An at-bat is an officially recognized statistic that counts the number of times a batter steps into the batter's box. It does not include times when a batter reaches first base by a bases on balls (walks), being hit by a pitch, any sacrifices, or catcher interference.
The top one-thousand all-time career leaders in Major League at-bats (AB). Note: A bold faced player name denotes they were active during the previous Major League season. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"Pete Rose moved past Hank Aaron on baseball's career at-bat list when he lined out to open the game. Rose, who had two hits and scored a run, finished the game with 12,369 at-bats, five more than Aaron had." - Sentinel Services. The Orlando Sentinel: Phils crush Expos, 15-11, but Cards keep NL East lead. 15 August 1982. Page C1.
The single season record for at-bats was seven-hundred five, set by Willie Wilson during the 1980 season; however, Wilson does not appear on the career leaderboard until after #175. In 2007, Willie's record was broken when a Phillies shortstop had seven-hundred sixteen at-bats. Do you remember who it was? [Answer]
Did you know that Pete Rose had four seasons where he led the league in at-bats and seventeen seasons with six-hundred or more at-bats?
If you are interested in more at-bat records (rookie records, switch-hitting records, pinch-hitting records and many others), please visit our comprehensive at-bat record book today.