Single Season Leaders for Base on Balls

A base-on-balls is an officially recognized statistic that counts the number of times a batter reaches first base after accepting four pitches outside the strike zone. Prior to 1889, the rule regarding the walk statistic was different and used the following rules of the day: 1876-1879 nine balls, 1880-1882 eight balls, 1882-1884 seven balls, 1884-1885 six balls, 1886 seven balls, 1887-1888 five balls and from 1889 forward it has, and still remains four balls.

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred all-time single season leaders in Major League base on balls. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the most recently completed Major League season.
"You would think more pitchers wold realize just how much they can help their winning average by their fielding ability." - Eddie Yost (#9 Overall Single Season Base on Balls Leader)
Base on Balls
Single Season Leaders

'Top 100'
Barry Bonds 232 2004 San Francisco Giants NL 1
Barry Bonds 198 2002 San Francisco Giants NL 2
Barry Bonds 177 2001 San Francisco Giants NL 3
Babe Ruth 170 1923 New York Yankees AL 4
Mark McGwire 162 1998 St. Louis Cardinals NL 5
Ted Williams 162 1947 Boston Red Sox AL  
Ted Williams 162 1949 Boston Red Sox AL  
Ted Williams 156 1946 Boston Red Sox AL 8
Barry Bonds 151 1996 San Francisco Giants NL 9
Eddie Yost 151 1956 Washington Senators AL  
Babe Ruth 150 1920 New York Yankees AL 11
Jeff Bagwell 149 1999 Houston Astros NL 12
Eddie Joost 149 1949 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Barry Bonds 148 2003 San Francisco Giants NL 14
Eddie Stanky 148 1945 Brooklyn Dodgers NL  
Jimmy Wynn 148 1969 Houston Astros NL  
Jimmy Sheckard 147 1911 Chicago Cubs NL 17
Ted Williams 147 1941 Boston Red Sox AL  
Mickey Mantle 146 1957 New York Yankees AL 19
Barry Bonds 145 1997 San Francisco Giants NL 20
Harmon Killebrew 145 1969 Minnesota Twins AL  
Babe Ruth 145 1921 New York Yankees AL  
Ted Williams 145 1942 Boston Red Sox AL  
Babe Ruth 144 1926 New York Yankees AL 24
Eddie Stanky 144 1950 New York Giants NL  
Ted Williams 144 1951 Boston Red Sox AL  
Babe Ruth 142 1924 New York Yankees AL 27
Gary Sheffield 142 1996 Florida Marlins NL  
Eddie Yost 141 1950 Washington Senators AL 29
Frank Thomas 138 1991 Chicago White Sox AL 30
Roy Cullenbine 137 1947 Detroit Tigers AL 31
Jason Giambi 137 2000 Oakland Athletics AL  
Ralph Kiner 137 1951 Pittsburgh Pirates NL  
Willie McCovey 137 1970 San Francisco Giants NL  
Babe Ruth 137 1928 New York Yankees AL  
Babe Ruth 137 1927 New York Yankees AL  
Eddie Stanky 137 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers NL  
Jack Clark 136 1987 St. Louis Cardinals NL 38
Jack Crooks 136 1892 St. Louis Browns NL  
Ferris Fain 136 1949 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Babe Ruth 136 1930 New York Yankees AL  
Frank Thomas 136 1995 Chicago White Sox AL  
Ted Williams 136 1954 Boston Red Sox AL  
Jeff Bagwell 135 1996 Houston Astros NL 44
Brian Giles 135 2002 Pittsburgh Pirates NL  
Eddie Yost 135 1959 Detroit Tigers AL  
Ferris Fain 133 1950 Philadelphia Athletics AL 47
Mark McGwire 133 1999 St. Louis Cardinals NL  
Barry Bonds 132 2007 San Francisco Giants NL 49
Jack Clark 132 1989 San Diego Padres NL  
Lou Gehrig 132 1935 New York Yankees AL  
Frank Howard 132 1970 Washington Senators AL  
Joe Morgan 132 1975 Cincinnati Reds NL  
Tony Phillips 132 1993 Detroit Tigers AL  
Bob Elliott 131 1948 Boston Braves NL 55
