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

Jimmy Sheckard, the all-time leader in career assists by a left 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) 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). The left fielder (LF) is one of the three outfielders, the defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing toward 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. The left fielder must also be adept at navigating the area of left field where the foul line approaches the corner of the playing field and the walls of the seating areas. Being the outfielder closest to third base, the left fielder generally does not have to throw as far as the other outfielders to throw out runners advancing around the bases, so they often do not have the strongest throwing arm, but their throws need to be accurate. The left fielder normally plays behind the third baseman and shortstop, who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, left fielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the left fielder is assigned the number 7.

Left 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. Left 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. Left 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. Only four of the top 14 players were active after 1932, only two of them after 1945. Only two of the top 34 single-season totals were recorded after 1924, and only one after 1936; only seven of the top 68 have been recorded since 1944. 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. 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. Jimmy Sheckard is the all-time leader in career assists as a left fielder with 243; this total does not included his assists during the first four years of his career from 1897 through 1900, when he is believed to have played 168 games in left field. Zack Wheat (231) and Duffy Lewis (209) are the only other players credited with more than 200 career assists after 1900. Michael Brantley, who had 55 assists through the 2023 season to place him tied for 108th 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 left fielder in Major League Baseball
*	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
†	Denotes total is missing figures for pre-1901 games

List

Eddie Rosario, the active leader and tied for 117th all-time in assists as a left fielder.

Duffy Lewis holds the American League record.

Carl Yastrzemski led American League left fielders in assists a record eight times.

Barry Bonds' 158 career assists are the most by a National League left fielder since 1920.

Alfonso Soriano had 22 assists for the Nationals in 2006, the most by a left fielder since 1983.

Gary Ward's 24 assists in 1983 are the most by a left fielder since 1936.

• Stats updated as of July 31, 2024.

