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

Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as ex ante substitutes, whether or not they play; however, in Major League Baseball, the application of this statistic does not extend to consecutive games played streaks. A starting pitcher, then, may be credited with a game played even if he is not credited with a game started or an inning pitched. 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.
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. However, efforts to distinguish between the three positions regarding games played during this period and reconstruct the separate totals have been largely successful; players whose totals include pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Willie Mays is all-time leader in games played as a center fielder with 2,829 games played in his career. Tris Speaker (2,691), Steve Finley (2,314), Willie Davis (2,239), Ty Cobb (2,194), Ken Griffey Jr. (2,145), and Doc Cramer (2,027) are the only other players to appear in over 2,000 games in center field in their careers.

## Key

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

## List

* Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.
| Rank | Player (2025 Gs) | Games as a center fielder | Games as a center fielder | Games as a center fielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Rank | Player (2025 Gs) | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| 1 | Willie Mays* | 2,829 | 0 | 2,829 | |
| 2 | Tris Speaker* | 2,691 | 2,691 | 0 | Held major league record, 1920-1971 |
| 3 | Steve Finley | 2,314 | 171 | 2,143 | |
| 4 | Willie Davis | 2,239 | 42 | 2,197 | |
| 5 | Ty Cobb* | 2,194 | 2,194 | 0 | |
| 6 | Ken Griffey Jr.* | 2,145 | 1,517 | 628 | |
| 7 | Doc Cramer | 2,027 | 2,027 | 0 | |
| 8 | Brett Butler | 1,987 | 601 | 1,386 | |
| 9 | Kenny Lofton | 1,984 | 1,445 | 539 | |
| 10 | Richie Ashburn* | 1,980 | 0 | 1,980 | Held National League record, 1959-1965 |
| 11 | Marquis Grissom | 1,967 | 144 | 1,823 | |
| 12 | Bernie Williams | 1,856 | 1,856 | 0 | |
| 13 | Amos Otis | 1,825 | 1,792 | 33 | |
| 14 | Paul Blair | 1,802 | 1,747 | 55 | |
| 15 | Mike Cameron | 1,787 | 899 | 888 | |
| 16 | Jim Edmonds | 1,768 | 566 | 1,202 | |
| 17 | Edd Roush* | 1,754 | 2 | 1,605 | Includes 147 in Federal League |
| 18 | Mickey Mantle* | 1,742 | 1,742 | 0 | |
| 19 | Andruw Jones | 1,724 | 17 | 1,707 | |
| 20 | Devon White | 1,722 | 1,114 | 608 | |
| 21 | Curt Flood | 1,692 | 10 | 1,682 | |
| 22 | Vada Pinson | 1,680 | 182 | 1,498 | |
| 23 | Lloyd Waner* | 1,660 | 0 | 1,660 | Held National League record, 1942-1959 |
| 24 | Garry Maddox | 1,658 | 0 | 1,658 | |
| 25 | Joe DiMaggio* | 1,634 | 1,634 | 0 | |
| 26 | Clyde Milan | 1,631 | 1,631 | 0 | Held American League record, 1915-1920 |
| 27 | Max Carey* | 1,624 | 0 | 1,624 | Held National League record, 1926-1942 |
| 28 | Adam Jones | 1,590 | 1,589 | 1 | |
| 29 | Duke Snider* | 1,589 | 0 | 1,589 | |
| 30 | Fred Lynn | 1,584 | 1,578 | 6 | |
| 31 | Carlos Beltrán | 1,572 | 751 | 821 | |
| 32 | Bill Bruton | 1,548 | 507 | 1,041 | |
| 33 | Torii Hunter | 1,523 | 1,523 | 0 | |
