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In baseball statistics, a double play (denoted as DP) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. One double play is recorded for every defensive player who participates in the play, regardless of how many of the outs in which they were directly involved, and is counted in addition to whatever putouts and assists might also apply. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs.[1] An outfielder (OF) is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter, who are identified as the left fielder (LF), the center fielder (CF), and the right fielder (RF). An outfielder's 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. Outfielders normally play behind the six other members of the defense who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, outfielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the outfielders are assigned the numbers 7 (left field), 8 (center field), and 9 (right field).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/TrisSpeakerGoudeycard.jpg/160px-TrisSpeakerGoudeycard.jpg)
Outfielders are most commonly credited with a double play when they throw the ball to an infielder who tags a runner attempting to advance on the basepaths, even on a caught fly ball that results in an out (see tag up); of special importance are throws to the catcher if the runner is trying to reach home plate to score a run, perhaps on a sacrifice fly. Outfielders will often record assists by throwing out runners who try to advance farther than the batter, such as going from first to third base on a single, or batter/runners who try to stretch a hit into a longer one. Outfielders also earn double plays on relay throws to infielders after particularly deep fly balls, by throwing to a base to record an out on an appeal play, or in situations where they might deflect a fly ball before another defensive player makes the catch; in extraordinary instances, right fielders have occasionally recorded double plays by throwing out batters at first base after fielding uncaught line drives that reached them quickly. Outfielders record far fewer double plays than other players due to the difficulty of making an accurate throw in time to retire a runner from a great distance; middle infielders routinely record more double plays in a single season than outfielders do in their entire careers. Double plays are an important statistic for outfielders, giving a greater indication of an outfielder's throwing arm than double plays by infielders do. In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills.
Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career double plays as an outfielder with 143.[2] Ty Cobb (104) is the only other outfielder who has recorded 100 career double plays. Jackie Bradley Jr., who had 24 double plays through the 2024 season to place him tied for 247th all-time, is the leader among active players.
Key
editRank | Rank among leaders in career double plays. A blank field indicates a tie. |
Player (2024 DPs) | Recorded double plays in 2024 |
Main pos. | Primary outfield position played during career (LF, CF, or RF) |
MLB | Total career double plays as an outfielder in Major League Baseball |
* | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame |
---|---|
Bold | Denotes active player[a] |
List
editRank | Player (2024 DPs) | Main Pos. |
Double plays as an outfielder | Other leagues, notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MLB | American League | National League | ||||
1 | Tris Speaker* | CF | 143 | 143 | 0 | |
