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Eddie Murray, the all-time leader in games played as a first baseman

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, before 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. First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner to score a run for that player's team. A first baseman is the player on the team playing defense who fields the area nearest first base, and is responsible for the majority of plays made at that base. It is the only one of the four infield positions commonly played by left-handed players. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3.

Throughout major league history, there have been players who enjoyed long careers as first basemen; in the 19th century, Cap Anson was the first player ever to appear in 2,000 games at any single position. Through 2021, 21 players had appeared in over 2,000 games as first basemen, more than at any other position; [2] at least one of the 21 has been active in every major league season, except the last two years of World War II. Eddie Murray [3] [4] [5] is the all-time leader in career games as a first baseman, playing 2,413 games at the position. [6]

Key

Rank Rank amongst leaders in career games played. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2024 Gs) Number of games played during the 2024 Major League Baseball season
MLB Total career games played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball
* Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
Bold Denotes active player [a]

List

Joey Votto, the active leader in games played as a first baseman and 24th all-time
Jake Beckley, the National League record holder, held the major league record for nearly 90 years.
Mickey Vernon, holder of the American League record
Cap Anson, the first player to play 2,000 games at first base
Lou Gehrig held the American League record for 20 years.
Steve Garvey led the National League in games at first base a record nine times.
  • Stats updated as of April 17, 2024.
Rank Player (2024 Gs) Games as first baseman Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
1 Eddie Murray* 2,413 1,647 766
2 Jake Beckley* 2,383 0 2,259 Includes 124 in Players' League; held major league record, 1905-1994; holds the record for left-handed first baseman
3 Fred McGriff* 2,239 958 1,281
4 Mickey Vernon 2,237 2,227 10
5 Todd Helton* 2,178 0 2,178
6 Mark Grace 2,162 0 2,162
7 Cap Anson* 2,152 0 2,059 Includes 93 in National Association; held major league record, 1888-1905; held NL record, 1887-1905; held the major league record for a right-handed first baseman, 1881-1992; held NL record for a right-handed first baseman, 1885-2003
8 Rafael Palmeiro 2,139 2,116 23
9 Lou Gehrig* 2,137 2,137 0 Held American League record, 1938-1958
10 Charlie Grimm 2,131 0 2,131
11 Jeff Bagwell* 2,111 0 2,111 Holds NL record for right-handed first baseman
12 Andrés Galarraga 2,106 26 2,080 Held NL record for a right-handed first baseman, 2003-2004
13 Joe Judge 2,084 2,056 28 Held American League record, 1928-1938
14 Ed Konetchy 2,073 0 1,921 Includes 152 in Federal League
15 Steve Garvey 2,059 0 2,059 Held NL record for a right-handed first baseman, 1987-2003
16 Joe Kuhel 2,057 2,057 0
17 John Olerud 2,053 1,590 463
18 Willie McCovey* 2,045 0 2,045
19 Albert Pujols 2,026 613 1,413
20 Keith Hernandez 2,014 42 1,972
21 Jake Daubert 2,002 0 2,002
22 Stuffy McInnis 1,995 1,608 387 Held American League record, 1921-1928
23 George Sisler* 1,971 1,592 379
24 Joey Votto (0) 1,970 0 1,970
25 Chris Chambliss 1,962 1,252 710
26 Norm Cash 1,943 1,943 0
27 Jimmie Foxx* 1,919 1,827 92 Held AL record for a right-handed first baseman, 1940-2013
28 Wally Joyner 1,913 1,376 537
29 Gil Hodges* 1,908 0 1,908
30 Paul Konerko 1,904 1,873 31 Holds AL record for right-handed first baseman
31 Derrek Lee 1,901 85 1,816
32 Will Clark 1,889 715 1,174
33 Jim Bottomley* 1,885 164 1,721
34 Freddie Freeman (21) 1,880 0 1,880
35 Tino Martinez 1,869 1,594 275
36 Adrián González 1,836 292 1,544
37 Wally Pipp 1,819 1,478 341
38 Hal Chase 1,815 1,176 423 Includes 216 in Federal League
39 Fred Tenney 1,810 0 1,810
40 Tony Pérez* 1,778 195 1,583
41 George Scott 1,773 1,773 0
42 Mark Teixeira 1,769 1,613 156
43 Carlos Delgado 1,767 1,168 599
44 Mark McGwire 1,763 1,251 512
45 Roger Connor* 1,759 0 1,636 Includes 123 in Players' League; held the record for a left-handed first baseman, 1892-1901
46 Paul Goldschmidt (18) 1,713 0 1,713
47 Eric Karros 1,698 22 1,676
48 Orlando Cepeda* 1,683 0 1,683
49 George Burns 1,671 1,671 0 Held American League record, 1928; held AL record for a right-handed first baseman, 1928-1940
50 Tommy Tucker 1,670 0 1,282 Includes 388 in American Association
51 Johnny Mize* 1,667 213 1,454
52 J. T. Snow 1,656 519 1,137
53 Dan Brouthers* 1,636 0 1,380 Includes 130 in American Association, 126 in the Players' League
54 Don Mattingly 1,634 1,634 0
55 Harry Davis 1,628 1,393 235 Held American League record, 1905-1921
56 Anthony Rizzo (19) 1,626 278 1,348
57 Eric Hosmer 1,622 1,042 580
58 Kent Hrbek 1,609 1,609 0
59 Bill Terry* 1,579 0 1,579
60 Lu Blue 1,571 1,570 1
61 Bill Buckner 1,555 553 1,002
62 Fred Merkle 1,547 6 1,541
63 George McQuinn 1,529 1,491 38
64 Lee May 1,507 401 1,106
65 Joe Adcock 1,501 351 1,150
66 Ted Kluszewski 1,481 134 1,347
67 Boog Powell 1,479 1,475 4
68 John Mayberry 1,478 1,394 84
69 Ryan Howard 1,477 0 1,477
Bill White 1,477 0 1,477
71 Dolph Camilli 1,476 54 1,422
72 Cecil Cooper 1,475 1,475 0
73 Adam LaRoche 1,468 52 1,416
74 Bill Skowron 1,463 1,397 66
75 Frank McCormick 1,448 0 1,448
76 Lyle Overbay 1,435 833 602
77 Earl Torgeson 1,416 448 968
78 Gus Suhr 1,406 0 1,406
79 James Loney 1,392 435 957
80 Elbie Fletcher 1,380 0 1,380
81 Carlos Peña 1,379 1,226 153
82 Mike Hargrove 1,378 1,341 37
83 Dan McGann 1,377 68 1,309
Pete O'Brien 1,377 1,377 0
85 Dan Driessen 1,375 0 1,375
86 George Kelly* 1,373 0 1,373
87 Charles Comiskey* 1,363 0 267 Includes 1,008 in American Association, 88 in the Players' League
88 Fred Luderus 1,326 0 1,326
89 Prince Fielder 1,324 376 948
Justin Morneau 1,324 1,124 200
91 Hal Trosky 1,321 1,321 0
92 Jason Thompson 1,314 649 665
93 Sean Casey 1,313 228 1,085
Jack Fournier 1,313 320 993
95 Jason Giambi 1,307 1,229 78
96 Mo Vaughn 1,305 1,147 158
97 Ed Kranepool 1,304 0 1,304
Vic Power 1,304 1,287 17
99 Kitty Bransfield 1,291 0 1,291
100 Dick Hoblitzell 1,284 448 836


