Single Season Leaders for On Base Percentage

The on base percentage statistic was originally created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950s as a means to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base.

The statistic did not originally include the sacrifice fly denomination, but when it was officially adapted in 1984 it appeared using the sacrifice fly. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred single season leaders in on base percentage. We've also included raw averages to further clarify the truly best single season percentages and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"The main idea is to win." - Hall of Famer John McGraw (#4 Overall Single Season Leader for On Base Percentage)
On Base Percentage
Single Season Leaders

'Top 100'
Barry Bonds .609 (.6094) 2004 San Francisco Giants NL 1
Barry Bonds .582 (.5817) 2002 San Francisco Giants NL 2
Ted Williams .553 (.5528) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 3
John McGraw .547 (.5475) 1899 Baltimore Orioles NL 4
Babe Ruth .545 (.5445) 1923 New York Yankees AL 5
Bob Caruthers .534 (.5339) 1887 St. Louis Browns AA 6
Babe Ruth .532 (.5319) 1920 New York Yankees AL 7
Tip O'Neill .531 (.5305) 1887 St. Louis Browns AA 8
Barry Bonds .529 (.5291) 2003 San Francisco Giants NL 9
Yank Robinson .526 (.5261) 1887 St. Louis Browns AA 10
Ted Williams .526 (.5256) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 11
Billy Hamilton .523 (.5228) 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL 12
Babe Ruth .516 (.5156) 1926 New York Yankees AL 13
Barry Bonds .515 (.5151) 2001 San Francisco Giants NL 14
Ted Williams .513 (.5133) 1954 Boston Red Sox AL 15
Babe Ruth .513 (.5126) 1924 New York Yankees AL 16
Babe Ruth .512 (.5123) 1921 New York Yankees AL 17
Mickey Mantle .512 (.5120) 1957 New York Yankees AL 18
Pete Browning .508 (.5083) 1887 Louisville Colonels AA 19
Rogers Hornsby .507 (.5072) 1924 St. Louis Cardinals NL 20
Joe Kelley .502 (.5024) 1894 Baltimore Orioles NL 21
Hugh Duffy .502 (.5017) 1894 Boston Beaneaters NL 22
Ed Delahanty .500 (.5000) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 23
Ted Williams .499 (.4993) 1942 Boston Red Sox AL 24
Ted Williams .499 (.4986) 1947 Boston Red Sox AL 25
Rogers Hornsby .498 (.4983) 1928 Boston Braves NL 26
Ted Williams .497 (.4970) 1946 Boston Red Sox AL 27
Ted Williams .497 (.4969) 1948 Boston Red Sox AL 28
Babe Ruth .495 (.4947) 1931 New York Yankees AL 29
Babe Ruth .493 (.4931) 1930 New York Yankees AL 30
Paul Radford .493 (.4929) 1887 New York Metropolitans AA 31
Arky Vaughan .491 (.4909) 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 32
Ted Williams .490 (.4904) 1949 Boston Red Sox AL 33
Billy Hamilton .490 (.4903) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 34
Reddy Mack .490 (.4900) 1887 Louisville Colonels AA 35
Babe Ruth .489 (.4890) 1932 New York Yankees AL 36
Rogers Hornsby .489 (.4890) 1925 St. Louis Cardinals NL  
Norm Cash .487 (.4866) 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 38
Ty Cobb .486 (.4863) 1915 Detroit Tigers AL 39
Babe Ruth .486 (.4860) 1927 New York Yankees AL 40
Jesse Burkett .486 (.4858) 1895 Cleveland Spiders NL 41
Tris Speaker .483 (.4832) 1920 Cleveland Indians AL 42
Harry Heilmann .481 (.4809) 1923 Detroit Tigers AL 43
Edgar Martinez .479 (.4789) 1995 Seattle Mariners AL 44
Ed Delahanty .478 (.4784) 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL 45
Lou Gehrig .478 (.4777) 1936 New York Yankees AL 46
Billy Hamilton .477 (.4772) 1896 Boston Beaneaters NL 47
Jason Giambi .477 (.4769) 2001 Oakland Athletics AL 48
Jason Giambi .476 (.4759) 2000 Oakland Athletics AL 49
Wade Boggs .476 (.4757) 1988 Boston Red Sox AL 50
