Base on Balls Year-by-Year Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Year by Year Leaders for Bases on Balls / Walks Allowed

Ever wonder who allowed the most walks the year you were born? How about players from you favorite team — have they ever led the league in base on balls? Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a year-by-year leaderboard in Major League base on balls for every season since 1901. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"If you can't beat 'em, walk 'em" - Cy Young

Base on Balls Year-By-Year Leaders '1901 to 1901'
Year	American League	BB	Team(s)	Year	National League	BB	Team(s)
1901	Chick Fraser	132	Philadelphia	1901	Bill Donovan	152	Brooklyn
1902	Earl Moore	101	Cleveland	1902	Togie Pittinger	128	Boston
1903	George Mullin	106	Detroit	1903	Togie Pittinger	143	Boston
1904	George Mullin	131	Detroit	1904	Togie Pittinger	144	Boston
1905	George Mullin	138	Detroit	1905	Chick Fraser	149	Boston
1906	Cy Falkenberg	108	Washington	1906	Doc Scanlan	127	Brooklyn
1906	George Mullin	108	Detroit	1906	Doc Scanlan	127	Brooklyn
1907	Frank Smith	111	Chicago	1907	Stoney McGlynn	112	St. Louis
1908	Jimmy Dygert	97	Philadelphia	1908	Nap Rucker	125	Brooklyn
1909	Bob Groom	105	Washington	1909	Al Mattern	108	Boston
1909	Bob Groom	105	Washington	1909	Earl Moore	108	Philadelphia
1910	Cy Morgan	117	Philadelphia	1910	Bob Harmon	133	St. Louis
1911	Gene Krapp	138	Cleveland	1911	Bob Harmon	181	St. Louis
1912	George Kahler	121	Cleveland	1912	Marty O'Toole	159	Pittsburgh
1913	Vean Gregg	124	Cleveland	1913	Tom Seaton	136	Philadelphia
1914	Jim Shaw	137	Washington	1914	Larry Cheney	140	Chicago
1915	Weldon Wyckoff	165	Philadelphia	1915	Gene Dale	107	Cincinnati
1916	Elmer Myers	168	Philadelphia	1916	Al Mamaux	136	Pittsburgh
1917	Jim Shaw	123	Washington	1917	Pete Schneider	117	Cincinnati
1918	Slim Love	116	New York	1918	Pete Schneider	117	Cincinnati
1919	Howard Ehmke	107	Detroit	1919	Jakie May	87	St. Louis
1920	Dixie Davis	149	St. Louis	1920	Ferdie Schupp	127	St. Louis
1921	Dixie Davis	123	St. Louis	1921	Joe Oeschger	97	Boston
1922	Rip Collins	103	Boston	1922	Jimmy Ring	103	Philadelphia
1923	Elam Vangilder	120	St. Louis	1923	Jimmy Ring	115	Philadelphia
1924	Joe Bush	109	New York	1924	Jimmy Ring	108	Philadelphia
1925	Lefty Grove	131	Philadelphia	1925	Jimmy Ring	119	Philadelphia
1926	George Uhle	118	Cleveland	1926	Sheriff Blake	92	Chicago
1927	Earl Whitehill	105	Detroit	1927	Charlie Root	117	Chicago
1928	Hank Johnson	104	New York	1928	Doug McWeeny	114	Brooklyn
1929	George Earnshaw	125	Philadelphia	1929	Claude Willoughby	108	Philadelphia
1930	George Earnshaw	139	Philadelphia	1930	Bill Hallahan	126	St. Louis
1931	Wes Ferrell	130	Cleveland	1931	Bill Hallahan	112	St. Louis
1932	Bump Hadley	163	St. Louis	1932	Van Mungo	115	Brooklyn