| 34 | Bill Virdon | 1,506 | 0 | 1,506 | |
| 35 | Rick Monday | 1,489 | 607 | 882 | |
| 36 | Earl Averill* | 1,476 | 1,473 | 3 | |
| 37 | Chet Lemon | 1,470 | 1,470 | 0 | |
| 38 | Dode Paskert | 1,458 | 0 | 1,458 | Held National League record, 1920-1926 |
| 39 | César Cedeño | 1,457 | 0 | 1,457 | |
| 40 | Sam West | 1,446 | 1,446 | 0 | |
| 41 | Kirby Puckett* | 1,432 | 1,432 | 0 | |
| 42 | Cy Williams | 1,372 | 0 | 1,372 | |
| 43 | Vernon Wells | 1,369 | 1,369 | 0 | |
| 44 | Willie Wilson | 1,357 | 1,265 | 92 | |
| 45 | Willie McGee | 1,351 | 55 | 1,296 | |
| 46 | Mike Trout (0) | 1,344 | 1,344 | 0 | |
| 47 | Larry Doby* | 1,342 | 1,330 | 0 | Includes 12 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| 48 | Dom DiMaggio | 1,337 | 1,337 | 0 | |
| 49 | Andrew McCutchen (0) | 1,332 | 0 | 1,332 | |
| 50 | Lance Johnson | 1,327 | 890 | 437 | |
| 51 | Lloyd Moseby | 1,325 | 1,325 | 0 | |
| 52 | Rick Manning | 1,317 | 1,317 | 0 | |
| 53 | Brian McRae | 1,307 | 619 | 688 | |
| 54 | Johnny Damon | 1,298 | 1,298 | 0 | |
| 55 | Jim Busby | 1,265 | 1,257 | 8 | |
| 56 | Curtis Granderson | 1,254 | 1,136 | 118 | |
| 57 | Omar Moreno | 1,221 | 188 | 1,033 | |
| 58 | Jimmy Piersall | 1,212 | 1,174 | 38 | |
| 59 | Lenny Dykstra | 1,211 | 0 | 1,211 | |
| 60 | Juan Pierre | 1,193 | 0 | 1,193 | |
| 61 | Carlos Gómez | 1,191 | 513 | 678 | |
| 62 | Terry Moore | 1,185 | 0 | 1,185 | |
| 63 | Jimmy Wynn | 1,182 | 0 | 1,182 | |
| 64 | Dwayne Murphy | 1,179 | 1,174 | 5 | |
| 65 | Mickey Stanley | 1,175 | 1,175 | 0 | |
| 66 | Dexter Fowler | 1,170 | 111 | 1,059 | |
| 67 | Michael Bourn | 1,159 | 324 | 835 | |
| | B.J. Upton | 1,159 | 828 | 331 | |
| 69 | Coco Crisp | 1,158 | 1,158 | 0 | |
| 70 | Earle Combs* | 1,157 | 1,157 | 0 | |
| | Dave Henderson | 1,157 | 1,149 | 8 | |
| 72 | Aaron Rowand | 1,155 | 456 | 699 | |
| 73 | Ginger Beaumont † | 1,150 | 0 | 1,150 | Held National League record, 1910-1920 |
| | Hy Myers | 1,150 | 0 | 1,150 | |
| | Robin Yount* | 1,150 | 1,150 | 0 | |
| 76 | Bill Tuttle | 1,146 | 1,146 | 0 | |
| 77 | Mickey Rivers | 1,144 | 1,144 | 0 | |
| 78 | Ray Lankford | 1,138 | 0 | 1,138 | |
| 79 | Otis Nixon | 1,137 | 632 | 505 | |
| 80 | Jim Landis | 1,128 | 1,125 | 3 | |
| 81 | Gary Pettis | 1,125 | 1,112 | 13 | |
| 82 | Andy Van Slyke | 1,119 | 16 | 1,103 | |
| 83 | Del Unser | 1,117 | 541 | 576 | |
| 84 | Jacoby Ellsbury | 1,105 | 1,105 | 0 | |
| 85 | Mike Kreevich | 1,096 | 1,095 | 1 | |
| 86 | Baby Doll Jacobson | 1,095 | 1,095 | 0 | |
| 87 | Roy Thomas † | 1,082 | 0 | 1,082 | |
| 88 | Cesar Geronimo | 1,079 | 40 | 1,039 | |
| 89 | Sam Chapman | 1,076 | 1,076 | 0 | |
| | Cy Seymour † | 1,076 | 3 | 1,073 | |
| 91 | Vince DiMaggio | 1,070 | 0 | 1,070 | |
| | Denard Span | 1,070 | 449 | 621 | |
| 93 | Mookie Wilson | 1,067 | 160 | 907 | |
| 94 | Kevin Kiermaier | 1,066 | 1,034 | 32 | |
| 95 | Ellis Burks | 1,061 | 722 | 339 | |
| 96 | Dale Murphy | 1,041 | 0 | 1,041 | |
| 97 | Lorenzo Cain | 1,032 | 634 | 398 | |
| | Darren Lewis | 1,032 | 476 | 556 | |
| 99 | Andre Dawson* | 1,027 | 0 | 1,027 | |
| 100 | Fielder Jones † | 1,026 | 1,026 | 0 | Held American League record, 1907-1915 |

