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

Barry Bonds, the all-time leader in putouts by a left fielder

In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by PO or fly out when appropriate) is given to a defensive player who records an out by tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base, catching a batted or thrown ball and tagging a base to put out a batter or runner (a force out), catching a thrown ball and tagging a base to record an out on an appeal play, catching a third strike (a strikeout), catching a batted ball on the fly (a fly out), or being positioned closest to a runner called out for interference. 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.

The overwhelming majority of putouts recorded by left fielders, almost to exclusivity, result from catching fly balls. However, in extraordinary circumstances, an outfielder may record a putout by receiving a throw to force out or tag out a runner while covering a base if one or more infielders are out of position to retrieve an errant throw, or by tagging a runner stranded between bases in a rundown play; however, even in such circumstances, outfielders will more typically act as a backup to infielders than cover a base themselves. Historically, putout totals for outfielders rose after 1920 with the end of the dead-ball era; the same circumstances which had kept home run totals low, such as overused baseballs and legal adulterations including the spitball, had similarly hindered the type of power hitting which lent itself to long fly balls. But as strikeout totals have risen in baseball in recent decades, the frequency of other defensive outs including flyouts has declined; as a result, putout totals for outfielders have likewise declined. Through the 2022 season, 17 of the top 20 single-season left field putout totals were recorded between 1920 and 1992; none of the top 39 have been recorded since 1997.

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 putout totals are unavailable; players whose totals are missing the figures for pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Because they are expected to cover more territory in the outfield than their counterparts on either side, often being the fastest player of the three, center fielders typically record the highest putout totals; left fielders usually record slightly more putouts than right fielders due to the ball being more frequently hit to the left side of the field. Barry Bonds is the all-time leader in career putouts as a left fielder with 5,226. Rickey Henderson (5,215) is second all-time, and the only other player with over 5,000 career putouts as a left fielder.

As of November 2023, no active players are in the top 100 for career putouts as a left fielder. The active leader is current free agent David Peralta in 106th with 1,511.

Key

Rank	Rank amongst leaders in career putouts. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2024 POs)	Number of recorded putouts during the 2024 Major League Baseball season
MLB	Total career putouts 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
Bold	Denotes active player

List

Christian Yelich, the active leader and 97th all-time in putouts by a left fielder.

Rickey Henderson holds the American League record.

Zack Wheat held the major league record for 79 years.

Goose Goslin held the American League record for 59 years.

Roy White led American League left fielders in putouts a record eight times.

Joe Vosmik's 424 putouts in 1932 remain a major league record.

• Stats updated as of July 9, 2024.