1933	Bump Hadley	144	St. Louis	1933	Bill Hallahan	98	St. Louis
1934	Bobo Newsom	149	St. Louis	1934	Van Mungo	104	Brooklyn
1935	Tommy Bridges	113	Detroit	1935	Roy Parmelee	97	New York
1936	Vern Kennedy	147	Chicago	1936	Van Mungo	118	Brooklyn
1937	Jimmie DeShong	124	Washington	1937	Hugh Mulcahy	97	Philadelphia
1937	Vern Kennedy	124	Chicago	1937	Hugh Mulcahy	97	Philadelphia
1938	Bob Feller	208	Cleveland	1938	Clay Bryant	125	Chicago
1939	Bob Feller	142	Cleveland	1939	Bucky Walters	109	Cincinnati
1940	Ken Chase	143	Washington	1940	Kirby Higbe	121	Philadelphia
1941	Bob Feller	194	Cleveland	1941	Kirby Higbe	132	Brooklyn
1942	Phil Marchildon	140	Philadelphia	1942	Rube Melton	114	Philadelphia
1943	Hal Newhouser	111	Detroit	1943	Johnny Vander Meer	162	Cincinnati
1944	Rufe Gentry	108	Detroit	1944	Hal Gregg	137	Brooklyn
1945	Allie Reynolds	130	Cleveland	1945	Hal Gregg	120	Brooklyn
1946	Bob Feller	153	Cleveland	1946	Monte Kennedy	116	New York
1947	Phil Marchildon	141	Philadelphia	1947	Kirby Higbe	110	Pittsburgh
1948	Bill Wight	135	Chicago	1948	Johnny Vander Meer	124	Cincinnati
1949	Tommy Byrne	179	New York	1949	Herm Wehmeier	117	Cincinnati
1950	Tommy Byrne	160	New York	1950	Herm Wehmeier	135	Cincinnati
1951	Bob Lemon	124	Cleveland	1951	Warren Spahn	109	Boston
1952	Early Wynn	132	Cleveland	1952	Vinegar Bend Mizell	103	St. Louis
1952	Early Wynn	132	Cleveland	1952	Herm Wehmeier	103	Cincinnati
1953	Mel Parnell	116	Boston	1953	Johnny Lindell	116	Pittsburgh
1954	Bob Turley	181	Baltimore	1954	Ruben Gomez	109	New York
1955	Bob Turley	177	New York	1955	Sam Jones	185	Chicago
1956	Paul Foytack	146	Detroit	1956	Sam Jones	115	Chicago
1957	Ray Moore	112	Baltimore	1957	Dick Drott	129	Chicago
1958	Bob Turley	128	New York	1958	Sam Jones	107	St. Louis
1959	Early Wynn	119	Chicago	1959	Sam Jones	109	San Francisco
1960	Steve Barber	113	Baltimore	1960	Bob Buhl	103	Milwaukee
1961	Chuck Estrada	132	Baltimore	1961	Bob Gibson	119	St. Louis
1962	Bo Belinsky	122	Los Angeles	1962	Jack Hamilton	107	Philadelphia
1963	Earl Wilson	105	Boston	1963	Ray Culp	102	Philadelphia
1964	Al Downing	120	New York	1964	Bob Veale	124	Pittsburgh
1965	Sam McDowell	132	Cleveland	1965	Tony Cloninger	119	Milwaukee
1965	Sam McDowell	132	Cleveland	1965	Bob Veale	119	Pittsburgh
1966	Dean Chance	114	California	1966	Tony Cloninger	116	Atlanta
1967	Sam McDowell	123	Cleveland	1967	Bob Veale	119	Pittsburgh
1968	Sam McDowell	110	Cleveland	1968	Bob Veale	94	Pittsburgh
1969	Luis Tiant	129	Cleveland	1969	Bill Stoneman	123	Montreal
1970	Sam McDowell	131	Cleveland	1970	Carl Morton	125	Montreal
1971	Sam McDowell	153	Cleveland	1971	Bill Stoneman	146	Montreal
1972	Nolan Ryan	157	California	1972	Steve Arlin	122	San Diego
1973	Nolan Ryan	162	California	1973	Jerry Reuss	117	Houston
1974	Nolan Ryan	202	California	1974	Steve Carlton	136	Philadelphia
