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

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 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.

Willie Mays, the all-time leader in putouts by a center fielder

The overwhelming majority of putouts recorded by center 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 that 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, 27 of the top 30 single-season center field putout totals were recorded between 1924 and 1986; only five of the top 112 have been recorded since 2003.

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; six of the top seven career leaders in outfield putouts, and 14 of the top 18, were center fielders. Willie Mays is the all-time leader in putouts as a center fielder with 7,024;^[1][2][3] he is the only player to record more than 7,000 career putouts as a center fielder.

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 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[lower-alpha 1]

List

Mike Trout, the active leader and 53rd all-time in putouts by a center fielder

Tris Speaker holds the American League record.

Richie Ashburn led the National League in putouts a record nine times, and holds seven of the top 16 single-season totals.

Max Carey held the National League record for 34 years.

Joe DiMaggio retired with the 7th-most putouts in history despite missing three prime seasons in World War II.

Taylor Douthit was the first center fielder to record 500 putouts in one season, and held the single-season record for 23 years.

• Stats updated as of September 4, 2024.

Rank	Player (2024 POs)	Putouts as a center fielder			Other leagues, notes
		MLB	American League	National League
1	Willie Mays*	7,024	0	7,024
2	Tris Speaker*	6,757	6,757	0	Held modern major league record, 1915-1971; held the single-season record, 1914-1917; held the American League single-season record, 1914-1920
3	Richie Ashburn*	5,803	0	5,803	Held National League record, 1958-1967; holds the single-season record of 532 (set in 1951)
4	Steve Finley	5,348	439	4,909
5	Willie Davis	5,279	100	5,179
6	Ty Cobb*	5,156	5,156	0	Held the modern single-season record, 1911-1914
7	Ken Griffey Jr.*	5,147	3,706	1,441
8	Brett Butler	4,947	1,704	3,243
9	Kenny Lofton	4,758	3,554	1,204
10	Amos Otis	4,743	4,696	47
11	Marquis Grissom	4,706	354	4,352
12	Mike Cameron	4,700	2,437	2,263
13	Doc Cramer	4,661	4,661	0
14	Max Carey*	4,580	0	4,580	Held National League record, 1924-1958; held the single-season record, 1917-1920, 1923-1924; held NL single-season record, 1917-1928
15	Bernie Williams	4,576	4,576	0
16	Andruw Jones	4,456	33	4,423
17	Devon White	4,413	3,091	1,322
18	Garry Maddox	4,387	0	4,387
19	Jim Edmonds	4,341	1,522	2,819
20	Edd Roush*	4,327	3	3,989	Includes 335 in Federal League
21	Paul Blair	4,270	4,167	103
22	Lloyd Waner*	4,225	0	4,225
23	Joe DiMaggio*	4,161	4,161	0
24	Carlos Beltrán	4,133	2,025	2,108
25	Fred Lynn	4,093	4,080	13
26	Chet Lemon	4,081	4,081	0	Holds the American League single-season record (509 in 1977)
27	Curt Flood	4,019	17	4,002
28	Mickey Mantle*	4,016	4,016	0
29	Adam Jones	3,964	3,962	2
30	Torii Hunter	3,948	3,948	0
31	Kirby Puckett*	3,853	3,853	0
32	Vada Pinson	3,816	368	3,448
33	Bill Bruton	3,808	1,264	2,544
34	Earl Averill*	3,699	3,697	2
35	Duke Snider*	3,641	0	3,641
36	Bill Virdon	3,637	0	3,637
37	César Cedeño	3,636	0	3,636
38	Rick Manning	3,533	3,533	0
39	Clyde Milan	3,518	3,518	0
40	Dom DiMaggio	3,513	3,513	0
41	Willie Wilson	3,465	3,346	119
42	Dwayne Murphy	3,442	3,439	3
43	Sam West	3,412	3,412	0
44	Larry Doby*	3,395	3,393	0	Includes 2 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
45	Cy Williams	3,383	0	3,383
46	Lance Johnson	3,379	2,358	1,021
47	Dode Paskert	3,378	0	3,378	Held modern National League record, 1917-1924
48	Lloyd Moseby	3,349	3,349	0
49	Willie McGee	3,336	137	3,199
50	Jim Busby	3,265	3,261	4	Held the American League single-season record, 1954-1977
51	Omar Moreno	3,253	432	2,821
52	Rick Monday	3,246	1,329	1,917
53	Mike Trout (65)	3,236	3,236	0
54	Johnny Damon	3,144	3,144	0
55	Vernon Wells	3,132	3,132	0
56	Jimmy Piersall	3,121	3,058	63
57	Lenny Dykstra	3,090	0	3,090
58	Brian McRae	3,084	1,616	1,468
59	Robin Yount*	3,056	3,056	0
60	Curtis Granderson	2,989	2,792	197
61	Mickey Rivers	2,967	2,967	0
62	Andrew McCutchen (0)	2,959	0	2,959
63	Gary Pettis	2,940	2,924	16
64	Dave Henderson	2,926	2,916	10
65	Baby Doll Jacobson	2,911	2,911	0	Held the single-season record, 1924-1928; held the American League single-season record, 1924-1954
66	Earle Combs*	2,898	2,898	0
67	Taylor Douthit	2,873	0	2,873	Held the single-season record, 1928-1951
68	Sam Chapman	2,846	2,846	0
69	Andre Dawson*	2,826	0	2,826
70	Hy Myers	2,818	0	2,818
71	Ray Lankford	2,804	0	2,804
72	Carlos Gómez	2,781	1,234	1,547
73	Andy Van Slyke	2,762	40	2,722
74	Coco Crisp	2,761	2,761	0
75	Bill North	2,759	1,800	959
76	B. J. Upton	2,758	2,061	697
77	Otis Nixon	2,751	1,606	1,145
78	Jim Landis	2,745	2,743	2
79	Mike Kreevich	2,742	2,741	1
80	Juan Pierre	2,740	0	2,740
81	Aaron Rowand	2,729	1,060	1,669
82	Michael Bourn	2,699	689	2,010
83	Del Unser	2,684	1,306	1,378
84	Mookie Wilson	2,682	406	2,276
85	Jimmy Wynn	2,669	0	2,669
86	Mickey Stanley	2,666	2,666	0
87	Terry Moore	2,651	0	2,651
88	Denard Span	2,632	1,165	1,467
89	Bill Tuttle	2,600	2,600	0
90	Gorman Thomas	2,582	2,582	0
91	Jacoby Ellsbury	2,575	2,575	0
92	Lorenzo Cain	2,566	1,615	951
93	Ruppert Jones	2,543	1,684	859
94	Roy Thomas †	2,526	0	2,526	Held modern major league record, 1905-1915; held modern National League record, 1902-1917; held the modern single-season record, 1905-1911; held modern NL single-season record, 1903-1917
95	Bobby Thomson	2,516	36	2,480
96	César Gerónimo	2,505	77	2,428
97	Fred Schulte	2,493	2,371	122
98	Vince DiMaggio	2,490	0	2,490
99	Austin Jackson	2,432	2,228	204
100	Kevin Kiermaier (217)	2,426	2,375	51