Rank	Player (2024 POs)	Putouts as a left fielder			Other leagues, notes
		MLB	American League	National League
1	Barry Bonds	5,226	0	5,226	Holds the National League single-season record (366 in 1989)
2	Rickey Henderson*	5,215	4,526	689	Held major league record, 2000-2007
3	Zack Wheat*	4,944	107	4,837	Held modern major league record, 1921-2000; held modern National League record, 1921-2004
4	Luis Gonzalez	4,442	233	4,209
5	Goose Goslin *	3,826	3,826	0	Held American League record, 1936-1995
6	Tim Raines*	3,769	1,472	2,297
7	Lou Brock*	3,710	0	3,710
8	Bobby Veach	3,624	3,624	0	Held American League record, 1921-1936; held the single-season record, 1921-1932
9	Ted Williams*	3,541	3,541	0
10	Carl Yastrzemski*	3,521	3,521	0
11	Joe Medwick*	3,455	0	3,455
12	Jimmy Sheckard †	3,402	0	3,402	Held modern major league record, 1903-1921; held modern National League record, 1902-1921; held the single-season record, 1903-1904; held NL single-season record, 1903-1905
13	Sherry Magee	3,283	0	3,283	Held single-season record, 1905-1908
14	Bob Johnson	3,243	3,243	0
15	Carl Crawford	3,182	2,819	363
16	Roy White	3,158	3,158	0
17	Carlos Lee	3,049	1,636	1,413
18	Jim Rice*	3,027	3,027	0
19	Charlie Jamieson	2,983	2,983	0
20	George Foster	2,963	20	2,943
21	Minnie Miñoso*	2,934	2,900	34	Negro League totals unavailable
22	Matt Holliday	2,842	189	2,653
23	Billy Williams*	2,811	0	2,811
24	Fred Clarke* †	2,784	0	2,784	Held single-season record, 1908-1921
25	José Cruz	2,773	4	2,769
26	Al Simmons*	2,772	2,635	137
27	Alex Gordon	2,699	2,699	0
28	Garret Anderson	2,675	2,455	220
29	Joe Vosmik	2,613	2,524	89	Holds the single-season record of 424 (set in 1932)
30	Duffy Lewis	2,577	2,577	0	Held American League record, 1916-1921
31	Ralph Kiner*	2,543	142	2,401
32	Heinie Manush*	2,539	2,539	0
33	Greg Vaughn	2,521	1,743	778
34	Ken Williams	2,515	2,392	123
35	Raúl Ibañez	2,510	1,877	633
36	George Burns	2,506	0	2,506
37	Del Ennis	2,481	29	2,452
38	Gary Matthews	2,440	0	2,440
39	Jack Graney	2,307	2,307	0
40	Bibb Falk	2,306	2,306	0
41	Ben Oglivie	2,296	2,296	0
42	Gene Woodling	2,215	2,171	44
43	Jeff Heath	2,214	1,960	254
44	Joe Rudi	2,208	2,208	0
45	Shannon Stewart	2,192	2,192	0
46	Bob Bescher	2,191	0	2,191
47	Jason Bay	2,183	443	1,740
48	Lonnie Smith	2,173	502	1,671
49	Ryan Braun	2,151	0	2,151
50	Vince Coleman	2,109	344	1,765
51	Ron Gant	2,108	53	2,055
52	Albert Belle	2,107	2,107	0
53	Jo-Jo Moore	2,092	0	2,092
54	George Bell	2,080	1,831	249
55	Gus Zernial	2,070	2,070	0
56	Mike Greenwell	2,031	2,031	0
57	Lou Piniella	2,025	2,025	0
58	Pat Burrell	2,016	0	2,016
59	Irish Meusel	1,981	1	1,980
60	Babe Ruth*	1,978	1,955	23
61	Topsy Hartsel †	1,976	1,710	266	Held American League record, 1907-1909
62	Carson Bigbee	1,953	0	1,953
63	Hank Sauer	1,941	0	1,941
64	Moisés Alou	1,938	0	1,938
65	Augie Galan	1,918	11	1,907
66	Kevin McReynolds	1,883	375	1,508
67	Alfonso Soriano	1,881	120	1,761
68	Willie Stargell*	1,863	0	1,863
69	Dusty Baker	1,861	106	1,755
70	Greg Luzinski	1,839	0	1,839
71	Charlie Keller	1,834	1,834	0
72	Justin Upton	1,819	1,139	680
73	Cliff Floyd	1,814	31	1,783
74	Bernard Gilkey	1,798	6	1,792
75	Adam Dunn	1,794	18	1,776
76	Steve Kemp	1,786	1,670	116
77	Gary Ward	1,783	1,783	0
78	Patsy Dougherty	1,777	1,777	0	Held American League record, 1911-1916
79	Matty McIntyre	1,749	1,749	0	Held American League record, 1909-1911; held the single-season record, 1904-1905; held AL single-season record, 1904-1916
80	Brett Gardner	1,747	1,747	0
81	Luis Polonia	1,740	1,730	10
82	Dale Mitchell	1,739	1,736	3
83	Willie Horton	1,735	1,735	0
84	Geoff Jenkins	1,690	0	1,690
85	Dan Gladden	1,662	1,646	16
86	Larry Herndon	1,648	1,311	337
87	Steve Henderson	1,635	349	1,286
88	Tommy Davis	1,632	449	1,183
89	Riggs Stephenson	1,629	0	1,629
90	B. J. Surhoff	1,626	1,376	250
91	Rusty Greer	1,621	1,621	0
92	Manny Ramirez	1,597	1,299	298
93	Melky Cabrera	1,590	1,295	295
94	Charlie Maxwell	1,579	1,579	0
95	Phil Bradley	1,575	1,281	294
96	Stan Musial*	1,571	0	1,571
97	Christian Yelich (75)	1,563	0	1,563
98	Sid Gordon	1,556	0	1,556
99	Willie Wilson	1,552	1,552	0
100	Jeffrey Leonard	1,543	353	1,190

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Putouts as a left fielder			Other leagues, notes
	MLB	American League	National League
Max Carey*	1,500	0	1,500
Chick Hafey*	1,497	0	1,497
Frank Robinson*	1,479	181	1,298
Jesse Burkett* †	1,379	1,072	307	Held modern major league record, 1901-1903; held American League record, 1903-1904, 1905-1907; held modern National League record, 1901-1902; held single-season record, 1901-1903; held AL single-season record, 1902-1904
Monte Irvin*	1,106	0	1,034	Includes 72 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Enos Slaughter*	974	188	786
Dave Winfield*	838	635	203
Harmon Killebrew*	705	705	0
Kiki Cuyler*	676	0	676
Hank Aaron*	550	3	547
Chipper Jones*	545	0	545
Joe Kelley* †	531	1	530
Ed Delahanty* †	458	279	179
Chuck Klein*	454	0	454
Hank Greenberg*	383	383	0
Willie McCovey*	372	0	372
Hack Wilson*	349	0	349
Earle Combs*	348	348	0
Orlando Cepeda*	340	0	340
Freddie Lindstrom*	323	0	323
Mule Suttles*	269	0	0	Includes 199 in Negro National League (first), 70 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Lloyd Waner*	267	0	267
Cool Papa Bell*	234	0	0	Includes 233 in Negro National League (second), 1 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Mickey Mantle*	191	191	0
Billy Southworth*	182	15	167
Edd Roush*	162	0	82	Includes 80 in Federal League
Craig Biggio*	147	0	147
Robin Yount*	143	143	0
Harry Hooper*	141	141	0
Joe DiMaggio*	136	136	0
Earl Averill*	122	120	2
Cristóbal Torriente*	113	0	0	Includes 113 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Sam Crawford* †	100	89	11
Willard Brown*	65	0	0	Includes 65 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Mel Ott*	50	0	50
Martín Dihigo*	35	0	0	Includes 21 in Negro National League (second), 11 in Eastern Colored League, 3 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Hugh Duffy* †	20	14	6
Todd Helton*	14	0	14
Pete Hill*	14	0	0	Includes 14 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)

External links

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