List of Major League Baseball career fielding errors as a third baseman leaders

In baseball statistics, an error is an act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to advance one or more bases or allows an at bat to continue after the batter should have been put out. Third base is the third of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team. A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player on the team playing defense who fields the area nearest third base, and is responsible for the majority of plays made at that base. The third baseman requires good reflexes in reacting to batted balls, often being the closest infielder (roughly 90–120 feet) to the batter. The third base position requires a strong and accurate arm, as the third baseman often makes long throws to first base. The third baseman sometimes must throw quickly to second base in time to start a double play, and must also field fly balls in both fair and foul territory. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5.

The list of career leaders is dominated by players from the 19th century, when fielding equipment was very rudimentary; baseball gloves only began to steadily gain acceptance in the 1880s, and were not uniformly worn until the mid-1890s, resulting in a much lower frequency of defensive miscues. The top 19 players in career errors all began playing in the 19th century, all but four of them playing their entire careers before 1900; none were active in the major leagues after 1911. Only two of the top 29 were active after 1929, and none were active after 1946. Through 2021, the top 129 single-season totals were all recorded before 1906, and only five of the top 316 were recorded after 1942. To a large extent, the leaders reflect longevity rather than lower skill. Ron Santo, who leads all post-1950 third basemen with 317 errors, won five Gold Glove Awards for fielding excellence.

Arlie Latham, who set a major league record with 1,573 career games at third base – none of them after 1896 – is the all-time leader in career errors committed as a third baseman with 822, more than twice as many as any player who reached the major leagues after 1900; he is the only third baseman to commit more than 700 career errors. Billy Nash, whose career ended in 1898 after setting the National League record for games at third base, is second all-time; he is the only other third baseman to commit more than 600 errors. Evan Longoria, who had 152 errors through the 2021 season to place him tied for 131st all-time, is the leader among active players.

Key

Rank	Rank amongst leaders in career fielding errors A blank field indicates a tie.
Player	Name of player
E as 3B	Total career errors committed as a third baseman
*	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame

List

Rank	Player	E as 3B
1	Arlie Latham	822
2	Billy Nash	615
3	Hick Carpenter	591
4	Billy Shindle	570
5	Jerry Denny	552
6	Ezra Sutton	516
7	Denny Lyons	509
8	Joe Mulvey	475
9	Bob Ferguson	466
10	Jimmy Collins *	465
11	Deacon White *	444
12	Bill Joyce	439
13	Ned Williamson	401
14	Lave Cross	397
15	George Pinkney	387
16	Harry Schafer	380
17	Frank Hankinson	373
	Bill Kuehne	373
19	Harry Steinfeldt	365
20	Jimmy Austin	358
21	Pinky Higgins	356
22	Tommy Leach	344
	Art Whitney	244
24	Bill Bradley	336
25	Tom Burns	327
26	Doc Casey	325
27	Pie Traynor *	324
28	Home Run Baker *	322
29	Jim Donnelly	318
30	Jumbo Davis	317
	Ron Santo *	317
32	Mike Schmidt *	313
33	Adrián Beltré *	311
34	Graig Nettles	295
35	Eddie Mathews *	293
36	Larry Gardner	287
37	John McGraw *	280
38	Harlond Clift	279
39	Eddie Foster	278
40	Jack Gleason	273
41	Eddie Yost	270
42	Ken Boyer	264
43	Charlie Reilly	263
	Brooks Robinson *	263
	Harry Wolverton	263
46	George Brett *	261
47	Bobby Byrne	258
48	Art Devlin	257
49	Buddy Bell	254
50	Darrell Evans	253

Rank	Player	E as 3B
51	Fred Hartman	251
	Charlie Irwin	251
53	Ken Caminiti	249
54	Stan Hack	246
55	Aramis Ramírez	244
	Red Smith	244
57	Tim Wallach	240
58	Terry Pendleton	238
59	Bob Elliott	236
60	Bill Coughlin	231
	Heinie Zimmerman	231
62	Wade Boggs *	229
63	Sal Bando	228
	Mike Muldoon	228
	Milt Stock	228
	Patsy Tebeau	228
	Todd Zeile	228
68	Gary Gaetti	224
69	Ron Cey	223
	Chipper Jones *	223
	Joe Werrick	223
72	Mike Mowrey	221
73	Jim Tabor	220
	Robin Ventura	220
	Billy Werber	220
76	Harry Lord	217
77	Aurelio Rodríguez	215
78	Warren White	214
79	George Davis *	211
80	Ossie Bluege	208
81	Joe Battin	207
82	Levi Meyerle	205
83	Bill Hague	200
84	George Moriarty	199
85	Doug DeCinces	198
86	Cap Anson *	196
	Frank Malzone	196
88	Bill Madlock	193
89	Willie Jones	192
90	Billy Lauder	190
	David Wright	190
92	Chippy McGarr	189
93	Jimmy Dykes	188
94	Doug Rader	187
95	Scott Rolen *	186
96	Willie Kamm	185
	Dean Palmer	185
98	Richie Hebner	182
99	Bobby Bonilla	181
100	Matt Williams	177

Other Hall of Famers

Player	E
George Kell *	166
Harmon Killebrew *	127
Tony Pérez *	123
Paul Molitor *	121
Judy Johnson *	111 (includes incomplete Negro league totals)
Bobby Wallace *	107
Jim O'Rourke *	105
Freddie Lindstrom *	102
Bill McKechnie *	91
Roger Connor *	81
Edgar Martínez *	78
Buck Ewing *	76
Jim Thome *	73
Joe Sewell *	72
Cal Ripken Jr. *	69
Frankie Frisch *	68
Joe Torre *	64
Honus Wagner *	64
King Kelly *	59
Jud Wilson *	51 (includes incomplete Negro league totals)
Rogers Hornsby *	47
Jimmie Foxx *	31
Johnny Bench *	30
Ray Dandridge *	28 (includes incomplete Negro league totals)
Jackie Robinson *	28
Joe Cronin *	12
Ryne Sandberg *	11
Willie Wells *	6 (includes incomplete Negro league totals)

References

Baseball-Reference.com