Rank	Player (2024 As)	Assists as a left fielder			Other leagues, notes
		MLB	American League	National League
1	Jimmy Sheckard †	243	0	243	Holds the single-season record of 36 (set in 1903)
2	Zack Wheat*	231	8	223
3	Duffy Lewis	209	209	0	Holds the American League single-season record (30 in 1910; later tied)
4	Bobby Veach	199	199	0
5	Bob Johnson	182	182	0
6	Goose Goslin*	181	181	0
7	Carl Yastrzemski*	177	177	0
8	Barry Bonds	158	0	158
9	Charlie Jamieson	150	150	0
10	Ken Williams	146	136	10
11	Jack Graney	143	143	0
12	George Burns	137	0	137
	Fred Clarke* †	137	0	137
14	Sherry Magee	133	0	133
15	Jim Rice*	132	132	0
16	Joe Medwick*	129	0	129
	Minnie Miñoso*	129	127	2	Negro League totals unavailable
18	Ted Williams*	126	126	0
19	Rickey Henderson*	124	111	13
20	Tim Raines*	123	46	77
21	Carson Bigbee	122	0	122
22	Patsy Dougherty	119	119	0	Held American League record, 1907-1914
	Bibb Falk	119	119	0
24	Bob Bescher	118	0	118
25	Billy Williams*	116	0	116
26	Al Simmons*	114	107	7
27	Matty McIntyre	111	111	0	Held American League record, 1906-1907; held AL single-season record, 1906-1910
28	Luis Gonzalez	110	9	101
29	Gary Matthews	107	0	107
30	Lou Brock*	106	0	106
31	Tilly Walker	105	105	0	Holds the American League single-season record (30 in 1914; tie)
32	Bernard Gilkey	102	1	101
	Alex Gordon	102	102	0
34	Del Ennis	101	2	99
35	Topsy Hartsel †	100	85	15
	Jo-Jo Moore	100	0	100
37	Carlos Lee	99	50	49
38	Irish Meusel	98	0	98
39	Max Carey*	97	0	97
	George Foster	97	2	95
41	Alfonso Soriano	96	5	91
	Willie Stargell*	96	0	96
43	Les Mann	95	0	83	Includes 12 in Federal League
44	Pat Burrell	92	0	92
	Hank Sauer	92	0	92
46	Joe Vosmik	90	89	1
47	Vince Coleman	89	20	69
	José Cruz	89	0	89
	Sam Mertes †	89	24	65	Held American League record, 1902-1903; held the single-season record, 1902-1903; held AL single-season record, 1902-1906
50	Raúl Ibañez	85	67	18
	Lonnie Smith	85	18	67
52	Lou Piniella	84	84	0
53	Mike Greenwell	83	83	0
54	Ben Oglivie	82	82	0
55	Garret Anderson	81	76	5
56	Jesse Burkett* †	80	63	17	Held American League record, 1903-1906; held AL single-season record, 1904-1906 (tie)
	Roy White	80	80	0
58	Rube Ellis	78	0	78
	Gene Woodling	78	78	0
60	Gus Zernial	77	77	0
61	Babe Ruth*	76	75	1
	Burt Shotton	76	56	20
63	Bobby Higginson	75	75	0
64	George Bell	74	68	6
	Geoff Jenkins	74	0	74
	Howie Shanks	74	74	0
67	Ralph Kiner*	73	2	71
	Heinie Manush*	73	73	0
69	George Stone	72	72	0
70	Steve Henderson	71	23	48
71	Cliff Floyd	70	1	69
	Chick Hafey*	70	0	70
73	Davy Jones	69	57	0	Includes 12 in Federal League
74	Ryan Braun	68	0	68
	Melky Cabrera	68	59	9
	Matt Holliday	68	6	62
77	Kevin McReynolds	67	8	59
	Bob Meusel	67	62	5
	Moose Solters	67	67	0
80	Greg Luzinski	66	0	66
	Mike Menosky	66	65	0	Includes 1 in Federal League
	Bob Skinner	66	0	66
	B. J. Surhoff	66	57	9
84	Jason Bay	65	21	44
	Pat Duncan	65	0	65
	Augie Galan	65	0	65
	Jeffrey Leonard	65	6	59
	Austin McHenry	65	0	65
	Luis Polonia	65	65	0
90	Dusty Baker	64	5	59
	Manny Ramirez	64	58	6
	Greg Vaughn	64	42	22
93	Albert Belle	63	63	0
	Jeff Heath	63	57	6
	Riggs Stephenson	63	0	63
96	Dan Gladden	62	62	0
97	Gary Ward	61	61	0
98	Tommy Davis	59	14	45
	Carlos May	59	59	0
	Frank Robinson*	59	6	53

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Assists as a left fielder			Other leagues, notes
	MLB	American League	National League
Stan Musial*	48	0	48
Joe Kelley* †	45	1	44
Monte Irvin*	42	0	37	Includes 5 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Enos Slaughter*	33	2	31
Kiki Cuyler*	31	0	31
Dave Winfield*	27	19	8
Mule Suttles*	26	0	0	Includes 21 in Negro National League (first), 5 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Ed Delahanty* †	23	14	9
Chipper Jones*	19	0	19
Freddie Lindstrom*	19	0	19
Hank Greenberg*	17	17	0
Chuck Klein*	17	0	17
Harmon Killebrew*	16	16	0
Orlando Cepeda*	14	0	14
Harry Hooper*	14	14	0
Willie McCovey*	11	0	11
Hank Aaron*	10	0	10
Joe DiMaggio*	10	10	0
Billy Southworth*	9	1	8
Cool Papa Bell*	8	0	0	Includes 8 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Edd Roush*	7	0	2	Includes 5 in Federal League
Lloyd Waner*	7	0	7
Craig Biggio*	6	0	6
Hack Wilson*	6	0	6
Sam Crawford* †	5	4	1
Cristóbal Torriente*	5	0	0	Includes 5 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Earle Combs*	4	4	0
Mickey Mantle*	4	4	0
Earl Averill*	3	3	0
Willard Brown*	3	0	0	Includes 3 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Mel Ott*	3	0	3
Robin Yount*	3	3	0
Todd Helton*	2	0	2
Martín Dihigo*	1	0	0	Includes 1 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete)

External links

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