List of Major League Baseball career assists as a center fielder leaders

Tris Speaker, the all-time leader in career assists by a center fielder

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) before 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). 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 have 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.

Center fielders 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. Center fielders 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. Center fielders 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. 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. The top six players were all active throughout the years from 1913 to 1921; only 11 of the top 37 players were active after 1953, and only six of them after 1984. Only six of the top 73 single-season totals were recorded after 1925, and only one after 1945; only nine of the top 163 have been recorded since 1955. 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 assist totals are unavailable; players whose totals are missing the figures for pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career assists as a center fielder with 448, 173 more than any other player, and nearly two and a half times as many as any player active after 1931. Speaker also holds the single-season record of 35, which he accomplished twice; no player since 1955 has had more than 20, likely putting both of his marks among Major League Baseball's most unbreakable records. Andrew McCutchen, who had 63 assists through the 2022 season to place him tied for 105th 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
MLB	Total career assists 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

List

Andrew McCutchen, the active leader and tied for 107th all-time in assists as a center fielder

Max Carey holds the modern National League record.

Wille Mays' 188 assists are the most by a center fielder since 1920.

Fred Snodgrass' 31 assists in 1911 remain the modern National League record.

Andruw Jones was the last center fielder to have 20 assists in a season.

Del Under had 20 assists in 1968, the last American League center fielder to reach the mark.

• Stats updated as of May 31, 2024.

Rank	Player (2023 As)	Assists as a center fielder			Other leagues, notes
		MLB	American League	National League
1	Tris Speaker*	448	448	0	Holds the modern single-season record of 35 (set in 1909 & 1912)
2	Ty Cobb*	275	275	0
3	Clyde Milan	244	244	0
4	Max Carey*	215	0	215
5	Edd Roush*	207	0	187	Includes 20 in Federal League
6	Dode Paskert	206	0	206	Held modern National League record, 1917-1927
7	Willie Mays*	188	0	188
8	Doc Cramer	155	155	0
9	Richie Ashburn*	154	0	154
10	Cy Williams	151	0	151
11	Cy Seymour †	149	0	149	Held modern major league record, 1909-1913; held modern National League record, 1909-1917
12	Hi Myers	148	0	148
13	Dom DiMaggio	143	143	0
14	Ken Griffey Jr.*	141	108	33
15	Sam West	139	139	0
16	Kenny Lofton	138	110	28
17	Ginger Beaumont †	136	0	136	Held modern NL single-season record, 1907-1911
18	Roy Thomas †	135	0	135	Held modern major league record, 1906-1909; held modern National League record, 1902-1909; held modern NL single-season record, 1902-1907
	Lloyd Waner*	135	0	135
20	Willie Davis	134	1	133
21	Joe DiMaggio*	133	133	0
22	Fielder Jones †	129	129	0	Held American League record, 1907-1913
23	Steve Finley	127	6	121
24	Vince DiMaggio	123	0	123
25	Tommy Leach †	122	0	122
26	Happy Felsch	119	119	0
27	Amos Otis	118	115	3
28	Joe Birmingham	117	117	0
29	Jim Edmonds	116	37	79
	Rebel Oakes	116	0	81	Includes 35 in Federal League
31	Amos Strunk	115	115	0
32	Vada Pinson	114	13	101
33	Kirby Puckett*	110	110	0
34	Benny Kauff	109	0	66	Includes 43 in Federal League
35	Earl Averill*	108	106	2
	Carlos Beltrán	108	61	47
	Fred Snodgrass	108	0	108	Holds the modern NL single-season record of 31 (set in 1911)
38	Brett Butler	106	40	66
	Curt Flood	106	0	106
40	Paul Blair	104	103	1
	Mickey Mantle*	104	104	0
42	Jimmy Barrett †	101	101	0	Held modern major league record, 1901-1906; held American League record, 1901-1907; held the AL single-season record, 1901-1909
	Andruw Jones	101	0	101
44	Ray Powell	100	0	100
45	Terry Moore	99	0	99
	Duke Snider*	99	0	99
	Tilly Walker	99	99	0
48	Bill Bruton	98	19	79
49	Adam Jones	96	96	0
	Fred Lynn	96	96	0
	Bill Virdon	96	0	96
52	Nemo Leibold	92	92	0
	Bill Tuttle	92	92	0
54	Sam Chapman	91	91	0
	Ira Flagstead	91	89	2
	Garry Maddox	91	0	91
57	Del Unser	90	44	46
58	Johnny Bates	89	0	85	Includes 4 in Federal League
	Marquis Grissom	89	7	82
60	Mickey Rivers	88	88	0
61	César Cedeño	87	0	87
	Johnny Mostil	87	87	0
63	Mike Kreevich	86	85	1
	Willie McGee	86	6	80
65	Chet Lemon	85	85	0
66	Solly Hofman	84	2	74	Includes 8 in Federal League
67	Danny Hoffman	83	83	0
68	Burt Shotton	82	81	1
	Devon White	82	63	19
70	Omar Moreno	81	11	70
	Jigger Statz	81	0	81
72	Ping Bodie	79	79	0
	Torii Hunter	79	79	0
	Homer Smoot	79	0	79
75	Chick Stahl †	78	78	0
	Jimmy Wynn	78	0	78
77	Dave Henderson	77	76	1
	Bobby Thomson	77	1	76
79	Larry Doby*	76	76	0	Negro League totals unavailable
	Dwayne Murphy	76	75	1
	Sam Rice*	76	76	0
	Stan Spence	76	76	0
83	Johnny Groth	75	75	0
	Andy Van Slyke	75	2	73
85	Baby Doll Jacobson	74	74	0
	Andy Pafko	74	0	74
	Fred Schulte	74	73	1
88	Rick Monday	73	34	39
89	Ethan Allen	72	7	65
	Mike Cameron	72	35	37
	Emmet Heidrick †	72	57	15
92	B. J. Upton	71	52	19
93	Andre Dawson*	70	0	70
	Lance Johnson	70	45	25
95	Oscar Charleston*	69	0	0	Includes 45 in Negro National League (first), 17 in Eastern Colored League, 7 in American Negro League (incomplete)
	Hack Wilson*	69	0	69
97	Mark Kotsay	68	29	39
	Jack Smith	68	0	68
99	Ron LeFlore	66	66	0
100	Earle Combs*	65	65	0
	Carlos Gómez	65	27	38
	Rick Manning	65	65	0

