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

Paul Waner, the all-time leader in putouts by a right 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 right fielder (RF) is one of the three outfielders, the defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. The right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing toward the pitcher's mound. The outfielders must 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 right fielder must also be adept at navigating the area of the right field where the foul line approaches the corner of the playing field and the walls of the seating areas. Being the outfielder farthest from third base, the right fielder often has to make longer throws than the other outfielders to throw out runners advancing around the bases, so they often have the strongest or most accurate throwing arm. The right fielder normally plays behind the second baseman and first baseman, who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, right fielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the right fielder is assigned the number 9, the highest number.

The overwhelming majority of putouts recorded by right 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. 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 generally declined, but right fielders have largely defied this trend. Eight of the top nine players, and 17 of the top 20, were active entirely after 1950. Through the 2022 season, none of the top 251 single-season right field putout totals were recorded before 1920, and only 45 were recorded before 1960; nine of the top twelve, and 40 of the top 79, have been recorded since 1996.

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 records the highest putout totals; left fielders usually records slightly more putouts than right fielders due to the ball being more frequently hit to the left side of the field. Paul Waner is the all-time leader in career putouts by a right fielder with 4,533. Roberto Clemente (4,459), Dwight Evans (4,247), Hank Aaron (4,161), Tony Gwynn (4,052), Nick Markakis (4,025), Sammy Sosa (4,017), and Ichiro Suzuki (4,005) are the only other right fielders to record over 4,000 career putouts.

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 right 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

Jason Heyward, the active leader in putouts by a right fielder and 30th all-time
Dwight Evans holds the American League record.
Ichiro Suzuki tied the major league record with 381 putouts in 2005.
Harry Hooper held the American League record for 54 years, and led the AL in putouts a record ten times.
Dave Parker's 381 putouts in 1977 remain the major league record.
Babe Herman held the single-season record for 45 years.
  • Stats updated as of the end of the 2023 season.
Rank Player (2024 POs) Putouts as a right fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Paul Waner* 4,533 0 4,533
2 Roberto Clemente* 4,459 0 4,459
3 Dwight Evans 4,247 4,247 0
4 Hank Aaron* 4,161 0 4,161
5 Tony Gwynn* 4,052 0 4,052
6 Nick Markakis 4,025 2,605 1,420
7 Sammy Sosa 4,017 676 3,341
8 Ichiro Suzuki 4,005 3,743 262 Holds the single-season record of 381 (tied in 2005)
9 Al Kaline* 3,865 3,865 0 Held American League record, 1972-1988
10 Mel Ott* 3,767 0 3,767
11 Harry Hooper* 3,755 3,755 0 Held modern major league record, 1920-1938; held American League record, 1918-1972; held AL single-season record, 1915-1917 (tie), 1922-1923
12 Bobby Abreu 3,733 1,126 2,607
13 Dave Winfield* 3,657 1,892 1,765
14 Dave Parker 3,633 2 3,631 Holds the single-season record of 381 (set in 1977)
15 Reggie Jackson* 3,624 3,624 0
16 Paul O'Neill 3,544 2,219 1,325
17 Jermaine Dye 3,237 3,113 124 Held American League single-season record, 1999-2004
18 Vladimir Guerrero* 3,166 1,220 1,946
19 Magglio Ordóñez 3,155 3,155 0
20 Tom Brunansky 3,146 2,557 589
21 Wally Moses 3,138 3,138 0
22 Larry Walker* 3,124 0 3,124
23 Shawn Green 3,053 1,129 1,924
24 Johnny Callison 2,954 170 2,784
25 Bobby Bonds 2,917 1,191 1,726
26 Rusty Staub 2,907 231 2,676
27 Hunter Pence 2,889 15 2,874
28 Sam Rice* 2,864 2,864 0 Held American League single-season record, 1917-1922, 1923-1926
29 Jay Bruce 2,827 94 2,733
30 Jason Heyward (0) 2,790 0 2,790
31 Jesse Barfield 2,772 2,772 0
32 Tim Salmon 2,700 2,700 0 Held American League single-season record, 1997-1999
33 Rubén Sierra 2,626 2,603 23
34 Raúl Mondesí 2,571 879 1,692
35 Bill Nicholson 2,565 1 2,564
36 Harry Heilmann* 2,562 2,290 272
37 Enos Slaughter* 2,555 278 2,277
38 Jeromy Burnitz 2,473 250 2,223
39 Carl Furillo 2,467 0 2,467
40 Jay Buhner 2,450 2,450 0
41 Alex Ríos 2,446 2,446 0
42 Jeff Francoeur 2,428 684 1,744
43 Al Cowens 2,389 2,389 0
44 J. D. Drew 2,352 1,018 1,334
45 Chuck Klein* 2,342 0 2,342
46 Darryl Strawberry 2,337 30 2,307
47 Curt Walker 2,333 0 2,333 Held modern National League record, 1929-1933
48 Sam Crawford* † 2,312 1,906 406 Held modern major league record, 1914-1920; held modern National League record, 1902-1903; held American League record, 1913-1918
49 Reggie Sanders 2,310 197 2,113
50 Rocky Colavito 2,295 2,278 17
51 Andre Dawson* 2,280 42 2,238
52 Jackie Jensen 2,264 2,264 0
53 Tony Oliva* 2,260 2,260 0
54 Frank Robinson* 2,251 1,094 1,157
55 Ken Singleton 2,245 1,535 710
56 José Guillén 2,213 914 1,299
57 Giancarlo Stanton (0) 2,183 181 2,002
58 Babe Ruth* 2,146 2,141 5
59 Tommy Griffith 2,138 0 2,138 Held modern National League record, 1924-1929
60 Sixto Lezcano 2,137 1,447 690
61 Kole Calhoun (0) 2,134 1,965 169
62 Ross Youngs* 2,116 0 2,116
63 Dixie Walker 2,097 266 1,831
64 Gary Sheffield 2,042 562 1,480
65 Hank Bauer 2,032 2,032 0
66 Roger Maris 2,017 1,626 391
67 Harold Baines* 1,982 1,982 0
68 Mookie Betts (0) 1,972 1,270 702
69 Josh Reddick 1,958 1,819 139
70 Brian Jordan 1,956 94 1,862
71 Jack Clark 1,939 29 1,910
72 Pete Fox 1,929 1,929 0
73 Bing Miller 1,925 1,925 0
74 Jayson Werth 1,921 45 1,876
75 José Bautista 1,907 1,742 165
76 Bruce Campbell 1,903 1,903 0
77 Shin-Soo Choo 1,893 1,893 0
78 Max Flack 1,881 0 1,751 Includes 130 in Federal League
79 Rob Deer 1,871 1,825 46
80 Jack Tobin 1,866 1,507 0 Includes 359 in Federal League
81 Babe Herman 1,857 0 1,857 Held the single-season record, 1932-1977
82 Ival Goodman 1,851 0 1,851
83 Chief Wilson 1,845 0 1,845 Held modern National League record, 1916-1924; held the single-season record, 1909-1920
84 Claudell Washington 1,844 844 1,000
85 Glenn Wilson 1,843 365 1,478
86 John Titus 1,837 0 1,837 Held modern major league record, 1911-1914; held modern National League record, 1909-1916
87 Ken Griffey Sr. 1,816 227 1,589
88 Nelson Cruz 1,770 1,766 4
89 Austin Kearns 1,766 80 1,686
90 Elmer Valo 1,762 1,574 188
91 Don Mueller 1,752 57 1,695
92 Frank Schulte 1,736 115 1,621
93 Billy Southworth* 1,724 3 1,721
94 Trot Nixon 1,723 1,714 9
95 David Justice 1,693 196 1,497
96 Brian Giles 1,686 45 1,641
97 Reggie Smith 1,670 373 1,297
98 Dante Bichette 1,664 601 1,063
99 Matt Lawton 1,659 1,353 306
100 Tommy Henrich 1,658 1,658 0

