# List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders

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 61 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.
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. Josh Gibson had a career obp of .458 but inexplicably isn’t on the list.

## Key

| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career on-base percentage. A blank field indicates a tie. |
| Player | Name of the player. |
| OBP | Total career on-base percentage. |
| * | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. |
| Bold | Denotes active player. |

## List

* Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.
| Rank | Player | OBP |
| 1 | Ted Williams* | .4817 |
| 2 | Babe Ruth* | .4739 |
| 3 | John McGraw* | .4657 |
| 4 | Billy Hamilton* | .4552 |
| 5 | Oscar Charleston* | .4487 |
| 6 | Lou Gehrig* | .4474 |
| 7 | Barry Bonds | .4443 |
| 8 | Jud Wilson* | .4351 |
| 9 | Bill Joyce | .4349 |
| 10 | Rogers Hornsby* | .4337 |
| 11 | Ty Cobb* | .4330 |
| 12 | Jimmie Foxx* | .4283 |
| 13 | Tris Speaker* | .4279 |
| 14 | Eddie Collins* | .4244 |
| 15 | Ferris Fain | .4241 |
| 16 | Dan Brouthers* | .4234 |
| 17 | Max Bishop | .4230 |
| 18 | Shoeless Joe Jackson | .4227 |
| 19 | Juan Soto | .4208 |
| 20 | Mickey Mantle* | .4205 |
| 21 | Mickey Cochrane* | .4192 |
| 22 | Frank Thomas* | .4192 |
| 23 | Edgar Martínez* | .4178 |
| 24 | Turkey Stearnes* | .4174 |
| 25 | Stan Musial* | .4167 |
| 26 | Cupid Childs | .4157 |
| 27 | Wade Boggs* | .4150 |
| 28 | Jesse Burkett* | .4149 |
| 29 | Todd Helton* | .4140 |
| | Mel Ott* | .4140 |
| 31 | Roy Thomas | .4135 |
| 32 | Lefty O'Doul | .4133 |
| 33 | Hank Greenberg* | .4118 |
| 34 | Ed Delahanty* | .4113 |
| 35 | Manny Ramirez | .4106 |
| 36 | Mike Trout | .4105 |
| 37 | Mule Suttles* | .4100 |
| 38 | Charlie Keller | .4099 |
| 39 | Jackie Robinson* | .4098 |
| | Eddie Stanky | .4098 |
| 41 | Harry Heilmann* | .4095 |
| 42 | Joey Votto | .4094 |
| 43 | Roy Cullenbine | .4082 |
| 45 | Jake Stenzel | .4078 |
| 46 | Jeff Bagwell* | .4076 |
| 46 | Denny Lyons | .4074 |
| | Willie Wells* | .4074 |
| 48 | Riggs Stephenson | .4065 |
| 49 | Lance Berkman | .4060 |
| 50 | Aaron Judge | .4059 |
| Rank | Player | OBP |
| 51 | Arky Vaughan* | .4058 |
| 52 | Joe Harris | .4044 |
| 53 | Paul Waner* | .4043 |
| 54 | Charlie Gehringer* | .4036 |
| 55 | Joe Cunningham | .4035 |
| 56 | Pete Browning | .4028 |
| 57 | Lu Blue | .4022 |
| 58 | Jim Thome* | .4019 |
| 59 | Joe Kelley* | .4017 |
| 60 | Rickey Henderson* | .4012 |
| 61 | Chipper Jones* | .4011 |
| 62 | Larry Walker* | .4002 |
| 63 | Bill Lange | .4001 |
| 64 | Brian Giles | .3998 |
| | George Selkirk | .3998 |
| 66 | Luke Appling* | .3994 |
| 67 | Jason Giambi | .3993 |
| 68 | Nick Johnson | .3989 |
| 69 | Ross Youngs* | .3985 |
| 70 | Joe DiMaggio* | .3983 |
| | Elmer Valo | .3983 |
| 72 | Ralph Kiner* | .3980 |
| | John Olerud | .3980 |
| | Mike Smith | .3977 |
| 75 | Ed Morgan | .3975 |
| 76 | Johnny Mize* | .3971 |
| 77 | Earle Combs* | .3969 |
| | Roger Connor* | .3969 |
| 79 | John Kruk | .3966 |
| 80 | Richie Ashburn* | .3964 |
| 81 | Mike Hargrove | .3958 |
| 82 | Hack Wilson* | .3951 |
| 83 | Bobby Abreu | .3950 |
| 84 | Hurley McNair | .3948 |
| 85 | Earl Averill* | .3947 |
| 86 | Johnny Pesky | .3943 |
| 87 | Mark McGwire | .3941 |
| 88 | Cap Anson* | .3940 |
| | Cool Papa Bell* | .3940 |
| | Frank Chance* | .3940 |
| | Stan Hack | .3940 |
| | Eddie Yost | .3940 |
| 93 | Ken Williams | .3933 |
| 94 | Wally Schang | .3931 |
| 95 | Rod Carew* | .3930 |
| | Gary Sheffield | .3930 |
| 97 | Bob Johnson | .3928 |
| 98 | Bill Terry* | .3927 |
| 99 | George Grantham | .3924 |
| | Tip O'Neill | .3924 |