List of Major League Baseball career double plays as an outfielder leaders

Tris Speaker, the leader in all-time double plays by an outfielder.

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] An outfielder (OF) is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter, who are identified as the left fielder (LF), the center fielder (CF), and the right fielder (RF). An outfielder's 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. Outfielders normally play behind the six other members of the defense who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, outfielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the outfielders are assigned the numbers 7 (left field), 8 (center field), and 9 (right field).

Outfielders 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. Outfielders 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 an outfielder'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 an outfielder with 143.^[2] Ty Cobb (104) is the only other outfielder who has recorded 100 career double plays. Jackie Bradley Jr., who had 24 double plays through the 2024 season to place him tied for 247th all-time, is the leader among active players.

Key

Rank	Rank among leaders in career double plays. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2024 DPs)	Recorded double plays in 2024
Main pos.	Primary outfield position played during career (LF, CF, or RF)
MLB	Total career double plays as an outfielder in Major League Baseball
*	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
Bold	Denotes active player^[a]

List

Rank	Player (2024 DPs)	Main Pos.	Double plays as an outfielder			Other leagues, notes
Rank	Player (2024 DPs)	Main Pos.	MLB	American League	National League	Other leagues, notes
1	Tris Speaker*	CF	143	143	0
2	Ty Cobb*	CF	104	104	0
3	Max Carey*	CF	87	0	87
4	Tom Brown	CF	85	0	47	Includes 30 in American Association, 8 in Players' League; Held the single-season record (twice), 1886–1892 & 1893–1899
5	Harry Hooper*	RF	83	83	0
6	Jimmy Sheckard	LF	80	0	80	Held National League record, 1913–1927; held the single-season record, 1899–1919
7	Mike Griffin	CF	75	0	53	Includes 12 in American Association, 10 in Players' League
8	Dummy Hoy	CF	72	6	54	Includes 9 in Players' League, 3 in American Association
9	Jimmy Ryan	CF	71	0	66	Includes 5 in Players' League
10	Fielder Jones	CF	70	44	26
11	Patsy Donovan	RF	69	4	64	Includes 1 in American Association
	Sam Rice*	RF	69	69	0
13	George Van Haltren	CF	64	0	56	Includes 7 in American Association, 1 in Players' League
14	Jesse Burkett*	LF	62	13	49
	Clyde Milan	CF	62	62	0
16	Sam Thompson*	RF	61	0	61	Held the single-season record, 1886
17	Willie Keeler*	RF	60	24	36
	Willie Mays*	CF	60	0	60
	Tommy McCarthy*	RF	60	0	26	Includes 33 in American Association, 1 in Union Association
	Mel Ott*	RF	60	0	60
21	Sam Crawford*	RF	59	44	15
22	Jimmy Slagle	CF	57	0	57
23	Paul Hines	CF	56	0	47	Includes 5 in National Association, 4 in American Association
24	Billy Hamilton*	CF	55	0	49	Includes 6 in American Association
25	Zack Wheat*	LF	54	0	54
26	Steve Brodie	CF	53	0	53
	Paul Waner*	RF	53	0	53
28	Ginger Beaumont	CF	52	0	52
	Cy Seymour	CF	52	6	46
30	Burt Shotton	CF	51	47	4
31	Elmer Flick*	RF	50	26	24
	Dode Paskert	CF	50	0	50
33	Curt Welch	CF	49	0	2	Includes 47 in American Association
34	Jesse Barfield	RF	48	48	0
	Kip Selbach	LF	48	11	37
	Roy Thomas	CF	48	0	48
	Curt Walker	RF	48	0	48
	Chief Wilson	RF	48	0	48
39	Pop Corkhill	CF	47	0	11	Includes 36 in American Association
	Hugh Duffy*	CF	47	0	39	Includes 5 in Players' League, 3 in American Association
	George Gore	CF	47	0	44	Includes 3 in Players' League
	Goose Goslin*	LF	47	47	0
	Ned Hanlon*	CF	47	0	43	Includes 4 in Players' League
	Ross Youngs*	RF	47	0	47
45	Danny Green	RF	46	20	26
	George Wood	LF	46	0	27	Includes 10 in American Association, 9 in Players' League
47	Ed Delahanty*	LF	45	1	42	Includes 2 in Players' League
	Babe Ruth*	RF	45	45	0
49	Kiki Cuyler*	RF	44	0	44
	Joe Kelley*	LF	44	2	42
	Paul Radford	RF	44	0	35	Includes 5 in Players' League, 4 in American Association
	Tillie Walker	LF	44	44	0
53	Richie Ashburn*	CF	43	0	43
	Shano Collins	RF	43	43	0
	Ken Griffey Jr.*	CF	43	36	7
	Edd Roush*	CF	43	0	39	Includes 4 in Federal League
	Ken Williams	LF	43	38	5
58	George Burns	LF	42	0	42
	Fred Clarke*	LF	42	0	42
	Roberto Clemente*	RF	42	0	42
	Dwight Evans	RF	42	42	0
	Jack Tobin	RF	42	36	0	Includes 6 in Federal League
	Bobby Veach	LF	42	42	0
	Sam West	CF	42	42	0
	Chicken Wolf	RF	42	0	0	All 42 DPs were in American Association
66	Hank Aaron*	RF	41	0	41
	Cliff Heathcote	CF	41	0	41
	Frank Schulte	RF	41	4	37
	Jack Smith	CF	41	0	41
70	Bobby Bonds	RF	40	16	24
	Nemo Leibold	CF	40	40	0
	Sherry Magee	LF	40	0	40
	Mike Mitchell	RF	40	0	40
	John Titus	RF	40	0	40
	Cy Williams	CF	40	0	40
	Jimmy Wynn	CF	40	1	39
77	Bibb Falk	LF	39	39	0
	Happy Felsch	CF	39	39	0	Held the single-season record 1919–present (tie)
	Ira Flagstead	RF	39	38	1
	Harry Heilmann*	RF	39	34	5
	Charlie Jamieson	LF	39	39	0
	Chuck Klein *	RF	39	0	39
	Bill Lange	CF	39	0	39
	Jim McTamany	CF	39	0	0	All 39 DPs were in American Association
	Larry Walker*	RF	39	0	39
86	Jimmy Barrett	CF	38	31	7
	Dante Bichette	RF	38	17	21
	Joe Birmingham	CF	38	38	0
	Steve Finley	CF	38	3	35
	Jim Fogarty	OF	38	0	35	Includes 3 in Players' League
	Pete Hotaling	CF	38	0	23	Includes 15 in American Association
	Baby Doll Jacobson	CF	38	38	0
	Duffy Lewis	LF	38	38	0
	Chick Stahl	CF	38	20	18
	Amos Strunk	CF	38	38	0
96	Johnny Bates	CF	37	0	37
	Carlos Beltrán	CF	37	19	18
	Cliff Carroll	LF	37	0	37
	Doc Cramer	CF	37	37	0
	Tommy Holmes	CF	37	0	37