Harmon Killebrew 131 1967 Minnesota Twins AL  
Eddie Yost 131 1954 Washington Senators AL  
Barry Bonds 130 1998 San Francisco Giants NL 58
Lou Gehrig 130 1936 New York Yankees AL  
Babe Ruth 130 1932 New York Yankees AL  
Lenny Dykstra 129 1993 Philadelphia Phillies NL 61
Jason Giambi 129 2001 Oakland Athletics AL  
Jason Giambi 129 2003 New York Yankees AL  
Mickey Mantle 129 1958 New York Yankees AL  
Eddie Yost 129 1952 Washington Senators AL  
Max Bishop 128 1930 Philadelphia Athletics AL 66
Max Bishop 128 1929 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Adam Dunn 128 2002 Cincinnati Reds NL  
Harmon Killebrew 128 1970 Minnesota Twins AL  
Babe Ruth 128 1931 New York Yankees AL  
Mike Schmidt 128 1983 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Carl Yastrzemski 128 1970 Boston Red Sox AL  
Bobby Abreu 127 2004 Philadelphia Phillies NL 73
Jeff Bagwell 127 1997 Houston Astros NL  
Lance Berkman 127 2004 Houston Astros NL  
Lu Blue 127 1931 Chicago White Sox AL  
Barry Bonds 127 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates NL  
Lou Gehrig 127 1937 New York Yankees AL  
Todd Helton 127 2004 Colorado Rockies NL  
Eddie Stanky 127 1951 New York Giants NL  
Jim Thome 127 1999 Cleveland Indians AL  
Jimmy Wynn 127 1976 Atlanta Braves NL  
Lu Blue 126 1929 St. Louis Browns AL 83
Barry Bonds 126 1993 San Francisco Giants NL  
Darrell Evans 126 1974 Atlanta Braves NL  
Billy Hamilton 126 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL  
Rickey Henderson 126 1989 New York Yankees AL  
Oakland Athletics AL
Chipper Jones 126 1999 Atlanta Braves NL  
Mickey Mantle 126 1961 New York Yankees AL  
Ted Williams 126 1948 Boston Red Sox AL  
Eddie Yost 126 1951 Washington Senators AL  
Richie Ashburn 125 1954 Philadelphia Phillies NL 92
Wade Boggs 125 1988 Boston Red Sox AL  
Rickey Henderson 125 1996 San Diego Padres NL  
John Olerud 125 1999 New York Mets NL  
Tony Phillips 125 1996 Chicago White Sox AL  
Gene Tenace 125 1977 San Diego Padres NL  
Eddie Yost 125 1960 Detroit Tigers AL  
Bobby Abreu 124 2006 New York Yankees AL 99
Philadelphia Phillies NL
Norm Cash 124 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 100
Darrell Evans 124 1973 Atlanta Braves NL  
Eddie Mathews 124 1963 Milwaukee Braves NL  
John McGraw 124 1899 Baltimore Orioles NL  
Current Through End of 2007 Regular Season


In 1999 researchers changed a few of Babe Ruth's season totals after carefully reviewing box scores. Major League Baseball verified the research, released the new totals during a press conference, then had to remove the correct totals from the books due to a conflict with Elias Sports Bureau (their "official" statistician).

Did you know that hall of famer Ted Williams appears five (5) times in the top twenty (5th, 5th, 8th, 17th & 20th) single season bases on balls leaderboard, but he finished "only" fourth (4th) overall in career walks?

Many fans believed that Mark McGwire's seventy (70) home run season would have enabled him to eventually break Babe Ruth's record of one-hundred seventy single (170) season walks. Three (3) years later the once "unbreakable" record was broken by Barry Bonds during his spectacular seventy-three (73) home run season, one (1) year after that Bonds SHATTERED his own record with an all new mark and in 2004 a plateau of unimaginable heights was reached when he became the first & only player in history with two-hundred plus walks in a season.
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