List of Major League Baseball career at bat leaders

Pete Rose, the all-time leader in at-bats.

In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance no matter what happens during his turn at bat. A batter is not credited with an at bat if he:

  • Receives a base on balls (BB).[a]
  • Is hit by a pitch (HBP).
  • Hits a sacrifice fly or a sacrifice bunt (also known as sacrifice hit).
  • Is awarded first base due to interference or obstruction, usually by the catcher.
  • Is replaced by another hitter before his at bat is completed, in which case the plate appearance and any related statistics go to the pinch hitter (unless he is replaced with two strikes and his replacement completes a strikeout, in which case the at bat and strikeout are still charged to the first batter).

At bats are used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. A player can only qualify for the season-ending rankings in these categories if he accumulates 502 plate appearances during the season.[1]

Pete Rose[2][3] is the all-time leader in at bats with 14,053, and the only player in MLB history with more than 13,000 at bats. Only 30 MLB players have reached 10,000 career at bats. As of September 22, 2024, no active players are in the top 100 of career at-bats. The active leader is Andrew McCutchen in 169th with 7,862.

Key

Rank Rank among leaders in career at-bats. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2025 ABs) Name (at-bats in 2025)
AB Career at-bats
* Elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bold Active player.[b]

List

  • Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.
Rank Player (2025 ABs) AB
1 Pete Rose 14,053
2 Hank Aaron* 12,364
3 Carl Yastrzemski* 11,988
4 Cal Ripken Jr.* 11,551
5 Ty Cobb* 11,434
6 Albert Pujols 11,421
7 Eddie Murray* 11,336
8 Derek Jeter* 11,195
9 Adrián Beltré* 11,068
10 Robin Yount* 11,008
11 Dave Winfield* 11,003
12 Stan Musial* 10,972
13 Rickey Henderson* 10,961
14 Willie Mays* 10,881
15 Craig Biggio* 10,876
16 Paul Molitor* 10,835
17 Brooks Robinson* 10,654
18 Omar Vizquel 10,586
19 Alex Rodriguez 10,566
20 Rafael Palmeiro 10,472
21 Honus Wagner* 10,439
22 Miguel Cabrera 10,356
23 George Brett* 10,349
24 Lou Brock* 10,332
25 Cap Anson* 10,281
26 Luis Aparicio* 10,230
27 Tris Speaker* 10,195
28 Al Kaline* 10,116
29 Rabbit Maranville* 10,078
30 Frank Robinson* 10,006
31 Eddie Collins* 9,949
32 Ichiro Suzuki 9,934
33 Andre Dawson* 9,927
34 Harold Baines* 9,908
35 Reggie Jackson* 9,864
36 Barry Bonds 9,847
37 Ken Griffey Jr.* 9,801
38 Tony Pérez* 9,778
39 Carlos Beltrán 9,768
40 Johnny Damon 9,736
41 Rusty Staub 9,720
42 Vada Pinson 9,645
43 Iván Rodríguez* 9,592
44 Nap Lajoie* 9,589
45 Sam Crawford* 9,570
46 Jake Beckley* 9,551
47 Paul Waner* 9,459
48 Mel Ott* 9,456
49 Roberto Clemente* 9,454
50 Ernie Banks* 9,421
Rank Player (2025 ABs) AB
51 Bill Buckner 9,397
Steve Finley 9,397
53 Ozzie Smith* 9,396
54 Max Carey* 9,363
55 Dave Parker* 9,358
56 Billy Williams* 9,350
57 Rod Carew* 9,315
58 Jimmy Rollins 9,294
59 Tony Gwynn* 9,288
60 Joe Morgan* 9,277
61 Sam Rice* 9,269
62 Nellie Fox* 9,232
63 Gary Sheffield 9,217
64 Wade Boggs* 9,180
65 Willie Davis 9,174
66 Luis Gonzalez 9,157
67 Doc Cramer 9,140
68 Frankie Frisch* 9,112
69 Zach Wheat* 9,106
70 Lave Cross 9,084
71 Roberto Alomar* 9,073
72 Al Oliver 9,049
73 George Davis* 9,045
74 Bill Dahlen 9,036
75 Dwight Evans 8,996
76 Buddy Bell 8,995
77 Graig Nettles 8,986
78 Chipper Jones* 8,984
79 Darrell Evans 8,973
80 Gary Gaetti 8,951
81 Tim Raines* 8,872
82 Charlie Gehringer* 8,860
83 Torii Hunter 8,857
84 Luke Appling* 8,856
85 Steve Garvey 8,835
86 Tommy Corcoran 8,824
87 Sammy Sosa 8,813
88 Harry Hooper* 8,785
89 Robinson Canó 8,773
90 Al Simmons* 8,759
91 Fred McGriff* 8,757
92 Carlton Fisk* 8,756
93 Mickey Vernon 8,731
94 Dave Concepcion 8,723
95 Bert Campaneris 8,684
96 Ted Simmons* 8,680
97 Julio Franco 8,677
98 Chili Davis 8,673
99 Goose Goslin* 8,656
100 Garret Anderson 8,640
David Ortiz* 8,640

Notes

  1. ^ In 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was high batting averages, including some near .500, and the experiment was abandoned the following season.
  2. ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.

References

  1. ^ Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Pete Rose Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Sturgill, Andy. "Pete Rose Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 1, 2021.