists as an outfielder | Assists as an outfielder | Assists as an outfielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Rank | Player (2025 As) | Main Pos. | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| 1 | Tris Speaker * | CF | 449 | 449 | 0 | Holds the American League single-season record (35 in 1909 and 1912) |
| 2 | Ty Cobb* | CF | 392 | 392 | 0 | Held American League record, 1912-1916, 1917-1918 |
| 3 | Jimmy Ryan | CF | 375 | 23 | 327 | Includes 25 in Players' League; held major league record, 1900-1924; held National League record, 1898-1927 |
| 4 | Tom Brown | CF | 349 | 0 | 186 | Includes 131 in American Association, 32 in Players' League; held major league record, 1894-1900 |
| | George Van Haltren | CF | 349 | 0 | 312 | Includes 21 in American Association, 16 in Players' League |
| 6 | Harry Hooper* | RF | 344 | 344 | 0 | |
| 7 | Max Carey* | CF | 339 | 0 | 339 | |
| 8 | Jimmy Sheckard | LF | 307 | 0 | 307 | Held the modern (post-1900) single-season record, 1903-1907 |
| 9 | Clyde Milan | CF | 294 | 294 | 0 | |
| 10 | Orator Shafer | RF | 290 | 0 | 244 | Includes 24 in Union Association, 21 in American Association, 1 in National Association; held major league record, 1879-1889, 1890-1894; held National League record, 1878-1887; holds the single-season record of 50 (set in 1879) |
| 11 | King Kelly* | RF | 285 | 0 | 282 | Includes 2 in Players' League, 1 in American Association; held major league record, 1889-1890; held National League record, 1887-1898 |
| 12 | Sam Thompson* | RF | 283 | 0 | 283 | |
| 13 | Sam Rice* | RF | 278 | 278 | 0 | |
| 14 | Dummy Hoy | CF | 274 | 16 | 209 | Includes 26 in American Association, 23 in Players' League |
| 15 | Jesse Burkett* | LF | 270 | 62 | 208 | |
| 16 | Sam Crawford* | RF | 268 | 197 | 71 | |
| 17 | Roberto Clemente* | RF | 266 | 0 | 266 | |
| | Tommy McCarthy* | RF | 266 | 0 | 132 | Includes 123 in American Association, 11 in Union Association |
| 19 | Patsy Donovan | RF | 265 | 15 | 233 | Includes 17 in American Association |
| 20 | Willie Keeler* | RF | 258 | 90 | 168 | |
| 21 | Mel Ott* | RF | 256 | 0 | 256 | |
| 22 | Fred Clarke* | LF | 254 | 0 | 254 | |
| 23 | George Gore | CF | 243 | 0 | 232 | Includes 11 in Players' League |
| | Mike Griffin | CF | 243 | 0 | 153 | Includes 57 in American Association, 33 in Players' League |
| 25 | Hugh Duffy* | CF | 241 | 5 | 179 | Includes 34 in Players' League, 23 in American Association |
| | Paul Waner* | RF | 241 | 0 | 241 | |
| 27 | Ed Delahanty* | LF | 238 | 17 | 216 | Includes 5 in Players' League |
| 28 | Paul Hines | CF | 237 | 0 | 213 | Includes 16 in National Association, 8 in American Association |
| 29 | Zack Wheat* | LF | 232 | 8 | 224 | |
| 30 | Jim O'Rourke* | LF | 228 | 0 | 191 | Includes 25 in Players' League, 12 in National Association |
| | Chicken Wolf | RF | 228 | 0 | 0 | Includes 228 in American Association (league record) |
| 32 | Hugh Nicol | RF | 226 | 0 | 46 | Includes 180 in American Association |
| | Cy Williams | CF | 226 | 0 | 226 | |
| 34 | Fielder Jones | CF | 225 | 150 | 75 | Held American League record, 1906-1912 |
| 35 | Pop Corkhill | CF | 224 | 0 | 28 | Includes 196 in American Association |
| 36 | Dode Paskert | CF | 223 | 0 | 223 | |
| 37 | Edd Roush* | CF | 222 | 0 | 197 | Includes 25 in Federal League |
| 38 | Goose Goslin* | LF | 221 | 221 | 0 | |
| | Tillie Walker | LF | 221 | 221 | 0 | |
| 40 | Paul Radford | RF | 217 | 0 | 169 | Includes 32 in American Association, 16 in Players' League |
| 41 | Joe Kelley* | LF | 212 | 7 | 205 | |
