List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders

In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped or uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference. OBP is calculated in Major League Baseball (MLB) by dividing the sum of hits, walks, and times hit by a pitch by the sum of at-bats, walks, times hit by pitch and sacrifice flies. A hitter with a .400 on-base percentage is considered to be great and rare; only 61 players in MLB history with at least 3,000 career plate appearances (PA) have maintained such an OBP. Left fielder Ted Williams, who played 19 seasons for the Boston Red Sox, has the highest career on-base percentage, .4817, in MLB history. Williams led the American League (AL) in on-base percentage in twelve seasons, the most such seasons for any player in the major leagues. Barry Bonds led the National League (NL) in ten seasons, a NL record. Williams also posted the then-highest single-season on-base percentage of .5528 in 1941, a record that stood for 61 years until Bonds broke it with a .5817 OBP in 2002. Bonds broke his own record in 2004, setting the current single-season mark of .6094.

Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played at least 10 major league seasons, have been either retired for five seasons or deceased for six months, and have not been banned from MLB. These requirements leave 6 living players ineligible who have played in the past 5 seasons and 5 players (Bill Joyce, Ferris Fain, Jake Stenzel, Bill Lange, and George Selkirk) who did not play 10 seasons in MLB.

Key Rank Rank amongst leaders in career on-base percentage. A blank field indicates a tie.PlayerName of the player.OBPTotal career on-base percentage.*Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. BoldDenotes active player.A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season.

List

Stats updated as of September 27, 2026. RankPlayer OBP1Ted Williams*.48172Babe Ruth*.47393John McGraw*.46574Billy Hamilton*.45525Oscar Charleston*.44876Lou Gehrig*.44747Barry Bonds.44438Jud Wilson*.43519Bill Joyce.434910Rogers Hornsby*.433711Ty Cobb*.433012Jimmie Foxx*.428313Tris Speaker*.427914Eddie Collins*.424415Ferris Fain.424116Dan Brouthers*.423417Max Bishop.423018Shoeless Joe Jackson.422719Mickey Mantle*.420520Mickey Cochrane*.419221Frank Thomas*.419122Edgar Martínez*.417823Turkey Stearnes*.416824Stan Musial*.416725Cupid Childs.415726Wade Boggs*.415027Jesse Burkett*.4149Juan Soto.414929Todd Helton*.4140Mel Ott*.414031Roy Thomas.413532Lefty O'Doul.413333Hank Greenberg*.411834Ed Delahanty*.411335Manny Ramirez.410636Aaron Judge.410037Charlie Keller.4099Jackie Robinson*.409939Eddie Stanky.4098Mule Suttles*.409841Harry Heilmann*.409542Joey Votto.409443Roy Cullenbine.408244Jake Stenzel.407845Jeff Bagwell*.407646Denny Lyons.4074Willie Wells*.407448Riggs Stephenson.406549Lance Berkman.406050Arky Vaughan*.4058 RankPlayer OBP51Mike Trout.404552Joe Harris.404453Paul Waner*.404354Charlie Gehringer*.403655Joe Cunningham.403556Pete Browning.402857Lu Blue.402258Jim Thome*.401959Joe Kelley*.401760Rickey Henderson*.401261Chipper Jones*.401162Larry Walker*.400263Bill Lange.400164Brian Giles.3998George Selkirk.399866Luke Appling*.399467Jason Giambi.399368Nick Johnson.398969Ross Youngs*.398570Joe DiMaggio*.3983Elmer Valo.398372Ralph Kiner*.3980John Olerud.3980Mike Smith.397775Ed Morgan.397576Johnny Mize*.397177Yordan Alvarez.397078Earle Combs*.3969Roger Connor*.396980John Kruk.3966Hurley McNair.396682Richie Ashburn*.396483Cool Papa Bell*.396184Mike Hargrove.395885Branch Russell.395586Hack Wilson*.395187Bobby Abreu.395088Earl Averill*.394789Johnny Pesky.394390Mark McGwire.394191Cap Anson*.3940Frank Chance*.3940Stan Hack.3940Eddie Yost.394095Ken Williams.393396Wally Schang.393197Rod Carew*.3930Gary Sheffield.393099Bob Johnson.3928100Bill Terry*.3927

List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders

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