Base on Balls Single Season Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Single Season Leaders for Bases on Balls / Walks Allowed

Other than giving up the long ball, the quickest way for a manager to pull their starting pitcher from the mound is giving up the base on balls a few too many times. The walk has decided not a few games, not a couple hundred games, but literally thousands of games over the course of Major League history. Listed below are the pitchers who gave up the most walks during a single season on the mound and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"The starting times are different all over. Twilight games, night games, day games, night double-headers, day double-headers, it ruins your diet." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Feller (#14 Ranked Single Season Base on Balls Leader)

Base on Balls Single Season Leaders 'Top 100'
Name	Base on Balls	Year	Team	League	Rank
Amos Rusie	289	1890	New York Giants	NL	1
Mark Baldwin	274	1889	Columbus Colts	AA	2
Amos Rusie	267	1892	New York Giants	NL	3
Amos Rusie	262	1891	New York Giants	NL	4
Mark Baldwin	249	1890	Chicago Pirates	PL	5
Jack Stivetts	232	1891	St. Louis Browns	AA	6
Mark Baldwin	227	1891	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	7
Phil Knell	226	1891	Columbus Colts	AA	8
Bob Barr	219	1890	Rochester Rochesters	AA	9
Amos Rusie	218	1893	New York Giants	NL	10
Cy Seymour	213	1898	New York Giants	NL	11
Gus Weyhing	212	1889	Philadelphia Athletics	AA	12
Ed Crane	210	1890	New York Giants	PL	13
Bob Feller	208	1938	Cleveland Indians	AL	14
Toad Ramsey	207	1886	Louisville Colonels	AA	15
Elton Chamberlain	206	1891	Philadelphia Athletics	AA	16
Mike Morrison	205	1887	Cleveland Blues	AA	17
Henry Gruber	204	1890	Cleveland Infants	PL	18
Nolan Ryan	204	1977	California Angels	AL
John Clarkson	203	1889	Boston Beaneaters	NL	20
Ed Crane	203	1891	Cincinnati Reds	NL
Ed Crane	203	1891	Cincinnati Porkers	AA
Nolan Ryan	202	1974	California Angels	AL	22
Bert Cunningham	201	1890	Buffalo Bisons	PL	23
Bert Cunningham	201	1890	Philadelphia Quakers	PL	23
Amos Rusie	200	1894	New York Giants	NL	24
Bill Hutchinson	199	1890	Chicago Colts	NL	25
Mark Baldwin	194	1892	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	26
Bob Feller	194	1941	Cleveland Indians	AL
Bobo Newsom	192	1938	St. Louis Browns	AL	28
Ted Breitenstein	191	1894	St. Louis Browns	NL	29
Bill Hutchinson	190	1892	Chicago Colts	NL	30
Ed Crane	189	1892	New York Giants	NL	31
Tony Mullane	189	1893	Baltimore Orioles	NL
Tony Mullane	189	1893	Cincinnati Reds	NL
Kid Gleason	187	1893	St. Louis Browns	NL	33
Tony Mullane	187	1891	Cincinnati Reds	NL
Ed Beatin	186	1890	Cleveland Spiders	NL	35
Sam Jones	185	1955	Chicago Cubs	NL	36
Tom Vickery	184	1890	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	37
Nolan Ryan	183	1976	California Angels	AL	38
Frank Killen	182	1892	Washington Senators	NL	39
Matt Kilroy	182	1886	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Bob Harmon	181	1911	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	41
Willie McGill	181	1893	Chicago Colts	NL
Bob Turley	181	1954	Baltimore Orioles	AL
Tommy Byrne	179	1949	New York Yankees	AL	44
Jack Stivetts	179	1890	St. Louis Browns	AA
Gus Weyhing	179	1890	Brooklyn Wonders	PL
Ted Breitenstein	178	1895	St. Louis Browns	NL	47
Bill Hutchinson	178	1891	Chicago Colts	NL
Bob Turley	177	1955	New York Yankees	AL	49
George Hemming	176	1893	Louisville Colonels	NL	50
Phenomenal Smith	176	1887	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Silver King	174	1892	New York Giants	NL	52