## Other Hall of Famers

| Player | Games as a center fielder | Games as a center fielder | Games as a center fielder | Other leagues, notes |
| Player | MLB | American League | National League | Other leagues, notes |
| Billy Hamilton* † | 990 | 0 | 990 | |
| Turkey Stearnes* | 967 | 0 | 0 | Includes 615 in Negro National League (first), 176 in Negro National League (second), 133 in Negro American League, 43 in Negro Southern League (incomplete) |
| Cool Papa Bell* | 944 | 0 | 0 | Includes 632 in Negro National League (first), 257 in Negro National League (second), 39 in East–West League, 16 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Hack Wilson* | 913 | 0 | 913 | |
| Al Simmons* | 775 | 775 | 0 | |
| Kiki Cuyler* | 691 | 0 | 691 | |
| Hugh Duffy* † | 680 | 68 | 593 | Includes 17 in Players' League, 2 in American Association |
| Sam Rice* | 607 | 607 | 0 | |
| Oscar Charleston* | 585 | 0 | 0 | Includes 293 in Negro National League (first), 227 in Eastern Colored League, 65 in American Negro League (incomplete) |
| Al Kaline* | 489 | 489 | 0 | |
| Sam Crawford* † | 480 | 446 | 34 | |
| Jim O'Rourke* † | 463 | 0 | 418 | Includes 44 in National Association, 1 in Players' League |
| Rickey Henderson* | 446 | 419 | 27 | |
| Stan Musial* | 331 | 0 | 331 | |
| Joe Kelley* † | 329 | 46 | 283 | |
| Cristóbal Torriente* | 327 | 0 | 0 | Includes 327 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete) |
| Ichiro Suzuki* | 322 | 291 | 31 | |
| Heinie Manush* | 312 | 312 | 0 | |
| Hank Aaron* | 308 | 0 | 308 | |
| Freddie Lindstrom* | 295 | 0 | 295 | |
| Chick Hafey* | 280 | 0 | 280 | |
| Casey Stengel* | 274 | 0 | 274 | |
| Craig Biggio* | 255 | 0 | 255 | |
| Willard Brown* | 253 | 1 | 0 | Includes 252 in Negro American League (incomplete) |
| Ed Delahanty* † | 250 | 0 | 239 | Includes 11 in Players' League |
| George Davis* † | 243 | 0 | 243 | |
| Roger Bresnahan* † | 232 | 15 | 217 | |
| Dave Winfield* | 223 | 78 | 145 | |
| Billy Southworth* | 217 | 30 | 187 | |
| Reggie Jackson* | 188 | 188 | 0 | |
| Harry Wright* † | 177 | 0 | 1 | Includes 176 in National Association |
| Tim Raines* | 165 | 3 | 162 | |
| Carl Yastrzemski* | 165 | 165 | 0 | |
| Tony Gwynn* | 157 | 0 | 157 | |
| Mel Ott* | 140 | 0 | 140 | |
| Elmer Flick* † | 126 | 126 | 0 | |
| Lou Brock* | 115 | 0 | 115 | |
| John Montgomery Ward* † | 110 | 0 | 110 | |
| Ralph Kiner* | 75 | 0 | 75 | |
| Harry Heilmann* | 72 | 72 | 0 | |
| Larry Walker* | 69 | 0 | 69 | |
| Honus Wagner* † | 68 | 0 | 68 | |
| Pete Hill* | 62 | 0 | 0 | Includes 59 in Negro National League (first), 3 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete) |
| Monte Irvin* | 62 | 0 | 1 | Includes 61 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
| Paul Molitor* | 42 | 42 | 0 | |
| Martín Dihigo* | 33 | 0 | 0 | Includes 26 in Negro National League (second), 5 in American Negro League, 2 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete) |
| Joe Medwick* | 19 | 0 | 19 | |