Other Hall of Famers

Player	Putouts as a center fielder			Other leagues, notes
	MLB	American League	National League
Hack Wilson*	2,102	0	2,102
Al Simmons*	1,899	1,899	0
Kiki Cuyler*	1,551	0	1,551
Sam Rice*	1,521	1,521	0	Held the single-season record, 1920-1923; held the American League single-season record, 1920-1924
Rickey Henderson*	1,227	1,176	51
Turkey Stearnes*	1,197	0	0	Includes 710 in Negro National League (first), 380 in Negro National League (second), 107 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Cool Papa Bell*	1,158	0	0	Includes 615 in Negro National League (first), 462 in Negro National League (second), 81 in East–West League (incomplete)
Al Kaline*	1,156	1,156	0
Oscar Charleston*	1,026	0	0	Includes 645 in Negro National League (first), 242 in Eastern Colored League, 139 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Sam Crawford* †	899	899	0
Freddie Lindstrom*	762	0	762
Hank Aaron*	741	0	741
Chick Hafey*	724	0	724
Heinie Manush*	695	695	0
Stan Musial*	690	0	690
Cristóbal Torriente*	624	0	0	Includes 624 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Casey Stengel*	612	0	612
Craig Biggio*	562	0	562
Billy Southworth*	522	72	450
Dave Winfield*	485	205	280
Tim Raines*	421	2	419
Reggie Jackson*	414	414	0
Carl Yastrzemski*	409	409	0
Roger Bresnahan* †	398	26	372
Willard Brown*	395	1	0	Includes 394 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Tony Gwynn*	376	0	376
Mel Ott*	288	0	288
Lou Brock*	241	0	241
Billy Hamilton* †	232	0	232
Elmer Flick* †	225	225	0
Ralph Kiner*	205	0	205
Hugh Duffy* †	142	127	15
Joe Kelley* †	134	98	36
Larry Walker*	129	0	129
Harry Heilmann*	122	122	0
Pete Hill*	112	0	0	Includes 112 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Paul Molitor*	112	112	0
Martín Dihigo*	66	0	0	Includes 51 in Negro National League (second), 13 in American Negro League, 2 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete)
Monte Irvin*	46	0	1	Includes 45 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Joe Medwick*	44	0	44
Honus Wagner* †	29	0	29
George Davis* †	0	0	0
Ed Delahanty* †	0	0	0
Ned Hanlon* †	0	0	0
Jim O'Rourke* †	0	0	0
John Montgomery Ward* †	0	0	0
Harry Wright* †	0	0	0

Notes

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

References

1. "Willie Mays Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
2. Saccoman, John. "Willie Mays Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
3. "Willie Mays Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021.

External links

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