Jump to content

List of Major League Baseball career double plays as a center fielder leaders

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tris Speaker, the all-time leader in double plays by a center fielder

In baseball statistics, a double play (denoted as DP) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. One double play is recorded for every defensive player who participates in the play, regardless of how many of the outs in which they were directly involved, and is counted in addition to whatever putouts and assists might also apply. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs.[1] 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.

Center fielders are most commonly credited with a double play 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. Outfielders also earn double plays 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; in extraordinary instances, right fielders have occasionally recorded double plays by throwing out batters at first base after fielding uncaught line drives that reached them quickly. Outfielders record far fewer double plays 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 double plays in a single season than outfielders do in their entire careers. Double plays are an important statistic for outfielders, giving a greater indication of a left fielder's throwing arm than double plays by infielders do. In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills.

Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career double plays as a center fielder with 146;[2][3][4] he is the only player to record more than 100 career double plays as a center fielder. Jackie Bradley Jr. , who had 20 double plays through the 2023 season to place him tied for 82nd all-time, is the leader among active players.

Key

[edit]
Rank Rank amongst leaders in career double plays. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2024 DPs) Number of recorded double plays during the 2024 Major League Baseball season
MLB Total career double plays 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
Bold Denotes active player[a]

List

[edit]
Jackie Bradley Jr., the active leader in double plays by a center fielder and tied for 82nd all-time.
Willie Mays holds the National League record.
  • Stats updated as of the end of the 2023 season.
Rank Player (2024 DPs) Double plays as a center fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Tris Speaker* 146 146 0
2 Ty Cobb* 77 77 0
3 Willie Mays* 59 0 59
4 Max Carey* 58 0 58
5 Clyde Milan 55 55 0
6 Dode Paskert 48 0 48
7 Cy Seymour † 46 0 46
8 Ginger Beaumont † 44 0 44
Sam West 44 44 0
10 Ken Griffey Jr.* 41 35 6
Edd Roush* 41 0 37 Includes 4 in Federal League
12 Fielder Jones † 40 40 0
Tommy Leach † 40 0 40
14 Richie Ashburn* 39 0 39
Happy Felsch 39 39 0
16 Steve Finley 37 0 37
17 Hi Myers 36 0 36
18 Joe Birmingham 35 35 0
Doc Cramer 35 35 0
Vince DiMaggio 35 0 35
Amos Otis 35 34 1
22 Roy Thomas † 34 0 34
23 Kenny Lofton 33 30 3
24 Bill Bruton 31 9 22
Jim Edmonds 31 8 23
Amos Strunk 31 31 0
27 Dom DiMaggio 30 30 0
Fred Lynn 30 30 0
Kirby Puckett* 30 30 0
Cy Williams 30 0 30
31 Brett Butler 29 13 16
Joe DiMaggio* 29 29 0
Baby Doll Jacobson 29 29 0
34 Earl Averill* 28 28 0
Carlos Beltrán 28 14 14
Curt Flood 28 0 28
Lloyd Waner* 28 0 28
38 Paul Blair 27 27 0
Jim Wynn 27 0 27
40 Jimmy Barrett † 26 26 0
Benny Kauff 26 0 18 Includes 8 in Federal League
Burt Shotton 26 25 1
43 Johnny Bates 25 0 25
Danny Hoffman 25 25 0
Solly Hofman 25 0 24 Includes 1 in Federal League
Mickey Mantle* 25 25 0
Jigger Statz 25 0 25
48 Sam Chapman 24 24 0
Ira Flagstead 24 23 1
Adam Jones 24 24 0
Omar Moreno 24 4 20
Johnny Mostil 24 24 0
53 Andruw Jones 23 0 23
Mark Kotsay 23 12 11
Nemo Leibold 23 23 0
Terry Moore 23 0 23
Jack Smith 23 0 23
Homer Smoot 23 0 23
Bobby Thomson 23 1 22
60 César Cedeño 22 0 22
Earle Combs* 22 22 0
Marquis Grissom 22 0 22
Johnny Groth 22 22 0
Lance Johnson 22 14 8
Willie McGee 22 2 20
Rebel Oakes 22 0 18 Includes 4 in Federal League
B.J. Upton 22 15 7
68 Ping Bodie 21 21 0
Willie Davis 21 1 20
Larry Doby* 21 21 0 Negro League totals unavailable
Emmet Heidrick † 21 19 2
Dave Henderson 21 21 0
Garry Maddox 21 0 21
Gary Pettis 21 21 0
Fred Schulte 21 20 1
Jimmy Slagle 21 0 21
Del Unser 21 15 6
Tillie Walker 21 21 0
Devon White 21 18 3
Hack Wilson* 21 0 21
Mookie Wilson 21 3 18
82 Harry Bay 20 18 2
Jackie Bradley Jr. (0) 20 18 2
Darrin Jackson 20 2 18
Rick Monday 20 11 9
86 Mike Cameron 19 9 10
Taylor Douthit 19 0 19
Doug Glanville 19 18 1
Dave Philley 19 19 0
Chick Stahl † 19 19 0
91 Lenny Dykstra 18 0 18
Carlos Gómez 18 8 10
Torii Hunter 18 18 0
Charlie Jones 18 18 0
Chet Lemon 18 18 0
Ray Powell 18 0 18
Mickey Rivers 18 18 0
Andy Van Slyke 18 1 17
99 Tommie Agee 17 10 7
Wally Berger 17 0 17

Other Hall of Famers

[edit]
Player Double plays as a center fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Duke Snider* 17 0 17
Oscar Charletston* 15 0 0 Includes 10 in Negro National League (first), 4 in Eastern Colored League, 1 in American Negro League
Sam Rice* 15 15 0
Turkey Stearnes* 15 0 0 Includes 12 in Negro National League (first), 2 in Negro National League (second), 1 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Roger Bresnahan* † 14 0 14
Al Simmons* 14 14 0
Robin Yount* 13 13 0
Andre Dawson* 12 0 12
Kiki Cuyler* 7 0 7
Goose Goslin* 7 7 0
Heinie Manush* 7 7 0
Cool Papa Bell* 6 0 0 Includes 4 in Negro National League (first), 2 in Negro National League (second)
Willard Brown* 6 0 0 All 6 DPs were in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Sam Crawford * † 5 5 0
Elmer Flick* † 5 5 0

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Official Baseball Rules (2022 Edition): Rule 9.11" (PDF). Major League Baseball. Retrieved 23 Dec 2022.
  2. ^ "Tris Speaker Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ^ Jensen, Don. "WTris Speaker Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Tris Speaker Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Major_League_Baseball_career_double_plays_as_a_center_fielder_leaders&oldid=1227279135"