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Tris Speaker, the all-time leader in career assists by a center fielder

In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is credited to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) before the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also credited if a putout would have occurred, had another fielder not committed an error. For example, a shortstop might field a ground ball cleanly, but the first baseman might drop his throw. In this case, an error would be charged to the first baseman, and the shortstop would be credited with an assist. Unlike putouts, exactly one of which is awarded for every defensive out, an out can result in no assists being credited (as in strikeouts, fly outs and line drives), or in assists being credited to multiple players (as in relay throws and rundown plays). 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 have 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.

Center fielders are most commonly credited with an assist 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. Center fielders 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. Center fielders also earn assists 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. Outfielders record far fewer assists 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 assists in a single season than outfielders do in their entire careers. Assists are an important statistic for outfielders, giving a greater indication about an outfielder's throwing arm than assists by infielders do. In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills.

The list of career leaders is dominated by players from the 1890s through 1920s, including the dead-ball era, due to that period's emphasis on more aggressive baserunning. The top six players were all active throughout the years from 1913 to 1921; only 11 of the top 37 players were active after 1953, and only six of them after 1984. Only six of the top 73 single-season totals were recorded after 1925, and only one after 1945; only nine of the top 163 have been recorded since 1955. 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 assist totals are unavailable; players whose totals are missing the figures for pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in career assists as a center fielder with 448, [1] [2] [3] 173 more than any other player, and nearly two and a half times as many as any player active after 1931. Speaker also holds the single-season record of 35, which he accomplished twice; no player since 1955 has had more than 20, likely putting both of his marks among Major League Baseball's most unbreakable records. Andrew McCutchen, who had 63 assists through the 2022 season to place him tied for 105th all-time, is the leader among active players.

Key

Rank Rank amongst leaders in career assists. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player Name of player
MLB Total career assists 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

List

Andrew McCutchen, the active leader and tied for 105th all-time in assists as a center fielder
Max Carey holds the modern National League record.
Wille Mays' 188 assists are the most by a center fielder since 1920.
Fred Snodgrass' 31 assists in 1911 remain the modern National League record.
Andruw Jones was the last center fielder to have 20 assists in a season.
Del Under had 20 assists in 1968, the last American League center fielder to reach the mark.
Rank Player (2023 As) Assists as a center fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Tris Speaker* 448 448 0 Holds the modern single-season record of 35 (set in 1909 & 1912)
2 Ty Cobb* 275 275 0
3 Clyde Milan 244 244 0
4 Max Carey* 215 0 215
5 Edd Roush* 207 0 187 Includes 20 in Federal League
6 Dode Paskert 206 0 206 Held modern National League record, 1917-1927
7 Willie Mays* 188 0 188
8 Doc Cramer 155 155 0
9 Richie Ashburn* 154 0 154
10 Cy Williams 151 0 151
11 Cy Seymour 149 0 149 Held modern major league record, 1909-1913; held modern National League record, 1909-1917
12 Hi Myers 148 0 148
13 Dom DiMaggio 143 143 0
14 Ken Griffey Jr.* 141 108 33
15 Sam West 139 139 0
16 Kenny Lofton 138 110 28
17 Ginger Beaumont 136 0 136 Held modern NL single-season record, 1907-1911
18 Roy Thomas 135 0 135 Held modern major league record, 1906-1909; held modern National League record, 1902-1909; held modern NL single-season record, 1902-1907
Lloyd Waner* 135 0 135
20 Willie Davis 134 1 133
21 Joe DiMaggio* 133 133 0
22 Fielder Jones 129 129 0 Held American League record, 1907-1913
23 Steve Finley 127 6 121
24 Vince DiMaggio 123 0 123
25 Tommy Leach 122 0 122
26 Happy Felsch 119 119 0
27 Amos Otis 118 115 3
28 Joe Birmingham 117 117 0
29 Jim Edmonds 116 37 79
Rebel Oakes 116 0 81 Includes 35 in Federal League
31 Amos Strunk 115 115 0
32 Vada Pinson 114 13 101
33 Kirby Puckett* 110 110 0
34 Benny Kauff 109 0 66 Includes 43 in Federal League
35 Earl Averill* 108 106 2
Carlos Beltrán 108 61 47
Fred Snodgrass 108 0 108 Holds the modern NL single-season record of 31 (set in 1911)
38 Brett Butler 106 40 66
Curt Flood 106 0 106
40 Paul Blair 104 103 1
Mickey Mantle* 104 104 0
42 Jimmy Barrett 101 101 0 Held modern major league record, 1901-1906; held American League record, 1901-1907; held the AL single-season record, 1901-1909
Andruw Jones 101 0 101
44 Ray Powell 100 0 100
45 Terry Moore 99 0 99
Duke Snider* 99 0 99
Tilly Walker 99 99 0
48 Bill Bruton 98 19 79
49 Adam Jones 96 96 0
Fred Lynn 96 96 0
Bill Virdon 96 0 96
52 Nemo Leibold 92 92 0
Bill Tuttle 92 92 0
54 Sam Chapman 91 91 0
Ira Flagstead 91 89 2
Garry Maddox 91 0 91
57 Del Unser 90 44 46
58 Johnny Bates 89 0 85 Includes 4 in Federal League
Marquis Grissom 89 7 82
60 Mickey Rivers 88 88 0
61 César Cedeño 87 0 87
Johnny Mostil 87 87 0
63 Mike Kreevich 86 85 1
Willie McGee 86 6 80
65 Chet Lemon 85 85 0
66 Solly Hofman 84 2 74 Includes 8 in Federal League
67 Danny Hoffman 83 83 0
68 Burt Shotton 82 81 1
Devon White 82 63 19
70 Omar Moreno 81 11 70
Jigger Statz 81 0 81
72 Ping Bodie 79 79 0
Torii Hunter 79 79 0
Homer Smoot 79 0 79
75 Chick Stahl 78 78 0
Jimmy Wynn 78 0 78
77 Dave Henderson 77 76 1
Bobby Thomson 77 1 76
79 Larry Doby* 76 76 0 Negro League totals unavailable
Dwayne Murphy 76 75 1
Sam Rice* 76 76 0
Stan Spence 76 76 0
83 Johnny Groth 75 75 0
Andy Van Slyke 75 2 73
85 Baby Doll Jacobson 74 74 0
Andy Pafko 74 0 74
Fred Schulte 74 73 1
88 Rick Monday 73 34 39
89 Ethan Allen 72 7 65
Mike Cameron 72 35 37
Emmet Heidrick 72 57 15
92 B. J. Upton 71 52 19
93 Andre Dawson* 70 0 70
Lance Johnson 70 45 25
95 Oscar Charleston* 69 0 0 Includes 45 in Negro National League (first),
17 in Eastern Colored League,
7 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Hack Wilson* 69 0 69
97 Mark Kotsay 68 29 39
Jack Smith 68 0 68
99 Ron LeFlore 66 66 0
100 Earle Combs* 65 65 0
Carlos Gómez 65 27 38
Rick Manning 65 65 0

