List of Major League Baseball career games played as a left fielder leaders

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Barry Bonds, the all-time leader in games played as a left fielder

Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as ex ante substitutes, whether or not they play;[1] however, in Major League Baseball, the application of this statistic does not extend to consecutive games played streaks. A starting pitcher, then, may be credited with a game played even if he is not credited with a game started or an inning pitched. The left fielder (LF) is one of the three outfielders, the defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing toward 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. The left fielder must also be adept at navigating the area of left field where the foul line approaches the corner of the playing field and the walls of the seating areas. Being the outfielder closest to third base, the left fielder generally does not have to throw as far as the other outfielders to throw out runners advancing around the bases, so they often do not have the strongest throwing arm, but their throws need to be accurate. The left fielder normally plays behind the third baseman and shortstop, who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, left fielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the left fielder is assigned the number 7.

Because game accounts and box scores often did not distinguish between the outfield positions, there has been some difficulty in determining precise defensive statistics prior to 1901; because of this, and because of the similarity in their roles, defensive statistics for the three positions are frequently combined. However, efforts to distinguish between the three positions regarding games played during this period and reconstruct the separate totals have been largely successful; players whose totals include pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Barry Bonds is the all-time leader in career games played as a left fielder with 2,715.[2][3] Rickey Henderson (2,421),[4] Luis Gonzalez (2,418),[5] Zack Wheat (2,328),[6] Fred Clarke (2,186),[7] and Lou Brock (2,161)[8] are the only other players to appear in over 2,000 games in left field in their careers.

Key

Rank Rank amongst leaders in career games played. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2022 Gs) Number of games played during the 2022 Major League Baseball season
MLB Total career games played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball
* Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
dagger Denotes total including pre-1901 games
Bold Denotes active player[a]

List

Justin Upton, the active leader and 79th all-time in games played as a left fielder
Rickey Henderson holds the American League record.
Zack Wheat held the major league record for 75 years.
Ted Williams held the American League record for 42 years.
Goose Goslin held the American League record for 25 years.
Jesse Burkett simultaneously held the National League and American League career records.
  • Stats updated through the 2022 season
Rank Player (2022 Gs) Games as a left fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Barry Bonds 2,715 0 2,715
2 Rickey Henderson * 2,421 1,985 436 Held major league record, 2001-2004
3 Luis Gonzalez 2,418 132 2,286
4 Zack Wheat * 2,328 57 2,271 Held major league record, 1926-2001; held National League record, 1926-2003
5 Fred Clarke * dagger 2,186 0 2,186 Held major league record, 1909-1926; held National League record, 1905-1926
6 Lou Brock * 2,161 0 2,161
7 Ted Williams * 1,982 1,982 0 Held American League record, 1960-2002
8 Tim Raines * 1,961 771 1,190
9 Goose Goslin * 1,946 1,946 0 Held American League record, 1935-1960
10 Jesse Burkett * dagger 1,936 564 1,372 Held major league record, 1900-1909; held National League record, 1898-1905; held American League record, 1904-1906
11 Carl Yastrzemski * 1,912 1,912 0
12 Jimmy Sheckard dagger 1,837 0 1,837
13 Joe Medwick * 1,790 0 1,790
14 Carlos Lee 1,770 876 894
15 Billy Williams * 1,738 1 1,737
16 Matt Holliday 1,711 93 1,618
17 Bobby Veach 1,677 1,677 0 Held American League record, 1922-1935
18 Sherry Magee 1,603 0 1,603
19 Carl Crawford 1,595 1,322 273
20 Bob Johnson 1,586 1,586 0
21 George Foster 1,549 11 1,538
22 Roy White 1,521 1,521 0
23 Minnie Miñoso * 1,509 1,482 27 Negro League totals unavailable
24 Jim Rice * 1,503 1,503 0
25 Raúl Ibañez 1,467 1,059 408
26 Gary Matthews 1,446 0 1,446
27 Duffy Lewis 1,414 1,414 0 Held American League record, 1919-1922
28 José Cruz 1,407 4 1,403
29 Charlie Jamieson 1,393 1,393 0
30 Garret Anderson 1,387 1,236 151
31 Heinie Manush * 1,381 1,381 0
32 Al Simmons * 1,372 1,285 87
33 Alex Gordon 1,361 1,361 0
34 Kip Selbach dagger 1,358 453 905
35 Pat Burrell 1,327 1 1,326
36 Ralph Kiner * 1,307 87 1,220
37 Del Ennis 1,290 25 1,265
38 Joe Vosmik 1,278 1,239 39
39 Greg Vaughn 1,262 828 434
40 Lonnie Smith 1,258 273 985
41 Jo-Jo Moore 1,248 0 1,248
42 Moisés Alou 1,242 0 1,242
Ryan Braun 1,242 0 1,242
44 Willie Stargell * 1,229 0 1,229
45 Topsy Hartsel dagger 1,227 1,071 156 Held American League record, 1906-1909
46 Greg Luzinski 1,221 0 1,221
47 George Burns 1,215 0 1,215
48 Jason Bay 1,208 237 971
Gene Woodling 1,208 1,180 28
50 George Wood dagger 1,192 0 942 Includes 128 in Players' League, 122 in American Association; held major league record, 1891-1900; held National League record, 1889-1898
51 Ron Gant 1,184 40 1,144
52 Patsy Dougherty 1,180 1,180 0 Held American League record, 1909-1919
53 Jack Graney 1,172 1,172 0
54 Joe Rudi 1,158 1,158 0
55 Vince Coleman 1,153 196 957
Shannon Stewart 1,153 1,153 0
57 Ken Williams 1,133 1,071 62
58 Joe Kelley * dagger 1,132 1 1,131
59 Jeff Heath 1,127 1,001 126
Lou Piniella 1,127 1,127 0
61 Mike Greenwell 1,124 1,124 0
62 George Bell 1,123 977 146
63 Willie Horton 1,112 1,112 0
64 Bibb Falk 1,110 1,110 0
65 Tommy Davis 1,103 303 800
66 Ben Oglivie 1,100 1,100 0
67 Dusty Baker 1,091 68 1,023
68 Cliff Floyd 1,084 21 1,063
69 Kevin McReynolds 1,069 198 871
70 Ed Delahanty * dagger 1,057 131 922 Includes 4 in Players' League
71 Alfonso Soriano 1,056 59 997
72 Bob Bescher 1,053 0 1,053
73 Joe Hornung dagger 1,051 0 917 Includes 134 in American Association; held major league record, 1889-1891
74 Babe Ruth * 1,047 1,025 22
75 Brett Gardner (0) 1,044 1,044 0
76 Manny Ramirez 1,037 837 200
77 Hank Sauer 1,029 0 1,029
78 Leon Wagner 1,027 912 115
79 Justin Upton (2) 1,025 621 404
80 Melky Cabrera 1,023 809 214
Adam Dunn 1,023 12 1,011
82 Albert Belle 1,017 1,017 0
83 Irish Meusel 1,016 1 1,015
84 Tip O'Neill dagger 1,010 0 109 Includes 764 in American Association, 137 in Players' League
85 Gus Zernial 1,005 1,005 0
86 Augie Galan 1,000 7 993
87 Bernard Gilkey 996 7 989
88 Abner Dalrymple dagger 944 0 912 Includes 32 in American Association; held major league record, 1888-1889; held National League record, 1885-1889
89 Al Martin 938 100 838
90 Alex Johnson 935 526 409
91 Stan Musial * 929 0 929
92 Luis Polonia 927 909 18
Mike Smith dagger 927 0 926 Includes 1 in American Association
94 Steve Kemp 925 858 67
95 Michael Brantley (29) 924 924 0
96 Frank Howard 923 860 63
97 Geoff Jenkins 910 0 910
98 Josh Willingham 906 340 566
99 B.J. Surhoff 904 743 161
100 Jeffrey Leonard 896 190 706