1975	Mike Torrez	133	Baltimore	1975	J.R. Richard	138	Houston
1976	Nolan Ryan	183	California	1976	J.R. Richard	151	Houston
1977	Nolan Ryan	204	California	1977	Phil Niekro	164	Atlanta
1978	Nolan Ryan	148	California	1978	J.R. Richard	141	Houston
1979	Mike Torrez	121	Boston	1979	Phil Niekro	113	Atlanta
1980	Jim Clancy	128	Toronto	1980	Nolan Ryan	98	Houston
1981	Jack Morris	78	Detroit	1981	Bruce Berenyi	77	Cincinnati
1982	Dave Righetti	108	New York	1982	Nolan Ryan	109	Houston
1983	Richard Dotson	106	Chicago	1983	Mike Torrez	113	New York
1984	Mark Langston	118	Seattle	1984	Fernando Valenzuela	106	Los Angeles
1985	Phil Niekro	120	New York	1985	Ron Darling	114	New York
1986	Bobby Witt	143	Texas	1986	Floyd Youmans	118	Montreal
1987	Bobby Witt	140	Texas	1987	Fernando Valenzuela	124	Los Angeles
1988	Charlie Hough	126	Texas	1988	Kevin Gross	89	Philadelphia
1989	Bobby Witt	114	Texas	1989	Ken Hill	99	St. Louis
1990	Randy Johnson	120	Seattle	1990	John Smoltz	90	Atlanta
1991	Randy Johnson	152	Seattle	1991	Jose DeJesus	128	Philadelphia
1992	Randy Johnson	144	Seattle	1992	David Cone	82	New York
1993	Wilson Alvarez	122	Chicago	1993	Ramon Martinez	104	Los Angeles
1994	Mike Moore	89	Detroit	1994	Darryl Kile	82	Houston
1994	Todd Van Poppel	89	Oakland	1994	Darryl Kile	82	Houston
1995	Al Leiter	108	Toronto	1995	Ramon Martinez	81	Los Angeles
1996	Rich Robertson	116	Minnesota	1996	Al Leiter	119	Florida
1997	Cal Eldred	89	Milwaukee	1997	Shawn Estes	100	San Francisco
1998	Tony Saunders	111	Tampa Bay	1998	Joey Hamilton	106	San Diego
1999	Scott Erickson	99	Baltimore	1999	Russ Ortiz	125	San Francisco
2000	Kevin Appier	102	Oakland	2000	Matt Clement	125	San Diego
2001	Hideo Nomo	96	Boston	2001	Ryan Dempster	112	Florida
2002	Tanyon Sturtze	89	Tampa Bay	2002	Kazuhisa Ishii	106	Los Angeles
2003	Victor Zambrano	106	Tampa Bay	2003	Russ Ortiz	102	Atlanta
2004	Victor Zambrano	96	Tampa Bay	2004	Brandon Webb	119	Arizona
2004	Miguel Batista	96	Toronto	2004	Brandon Webb	119	Arizona
2005	Scott Kazmir	100	Tampa Bay	2005	Kip Wells	99	Pittsburgh
Year	American League	BB	Team(s)	Year	National League	BB	Team(s)
Base on Balls Year-By-Year Leaders

The eighty-one (81) walks allowed by Ramon Martinez during the 1995 season is the lowest Major League total high enough to still lead the league in bases on balls allowed during a full / non-strike season.

Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller are the only two (2) pitchers that ever allowed more than two-hundred (200+) walks during a single season and both of them are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Did you know that Nolan Ryan has led the major leagues in walks allowed more times than any other pitcher in Major League history — proof that he believed what Cy Young said at the top of the page.

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