| 42 | Duffy Lewis | LF | 210 | 210 | 0 | |
| 43 | Steve Brodie | CF | 209 | 4 | 205 | |
| | Ned Hanlon* | CF | 209 | 0 | 193 | Includes 16 in Players' League |
| 45 | Bob Johnson | LF | 208 | 208 | 0 | |
| 46 | Bobby Veach | LF | 207 | 207 | 0 | |
| | Curt Welch | CF | 207 | 0 | 8 | Includes 199 in American Association |
| 48 | Babe Ruth* | RF | 204 | 203 | 1 | |
| 49 | George Wood | LF | 203 | 0 | 143 | Includes 35 in Players' League, 25 in American Association |
| 50 | Jack Tobin | RF | 202 | 150 | 0 | Includes 52 in Federal League |
| 51 | Hank Aaron* | RF | 201 | 0 | 201 | |
| | John Titus | RF | 201 | 0 | 201 | |
| 53 | George Burns | LF | 197 | 0 | 197 | |
| | Elmer Flick* | RF | 197 | 106 | 91 | |
| | Kip Selbach | LF | 197 | 54 | 143 | |
| 56 | Charlie Jamieson | LF | 196 | 196 | 0 | |
| | Willie Mays* | CF | 196 | 0 | 195 | Includes 1 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| 58 | Carl Yastrzemski* | LF | 195 | 195 | 0 | |
| 59 | Chuck Klein* | RF | 194 | 0 | 194 | Holds the modern (post-1900) single-season record of 44 (set in 1930) |
| | Frank Schulte | RF | 194 | 10 | 184 | |
| 61 | Kiki Cuyler* | RF | 191 | 0 | 191 | |
| | Ross Youngs* | RF | 191 | 0 | 191 | |
| 63 | Tommy Griffith | RF | 189 | 0 | 189 | |
| 64 | Cy Seymour | CF | 188 | 32 | 156 | |
| | Roy Thomas | CF | 188 | 0 | 188 | |
| 66 | Harry Heilmann* | RF | 183 | 167 | 16 | |
| | Shoeless Joe Jackson | RF | 183 | 183 | 0 | |
| 68 | Billy Hamilton* | CF | 182 | 0 | 158 | Includes 24 in American Association |
| 69 | Max Flack | RF | 181 | 0 | 139 | Includes 42 in Federal League |
| 70 | Mike Mitchell | RF | 180 | 11 | 169 | Held the modern (post-1900) single-season record, 1907-1930 |
| 71 | Richie Ashburn* | CF | 178 | 0 | 178 | |
| 72 | Shano Collins | RF | 177 | 177 | 0 | |
| | Chief Wilson | RF | 177 | 0 | 177 | |
| 74 | Gavvy Cravath | RF | 176 | 8 | 168 | |
| | Joe Hornung | LF | 176 | 0 | 144 | Includes 32 in American Association |
| | Nemo Leibold | CF | 176 | 176 | 0 | |
| | Sherry Magee | LF | 176 | 0 | 176 | |
| | Red Murray | RF | 176 | 0 | 176 | |
| 79 | Johnny Callison | RF | 175 | 11 | 164 | |
| 80 | Emmett Seery | LF | 174 | 0 | 110 | Includes 26 in Union Association, 21 in Players' League, 17 in American Association |
| 81 | Barry Bonds | LF | 173 | 0 | 173 | |
| | Les Mann | LF | 173 | 0 | 156 | Includes 17 in Federal League |
| | Burt Shotton | CF | 173 | 152 | 21 | |
| 84 | Doc Cramer | CF | 172 | 172 | 0 | |
| | Dick Johnston | CF | 172 | 0 | 123 | Includes 30 in American Association, 19 in Players' League |
| | Vada Pinson | CF | 172 | 56 | 116 | |
| 87 | Jim Fogarty | RF | 171 | 0 | 154 | Includes 17 in Players' League |
| 88 | Al Kaline* | RF | 170 | 170 | 0 | |
| 89 | Al Simmons* | LF | 169 | 161 | 8 | |
| 90 | Jimmy Slagle | CF | 168 | 0 | 168 | |
| 91 | Ginger Beaumont | CF | 167 | 0 | 167 | |
| | Ken Williams | LF | 167 | 154 | 13 | |
| 93 | Dave Winfield* | RF | 166 | 74 | 92 | |
| 94 | Rusty Staub | RF | 165 | 12 | 153 | |
| | Harry Stovey | LF | 165 | 0 | 54 | Includes 87 in American Association, 24 in Players' League |
| 96 | Pete Hotaling | CF | 163 | 0 | 113 | Includes 50 in American Association |
| | Charley Jones | LF | 163 | 0 | 66 | Includes 95 in American Association, 2 in National Association |
| 98 | Jesse Barfield | RF | 162 | 162 | 0 | |
| | Johnny Bates | CF | 162 | 0 | 155 | Includes 7 in Federal League |
| | Chick Stahl | CF | 162 | 83 | 79 | |