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Main Pos.	Double plays as an outfielder			Other leagues, notes
Player	Main Pos.	MLB	American League	National League	Other leagues, notes
Kirby Puckett*	CF	37	37	0
Al Simmons*	LF	37	35	2
Enos Slaughter*	RF	35	2	33
Casey Stengel*	RF	35	0	35
Dave Winfield*	RF	35	17	18
Billy Southworth*	RF	33	3	30
Vladimir Guerrero*	RF	32	10	22
Reggie Jackson*	RF	31	31	0
Andre Dawson*	RF	30	0	30
Joe DiMaggio*	CF	30	30	0
Lloyd Waner*	CF	30	0	30
Ted Williams*	LF	30	30	0
Carl Yastrzemski*	LF	30	30	0
Earl Averill*	CF	29	29	0
Lou Brock*	LF	29	0	29
Al Kaline*	RF	29	29	0
Hack Wilson*	CF	28	0	28
Mickey Mantle*	CF	27	27	0
Joe Medwick*	LF	27	0	27
Stan Musial*	LF	27	0	27
Larry Doby*	CF	26	26	0	Negro League totals unavailable
Tony Gwynn*	RF	26	0	26
King Kelly*	RF	26	0	26
Heinie Manush*	LF	26	25	1
Jim O'Rourke*	LF	26	0	22	Includes 3 in Players' League, 1 in National Association
Frank Robinson*	RF	26	8	18
Billy Williams*	LF	24	0	24
Chick Hafey*	LF	23	0	23
Rickey Henderson*	LF	23	19	4
Minnie Miñoso*	LF	22	22	0	Negro League totals unavailable
Tim Raines*	LF	22	9	13
Jim Rice*	LF	19	19
Todd Helton*	LF	0	0	0
Joe Mauer*	RF	0	0	0

Notes

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

References

^ "Official Baseball Rules (2022 Edition): Rule 9.11" (PDF). Major League Baseball. Retrieved 23 Dec 2022.
^ "Tris Speaker Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 3, 2023.

External links

"Career Leaders & Records for Double Plays Turned as OF". Baseball-Reference.com.

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

[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 3, 2023.

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