Bump Hadley	171	1932	Chicago White Sox	AL	53
Bump Hadley	171	1932	St. Louis Browns	AL	53
Jouett Meekin	171	1894	New York Giants	NL
Jack Stivetts	171	1892	Boston Beaneaters	NL
Elton Chamberlain	170	1892	Cincinnati Reds	NL	56
Cy Seymour	170	1899	New York Giants	NL
Ed Stein	170	1894	Brooklyn Bridegrooms	NL
Brickyard Kennedy	168	1893	Brooklyn Bridegrooms	NL	59
Willie McGill	168	1891	Cincinnati Porkers	AA
Willie McGill	168	1891	St. Louis Browns	AA
Elmer Myers	168	1916	Philadelphia Athletics	AL
Gus Weyhing	168	1892	Philadelphia Phillies	NL
Bill Daley	167	1890	Boston Red Stockings	PL	63
Kid Gleason	167	1890	Philadelphia Phillies	NL
Bobo Newsom	167	1937	Boston Red Sox	AL
Bobo Newsom	167	1937	Washington Senators	AL
Darby O'Brien	167	1889	Cleveland Spiders	NL
Toad Ramsey	167	1887	Louisville Colonels	AA
Gus Weyhing	167	1887	Philadelphia Athletics	AA
Chick Fraser	166	1896	Louisville Colonels	NL	69
Phil Knell	166	1890	Philadelphia Quakers	PL
Sadie McMahon	166	1890	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Sadie McMahon	166	1890	Philadelphia Athletics	AA
Tony Mullane	166	1886	Cincinnati Red Stockings	AA
Dan Casey	165	1890	Syracuse Stars	AA	73
Elton Chamberlain	165	1889	St. Louis Browns	AA
Kid Gleason	165	1891	Philadelphia Phillies	NL
Weldon Wyckoff	165	1915	Philadelphia Athletics	AL
Earl Moore	164	1911	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	77
Phil Niekro	164	1977	Atlanta Braves	NL
Cy Seymour	164	1897	New York Giants	NL
George Haddock	163	1892	Brooklyn Bridegrooms	NL	80
Silver King	163	1890	Chicago Pirates	PL
Hank O'Day	163	1890	New York Giants	PL
Mickey Welch	163	1886	New York Giants	NL
Nolan Ryan	162	1973	California Angels	AL	84
Johnny Vander Meer	162	1943	Cincinnati Reds	NL
Kid Carsey	161	1891	Washington Senators	AA	86
John Sowders	161	1890	Brooklyn Wonders	PL
Gus Weyhing	161	1891	Philadelphia Athletics	AA
Tommy Byrne	160	1950	New York Yankees	AL	89
George Hemming	159	1894	Baltimore Orioles	NL	90
George Hemming	159	1894	Louisville Colonels	NL	90
Marty O'Toole	159	1912	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL
Amos Rusie	159	1895	New York Giants	NL
Joe Coleman	158	1974	Detroit Tigers	AL	93
Bert Cunningham	157	1888	Baltimore Orioles	AA	94
Pink Hawley	157	1896	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL
Matt Kilroy	157	1887	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Grover Lowdermilk	157	1915	Detroit Tigers	AL
Grover Lowdermilk	157	1915	St. Louis Browns	AL
Nolan Ryan	157	1972	California Angels	AL
Ted Breitenstein	156	1893	St. Louis Browns	NL	99
Ed Doheny	156	1899	New York Giants	NL	100
Duke Esper	156	1893	Washington Senators	NL
Bill Hutchinson	156	1893	Chicago Colts	NL
Sadie McMahon	156	1893	Baltimore Orioles	NL
Name	Base on Balls	Year	Team	League	Rank
Current Through 2009 Season

The most recent "active" pitchers to break into the top one-hundred (100) single season leaders for bases on balls were Phil Niekro and Nolan Ryan, who both made the chart last during the 1977 season.

Did you know that Nolan Ryan first appears on this top one-hundred (100) single season leaders for bases on balls chart tied for eighteenth with Henry Gruber, but still remains the all-time record holder for career base on balls allowed?

Do you believe the record of two-hundred eighty-nine (289) walks in a season will ever be broken? Will the modern Major League manager ever allow it to happen? Is Amos Rusie's record a lock — forever? Share your opinion on Baseball Fever.

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