## Other Hall of Famers

| Player | Main Pos. | Assists as an outfielder | Assists as an outfielder | Assists as an outfielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Player | Main Pos. | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| Tony Gwynn* | RF | 160 | 0 | 160 | |
| Andre Dawson* | RF | 157 | 0 | 157 | |
| Ken Griffey Jr.* | CF | 154 | 109 | 45 | |
| Larry Walker* | RF | 154 | 0 | 154 | |
| Joe DiMaggio* | CF | 153 | 153 | 0 | |
| Enos Slaughter* | RF | 152 | 10 | 142 | |
| Lloyd Waner* | CF | 151 | 0 | 151 | |
| Casey Stengel* | RF | 147 | 0 | 147 | |
| Billy Williams* | LF | 143 | 0 | 143 | |
| Lou Brock* | LF | 142 | 0 | 142 | |
| Kirby Puckett* | CF | 142 | 142 | 0 | |
| Ted Williams* | LF | 140 | 140 | 0 | |
| Joe Medwick* | LF | 139 | 0 | 139 | |
| Minnie Miñoso* | LF | 139 | 137 | 2 | |
| Jim Rice* | LF | 137 | 137 | 0 | |
| Frank Robinson * | RF | 135 | 40 | 95 | |
| Tim Raines* | LF | 134 | 46 | 88 | |
| Reggie Jackson* | RF | 133 | 133 | 0 | |
| Rickey Henderson* | LF | 131 | 118 | 13 | |
| Stan Musial* | LF | 130 | 0 | 130 | |
| Billy Southworth* | RF | 127 | 7 | 120 | |
| Vladimir Guerrero* | RF | 126 | 42 | 84 | |
| Duke Snider* | CF | 123 | 0 | 123 | |
| Ichiro Suzuki* | RF | 123 | 111 | 12 | |
| Mickey Mantle* | CF | 117 | 117 | 0 | |
| Earl Averill* | CF | 115 | 113 | 2 | |
| Chick Hafey* | LF | 106 | 0 | 106 | |
| Heinie Manush* | LF | 105 | 97 | 8 | |
| Willie Stargell* | LF | 102 | 0 | 102 | |
| Hack Wilson* | CF | 98 | 0 | 98 | |
| Larry Doby* | CF | 88 | 88 | 0 | |
| Ralph Kiner* | LF | 80 | 2 | 78 | |
| John Montgomery Ward* | CF | 77 | 0 | 77 | |
| George Davis* | CF | 74 | 0 | 74 | |
| Oscar Charleston* | CF | 71 | 0 | 0 | Includes 46 in Negro National League (first), 17 in Eastern Colored League, 8 in American Negro League (incomplete) |
| Tony Oliva* | RF | 71 | 71 | 0 | |
| Harold Baines* | RF | 69 | 69 | 0 | |
| Earle Combs* | CF | 69 | 69 | 0 | |
| Cool Papa Bell* | CF | 67 | 0 | 0 | Includes 38 in Negro National League (first), 22 in Negro National League (second), 7 in East–West League (incomplete) |
| Turkey Stearnes* | CF | 59 | 0 | 0 | Includes 41 in Negro National League (first), 14 in Negro National League (second), 4 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Honus Wagner* | RF | 56 | 0 | 56 | |
| Robin Yount* | CF | 54 | 54 | 0 | |
| Monte Irvin* | LF | 52 | 0 | 45 | Includes 7 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| Freddie Lindstrom* | CF | 49 | 0 | 49 | |
| Roger Bresnahan* | CF | 47 | 4 | 43 | |
| Cristóbal Torriente* | CF | 39 | 0 | 0 | Includes 39 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete) |
| Deacon White* | RF | 31 | 0 | 27 | Includes 4 in National Association |
| Mule Suttles* | LF | 28 | 0 | 0 | Includes 22 in Negro National League (first), 6 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| Willard Brown* | CF | 25 | 0 | 0 | Includes 25 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Harry Wright* | CF | 23 | 0 | 1 | Includes 22 in National Association |
| Cap Anson* | LF | 21 | 0 | 6 | Includes 15 in National Association |
| Craig Biggio* | CF | 21 | 0 | 21 | |
| Pete Hill* | LF | 19 | 0 | 0 | Includes 19 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete) |
| Hank Greenberg* | LF | 17 | 17 | 0 | |
| Orlando Cepeda* | LF | 15 | 0 | 15 | |
| Willie McCovey* | LF | 14 | 0 | 14 | |
| Martín Dihigo* | CF | 9 | 0 | 0 | Includes 5 in Eastern Colored League, 4 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| Paul Molitor* | CF | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Todd Helton* | LF | 2 | 0 | 2 | |