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

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 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, 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 (2022 POs) Number of recorded putouts during the 2022 Major League Baseball season
MLB Total career putouts as a center fielder in Major League Baseball
* Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
dagger Denotes total is missing figures for pre-1901 games
Bold Denotes active player[a]

List

Mike Trout, the active leader and 60th all-time in putouts by a center fielder
Mike Trout, the active leader and 60th all-time in putouts by a center fielder
Tris Speaker holds the American League record.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Taylor Douthit was the first center fielder to record 500 putouts in one season, and held the single-season record for 23 years.
Rank Player (2022 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 Johnny Damon 3,144 3,144 0
54 Vernon Wells 3,132 3,132 0
55 Jimmy Piersall 3,121 3,058 63
56 Lenny Dykstra 3,090 0 3,090
57 Brian McRae 3,084 1,616 1,468
58 Robin Yount * 3,056 3,056 0
59 Curtis Granderson 2,989 2,792 197
60 Mike Trout (250) 2,988 2,988 0
61 Mickey Rivers 2,967 2,967 0
62 Andrew McCutchen (5) 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 Hi 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 (80) 2,566 1,615 951
93 Ruppert Jones 2,543 1,684 859
94 Roy Thomas dagger 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 Tommy Leach dagger 2,397 0 2,397

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 * dagger 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 * dagger 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 * dagger 232 0 232
Elmer Flick * dagger 225 225 0
Ralph Kiner * 205 0 205
Hugh Duffy * dagger 142 127 15
Joe Kelley * dagger 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 * dagger 29 0 29
George Davis * dagger 0 0 0
Ed Delahanty * dagger 0 0 0
Ned Hanlon * dagger 0 0 0
Jim O'Rourke * dagger 0 0 0
John Montgomery Ward * dagger 0 0 0
Harry Wright * dagger 0 0 0

Notes

  1. ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or 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

Major League Baseball records
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