Cupid Childs .475 (.4755) 1894 Cleveland Spiders NL 51
John McGraw .475 (.4752) 1898 Baltimore Orioles NL 52
Harry Heilmann .475 (.4750) 1927 Detroit Tigers AL 53
Lou Gehrig .474 (.4741) 1927 New York Yankees AL 54
Luke Appling .474 (.4739) 1936 Chicago White Sox AL 55
Lou Gehrig .473 (.4730) 1930 New York Yankees AL 56
Lou Gehrig .473 (.4729) 1937 New York Yankees AL 57
John Olerud .473 (.4728) 1993 Toronto Blue Jays AL 58
Hughie Jennings .472 (.4721) 1896 Baltimore Orioles NL 59
Ed Delahanty .472 (.4719) 1896 Philadelphia Phillies NL 60
Dan Brouthers .471 (.4707) 1891 Boston Red Stockings AA 61
Tris Speaker .470 (.4699) 1916 Cleveland Indians AL 62
Bill Joyce .470 (.4699) 1896 New York Giants NL  
Washington Senators NL
Mark McGwire .470 (.4699) 1998 St. Louis Cardinals NL  
Carlos Delgado .470 (.4698) 2000 Toronto Blue Jays AL 65
Joe Kelley .469 (.4695) 1896 Baltimore Orioles NL 66
Tris Speaker .469 (.4694) 1923 Cleveland Indians AL 67
Jimmie Foxx .469 (.4693) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 68
Todd Helton .469 (.4685) 2004 Colorado Rockies NL 69
Jesse Burkett .468 (.4683) 1897 Cleveland Spiders NL 70
Oyster Burns .468 (.4677) 1887 Baltimore Orioles AA 71
Joe Jackson .468 (.4677) 1911 Cleveland Naps AL  
Lou Gehrig .467 (.4675) 1928 New York Yankees AL 73
George Sisler .467 (.4671) 1922 St. Louis Browns AL 74
Cupid Childs .467 (.4668) 1896 Cleveland Spiders NL 75
Ty Cobb .467 (.4666) 1911 Detroit Tigers AL 76
Joe Morgan .466 (.4664) 1975 Cincinnati Reds NL 77
Dan Brouthers .466 (.4662) 1890 Boston Red Stockings PL 78
Lou Gehrig .466 (.4658) 1935 New York Yankees AL 79
Gary Sheffield .465 (.4653) 1996 Florida Marlins NL 80
Lou Gehrig .465 (.4652) 1934 New York Yankees AL 81
Lefty O'Doul .465 (.4652) 1929 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Tris Speaker .464 (.4641) 1912 Boston Red Sox AL 83
Ed Delahanty .464 (.4641) 1899 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Mickey Mantle .464 (.4639) 1956 New York Yankees AL 85
Edgar Martinez .464 (.4637) 1996 Seattle Mariners AL 86
Ted Williams .464 (.4637) 1951 Boston Red Sox AL  
Willie Keeler .464 (.4637) 1897 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Todd Helton .463 (.4634) 2000 Colorado Rockies NL 89
Cupid Childs .463 (.4631) 1893 Cleveland Spiders NL 90
Jimmie Foxx .463 (.4630) 1929 Philadelphia Athletics AL 91
Babe Ruth .463 (.4630) 1928 New York Yankees AL  
Nap Lajoie .463 (.4630) 1901 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Jesse Burkett .463 (.4625) 1899 St. Louis Perfectos NL 94
Jimmie Foxx .462 (.4620) 1938 Boston Red Sox AL 95
Albert Pujols .462 (.4618) 2008 St. Louis Cardinals NL 96
Fred Clarke .462 (.4617) 1897 Louisville Colonels NL 97
Ty Cobb .462 (.4615) 1922 Detroit Tigers AL 98
Denny Lyons .461 (.4612) 1887 Philadelphia Athletics AA 99
Billy Hamilton .461 (.4612) 1897 Boston Beaneaters NL 100
Current Through 2008 Season


Ted Williams held the Major League single season record for highest on base percentage from 1941 through 2001. Before him the record was held by John McGraw from 1899 through 1940. Will Barry Bonds hold the record for a similar period of time? Share your opinion about this three-person stronghold on Baseball Fever today.

Did you know that almost every eligible player on this top hundred (100) on-base percentage chart is already enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Examine the chart, click the bios, and see for yourself how important on base percentage truly is.

Can you guess who led the league in on base percentage during consecutive seasons? If not, review our year-by-year chart to determine the leader from both the National League and American league.
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