Other Hall of Famers

Player Games as the first baseman Other leagues, notes
MLB American League National League
Ernie Banks* 1,259 0 1,259
Rod Carew* 1,184 1,184 0
Hank Greenberg* 1,138 1,019 119
Jim Thome* 1,106 760 346
Stan Musial* 1,016 0 1,016
Frank Chance* 997 8 989
Frank Thomas* 971 971 0
Harmon Killebrew* 969 969 0
Willie Stargell* 848 0 848
Joe Torre* 787 0 787
Carl Yastrzemski* 765 765 0
Ben Taylor* 611 0 0 Includes 293 in Eastern Colored League, 286 in Negro National League (first),
32 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Joe Mauer* 603 603 0
Buck Leonard* 585 0 0 Includes 585 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)
Mule Suttles* 575 0 0 Includes 318 in Negro National League (first), 205 in Negro National League (second),
52 in East–West League (incomplete)
George Brett* 461 461 0
Harry Heilmann* 448 423 25
Jud Wilson* 403 0 0 Includes 202 in Negro National League (second), 148 in Eastern Colored League,
53 in American Negro League (incomplete)
Buck O'Neil* 347 0 0 Includes 347 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Hughie Jennings* 331 3 311 Includes 17 in American Association
Frank Robinson* 305 77 228
Oscar Charleston* 291 0 0 Includes 208 in Negro National League (second), 57 in Negro National League (first),
10 in American Negro League, 9 in Eastern Colored League,
7 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Joe Kelley* 291 5 286
Nap Lajoie* 286 138 148
David Ortiz* 278 278 0
Ed Delahanty* 271 14 256 Includes 1 in Players' League
Mickey Mantle* 262 262 0
Buck Ewing* 253 0 253
Honus Wagner * 248 0 248
Jim O'Rourke* 214 0 103 Includes 111 in National Association
Jackie Robinson* 198 0 197 Includes 1 in Negro American League (incomplete)
Paul Molitor* 197 197 0
Ted Simmons* 195 69 126
Deacon White* 133 0 74 Includes 57 in the Players' League, 2 in National Association
Martín Dihigo* 80 0 0 Includes 57 in Eastern Colored League, 18 in American Negro League,
5 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete)

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ Section 20 of the official scorer guidelines
  2. ^ "Career Leaders & Records for Def. Games as 1B". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  3. ^ "Eddie Murray Career Stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Eddie Murray Hall of Fame Profile". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "Eddie Murray World Series Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Muder, Craig. "Murray's steady play nets him record at first base". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 6, 2019.

External links