Other Hall of Famers

Player Games as a left fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Frank Robinson * 834 130 704
Chick Hafey * 788 0 788
Jim O'Rourke * dagger 770 0 760 Includes 10 in Players' League
Max Carey * 660 0 660
Hugh Duffy * dagger 571 9 555 Includes 7 in American Association
Monte Irvin * 546 0 490 Includes 56 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Tommy McCarthy * dagger 514 0 463 Includes 41 in Union Association, 10 in American Association
Enos Slaughter * 509 119 390
Harmon Killebrew * 471 471 0
Dave Winfield * 465 351 114
Billy Hamilton * dagger 434 0 424 Includes 10 in American Association
Chipper Jones * 356 0 356
Kiki Cuyler * 332 0 332
Hank Aaron * 315 4 311
Mule Suttles * 271 0 0 Includes 179 in Negro National League (first), 91 in Negro
National League (second), 1 in East–West League (incomplete)
Chuck Klein * 258 0 258
Earle Combs * 214 214 0
Hack Wilson * 201 0 201
Cool Papa Bell * 175 0 0 Includes 173 in Negro National League (second),
2 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Sam Crawford * dagger 138 51 87
Mickey Mantle * 129 129 0
Cristóbal Torriente * 128 0 0 Includes 128 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Lloyd Waner * 128 0 128
Ned Hanlon * dagger 119 0 119
Willard Brown * 107 0 0 Includes 107 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Billy Southworth * 95 11 84
Earl Averill * 84 83 1
Harry Hooper * 81 81 0
Edd Roush * 80 0 43 Includes 37 in Federal League
Robin Yount * 69 69 0
Joe DiMaggio * 67 67 0
Cap Anson * dagger 46 0 45 Includes 1 in National Association
Mel Ott * 30 0 30
Pete Hill * 26 0 0 Includes 15 in Eastern Colored League,
11 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ Section 20 of the official scorer guidelines
  2. ^ "Barry Bonds Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  3. ^ West, Steve. "Barry Bonds Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Rickey Henderson Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "Luis Gonzalez Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "Zack Wheat Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "Fred Clarke Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  8. ^ "Lou Brock Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 23, 2021.

External links

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