2 | Ty Cobb* | CF | 104 | 104 | 0 | |
3 | Max Carey* | CF | 87 | 0 | 87 | |
4 | Tom Brown | CF | 85 | 0 | 47 | Includes 30 in American Association, 8 in Players' League; Held the single-season record (twice), 1886–1892 & 1893–1899 |
5 | Harry Hooper* | RF | 83 | 83 | 0 | |
6 | Jimmy Sheckard | LF | 80 | 0 | 80 | Held National League record, 1913–1927; held the single-season record, 1899–1919 |
7 | Mike Griffin | CF | 75 | 0 | 53 | Includes 12 in American Association, 10 in Players' League |
8 | Dummy Hoy | CF | 72 | 6 | 54 | Includes 9 in Players' League, 3 in American Association |
9 | Jimmy Ryan | CF | 71 | 0 | 66 | Includes 5 in Players' League |
10 | Fielder Jones | CF | 70 | 44 | 26 | |
11 | Patsy Donovan | RF | 69 | 4 | 64 | Includes 1 in American Association |
Sam Rice* | RF | 69 | 69 | 0 | ||
13 | George Van Haltren | CF | 64 | 0 | 56 | Includes 7 in American Association, 1 in Players' League |
14 | Jesse Burkett* | LF | 62 | 13 | 49 | |
Clyde Milan | CF | 62 | 62 | 0 | ||
16 | Sam Thompson* | RF | 61 | 0 | 61 | Held the single-season record, 1886 |
17 | Willie Keeler* | RF | 60 | 24 | 36 | |
Willie Mays* | CF | 60 | 0 | 60 | ||
Tommy McCarthy* | RF | 60 | 0 | 26 | Includes 33 in American Association, 1 in Union Association | |
Mel Ott* | RF | 60 | 0 | 60 | ||
21 | Sam Crawford* | RF | 59 | 44 | 15 | |
22 | Jimmy Slagle | CF | 57 | 0 | 57 | |
23 | Paul Hines | CF | 56 | 0 | 47 | Includes 5 in National Association, 4 in American Association |
24 | Billy Hamilton* | CF | 55 | 0 | 49 | Includes 6 in American Association |
25 | Zack Wheat* | LF | 54 | 0 | 54 | |
26 | Steve Brodie | CF | 53 | 0 | 53 | |
Paul Waner* | RF | 53 | 0 | 53 | ||
28 | Ginger Beaumont | CF | 52 | 0 | 52 | |
Cy Seymour | CF | 52 | 6 | 46 | ||
30 | Burt Shotton | CF | 51 | 47 | 4 | |
31 | Elmer Flick* | RF | 50 | 26 | 24 | |
Dode Paskert | CF | 50 | 0 | 50 | ||
33 | Curt Welch | CF | 49 | 0 | 2 | Includes 47 in American Association |
34 | Jesse Barfield | RF | 48 | 48 | 0 | |
Kip Selbach | LF | 48 | 11 | 37 | ||
Roy Thomas | CF | 48 | 0 | 48 | ||
Curt Walker | RF | 48 | 0 | 48 | ||
Chief Wilson | RF | 48 | 0 | 48 | ||
39 | Pop Corkhill | CF | 47 | 0 | 11 | Includes 36 in American Association |
Hugh Duffy* | CF | 47 | 0 | 39 | Includes 5 in Players' League, 3 in American Association | |
George Gore | CF | 47 | 0 | 44 | Includes 3 in Players' League | |
Goose Goslin* | LF | 47 | 47 | 0 | ||
Ned Hanlon* | CF | 47 | 0 | 43 | Includes 4 in Players' League | |
Ross Youngs* | RF | 47 | 0 | 47 | ||
45 | Danny Green | RF | 46 | 20 | 26 | |
George Wood | LF | 46 | 0 | 27 | Includes 10 in American Association, 9 in Players' League | |
47 | Ed Delahanty* | LF | 45 | 1 | 42 | Includes 2 in Players' League |
Babe Ruth* | RF | 45 | 45 | 0 | ||
49 | Kiki Cuyler* | RF | 44 | 0 | 44 | |
Joe Kelley* | LF | 44 | 2 | 42 | ||
Paul Radford | RF | 44 | 0 | 35 | Includes 5 in Players' League, 4 in American Association | |
Tillie Walker | LF | 44 | 44 | 0 | ||
53 | Richie Ashburn* | CF | 43 | 0 | 43 | |
Shano Collins | RF | 43 | 43 | 0 | ||
Ken Griffey Jr.* | CF | 43 | 36 | 7 | ||
Edd Roush* | CF | 43 | 0 | 39 | Includes 4 in Federal League | |
Ken Williams | LF | 43 | 38 | 5 | ||
58 | George Burns | LF | 42 | 0 | 42 | |
Fred Clarke* | LF | 42 | 0 | 42 | ||
Roberto Clemente* | RF | 42 | 0 | 42 | ||
Dwight Evans | RF | 42 | 42 | 0 | ||
Jack Tobin | RF | 42 | 36 | 0 | Includes 6 in Federal League | |
Bobby Veach | LF | 42 | 42 | 0 | ||
Sam West | CF | 42 | 42 | 0 | ||
Chicken Wolf | RF | 42 | 0 | 0 | All 42 DPs were in American Association | |
66 | Hank Aaron* | RF | 41 | 0 | 41 | |