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Assists as a center fielder			Other leagues, notes
	MLB	American League	National League
Turkey Stearnes*	59	0	0	Includes 41 in Negro National League (first), 14 in Negro National League (second), 4 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Cool Papa Bell*	57	0	0	Includes 37 in Negro National League (first), 13 in Negro National League (second), 7 in East–West League (incomplete)
Robin Yount*	52	52	0
Al Simmons*	48	48	0
Kiki Cuyler*	44	0	44
Roger Bresnahan* †	37	3	34
Sam Crawford* †	37	37	0
Cristóbal Torriente*	32	0	0	Includes 32 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Casey Stengel*	30	0	30
Freddie Lindstrom*	28	0	28
Al Kaline*	22	22	0
Willard Brown*	21	0	0	Includes 21 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Chick Hafey*	21	0	21
Heinie Manush*	21	21	0
Billy Southworth*	16	5	11
Craig Biggio*	15	0	15
Rickey Henderson*	15	14	1
Carl Yastrzemski*	15	15	0
Mel Ott*	14	0	14
Elmer Flick* †	13	13	0
Stan Musial*	13	0	13
Hank Aaron*	12	0	12
Pete Hill*	11	0	0	Includes 11 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Joe Kelley* †	11	6	5
Harry Heilmann*	9	9	0
Dave Winfield*	9	1	8
Tim Raines*	8	0	8
Tony Gwynn*	7	0	7
Billy Hamilton* †	7	0	7
Reggie Jackson*	7	7	0
Lou Brock*	6	0	6
Martín Dihigo*	6	0	0	Includes 3 in Negro National League (second), 3 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete)
Hugh Duffy* †	6	5	1
Ralph Kiner*	5	0	5
Honus Wagner* †	5	0	5
Paul Molitor*	4	4	0
Larry Walker*	3	0	3
Joe Medwick*	2	0	2
Monte Irvin*	1	0	0	Includes 1 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
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

External links

• "Career Leaders & Records for Assists as CF (s.1901)". Baseball-Reference.com.