Other Hall of Famers

Player Putouts as a right fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Kiki Cuyler* 1,640 0 1,640
Casey Stengel* 1,537 0 1,537
Willie Keeler* † 1,531 1,142 389
Elmer Flick* † 1,431 1,153 278 Held modern major league record, 1901-1908; held modern National League record,
1901-1902; held modern single-season record, 1901-1909
Stan Musial* 1,225 0 1,225
Ty Cobb* 1,103 1,103 0
Billy Williams* 657 0 657
Kirby Puckett* 528 528 0
Ken Griffey Jr.* 456 8 448
Lou Brock* 432 0 432
Duke Snider * 342 0 342
Goose Goslin* 309 309 0
Ted Williams* 282 282 0
Max Carey* 265 0 265
Hack Wilson* 257 0 257
Chick Hafey* 225 0 225
Monte Irvin* 217 0 189 Includes 28 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Mickey Mantle* 207 207 0
Heinie Manush* 206 30 176
Larry Doby* 199 199 0 Negro League totals unavailable
Honus Wagner* † 153 0 153
Freddie Lindstrom* 146 0 146
Jud Wilson* 67 0 0 Includes 41 in Eastern Colored League, 14 in Negro National League (second),
12 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Frank Chance* † 58 0 58
Pete Hill* 57 0 0 Includes 57 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Joe Medwick* 53 0 53
Lloyd Waner* 47 0 47
Cristóbal Torriente* 46 0 0 Includes 46 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Willard Brown* 41 35 0 Includes 6 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Ed Delahanty* † 26 26 0
Hugh Duffy* † 14 0 14
Sam Thompson* † 14 14 0
Joe Mauer* 3 3 0
Todd Helton* 2 0 2
Jesse Burkett* † 0 0 0
Billy Hamilton* † 0 0 0
King Kelly* † 0 0 0
Tommy McCarthy* † 0 0 0
Jim O'Rourke* † 0 0 0
John Montgomery Ward* † 0 0 0

This page was last updated at 2024-03-16 17:49 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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