Other Hall of Famers

Player Assists as a center fielder Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Turkey Stearnes* 59 0 0 Includes 41 in Negro National League (first), 14 in Negro National League (second),
4 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Cool Papa Bell* 57 0 0 Includes 37 in Negro National League (first), 13 in Negro National League (second),
7 in East–West League (incomplete)
Robin Yount* 52 52 0
Al Simmons* 48 48 0
Kiki Cuyler* 44 0 44
Roger Bresnahan* † 37 3 34
Sam Crawford* † 37 37 0
Cristóbal Torriente* 32 0 0 Includes 32 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Casey Stengel* 30 0 30
Freddie Lindstrom* 28 0 28
Al Kaline* 22 22 0
Willard Brown* 21 0 0 Includes 21 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Chick Hafey* 21 0 21
Heinie Manush* 21 21 0
Billy Southworth* 16 5 11
Craig Biggio* 15 0 15
Rickey Henderson* 15 14 1
Carl Yastrzemski* 15 15 0
Mel Ott* 14 0 14
Elmer Flick* † 13 13 0
Stan Musial* 13 0 13
Hank Aaron* 12 0 12
Pete Hill* 11 0 0 Includes 11 in Negro National League (first) (incomplete)
Joe Kelley* † 11 6 5
Harry Heilmann* 9 9 0
Dave Winfield* 9 1 8
Tim Raines* 8 0 8
Tony Gwynn* 7 0 7
Billy Hamilton* † 7 0 7
Reggie Jackson* 7 7 0
Lou Brock* 6 0 6
Martín Dihigo* 6 0 0 Includes 3 in Negro National League (second), 3 in Eastern Colored League (incomplete)
Hugh Duffy* † 6 5 1
Ralph Kiner* 5 0 5
Honus Wagner* † 5 0 5
Paul Molitor* 4 4 0
Larry Walker* 3 0 3
Joe Medwick* 2 0 2
Monte Irvin* 1 0 0 Includes 1 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
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

References

  1. ^ "Tris Speaker Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Jensen, Don. "Tris Speaker Bio". Society For American Baseball Research. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "Tris Speaker Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2021.

External links