Cliff Heathcote | CF | 41 | 0 | 41 | ||
Frank Schulte | RF | 41 | 4 | 37 | ||
Jack Smith | CF | 41 | 0 | 41 | ||
70 | Bobby Bonds | RF | 40 | 16 | 24 | |
Nemo Leibold | CF | 40 | 40 | 0 | ||
Sherry Magee | LF | 40 | 0 | 40 | ||
Mike Mitchell | RF | 40 | 0 | 40 | ||
John Titus | RF | 40 | 0 | 40 | ||
Cy Williams | CF | 40 | 0 | 40 | ||
Jimmy Wynn | CF | 40 | 1 | 39 | ||
77 | Bibb Falk | LF | 39 | 39 | 0 | |
Happy Felsch | CF | 39 | 39 | 0 | Held the single-season record 1919–present (tie) | |
Ira Flagstead | RF | 39 | 38 | 1 | ||
Harry Heilmann* | RF | 39 | 34 | 5 | ||
Charlie Jamieson | LF | 39 | 39 | 0 | ||
Chuck Klein * | RF | 39 | 0 | 39 | ||
Bill Lange | CF | 39 | 0 | 39 | ||
Jim McTamany | CF | 39 | 0 | 0 | All 39 DPs were in American Association | |
Larry Walker* | RF | 39 | 0 | 39 | ||
86 | Jimmy Barrett | CF | 38 | 31 | 7 | |
Dante Bichette | RF | 38 | 17 | 21 | ||
Joe Birmingham | CF | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||
Steve Finley | CF | 38 | 3 | 35 | ||
Jim Fogarty | OF | 38 | 0 | 35 | Includes 3 in Players' League | |
Pete Hotaling | CF | 38 | 0 | 23 | Includes 15 in American Association | |
Baby Doll Jacobson | CF | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||
Duffy Lewis | LF | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||
Chick Stahl | CF | 38 | 20 | 18 | ||
Amos Strunk | CF | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||
96 | Johnny Bates | CF | 37 | 0 | 37 | |
Carlos Beltrán | CF | 37 | 19 | 18 | ||
Cliff Carroll | LF | 37 | 0 | 37 | ||
Doc Cramer | CF | 37 | 37 | 0 | ||
Tommy Holmes | CF | 37 | 0 | 37 |
Other Hall of Famers
editPlayer | Main Pos. |
Double plays as an outfielder | Other leagues, notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MLB | American League | National League | |||
Kirby Puckett* | CF | 37 | 37 | 0 | |
Al Simmons* | LF | 37 | 35 | 2 | |
Enos Slaughter* | RF | 35 | 2 | 33 | |
Casey Stengel* | RF | 35 | 0 | 35 | |
Dave Winfield* | RF | 35 | 17 | 18 | |
Billy Southworth* | RF | 33 | 3 | 30 | |
Vladimir Guerrero* | RF | 32 | 10 | 22 | |
Reggie Jackson* | RF | 31 | 31 | 0 | |
Andre Dawson* | RF | 30 | 0 | 30 | |
Joe DiMaggio* | CF | 30 | 30 | 0 | |
Lloyd Waner* | CF | 30 | 0 | 30 | |
Ted Williams* | LF | 30 | 30 | 0 | |
Carl Yastrzemski* | LF | 30 | 30 | 0 | |
Earl Averill* | CF | 29 | 29 | 0 | |
Lou Brock* | LF | 29 | 0 | 29 | |
Al Kaline* | RF | 29 | 29 | 0 | |
Hack Wilson* | CF | 28 | 0 | 28 | |
Mickey Mantle* | CF | 27 | 27 | 0 | |
Joe Medwick* | LF | 27 | 0 | 27 | |
Stan Musial* | LF | 27 | 0 | 27 | |
Larry Doby* | CF | 26 | 26 | 0 | Negro League totals unavailable |
Tony Gwynn* | RF | 26 | 0 | 26 | |
King Kelly* | RF | 26 | 0 | 26 | |
Heinie Manush* | LF | 26 | 25 | 1 | |
Jim O'Rourke* | LF | 26 | 0 | 22 | Includes 3 in Players' League, 1 in National Association |
Frank Robinson* | RF | 26 | 8 | 18 | |
Billy Williams* | LF | 24 | 0 | 24 | |
Chick Hafey* | LF | 23 | 0 | 23 | |
Rickey Henderson* | LF | 23 | 19 | 4 | |
Minnie Miñoso* | LF | 22 | 22 | 0 | Negro League totals unavailable |
Tim Raines* | LF | 22 | 9 | 13 | |
Jim Rice* | LF | 19 | 19 | ||
Todd Helton* | LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Joe Mauer* | RF | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
edit- ^ A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season.
References
edit- ^ "Official Baseball Rules (2022 Edition): Rule 9.11" (PDF). Major League Baseball. Retrieved 23 Dec 2022.
- ^ "Tris Speaker Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
External links
edit- "Career Leaders & Records for Double Plays Turned as OF". Baseball-Reference.com.