On Base Percentage : 1996 American League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1996 On Base Percentage Leaders

Top 25 in the American League

Mark McGwire .467 (.46715) Oakland Athletics 1
Edgar Martinez .464 (.46372) Seattle Mariners 2
Frank Thomas .459 (.45917) Chicago White Sox 3
Jim Thome .450 (.44969) Cleveland Indians 4
Chuck Knoblauch .448 (.44793) Minnesota Twins 5
Mo Vaughn .420 (.42021) Boston Red Sox 6
Kevin Seitzer .416 (.41642) Milwaukee Brewers 7
Cleveland Indians  
Alex Rodriguez .414 (.41431) Seattle Mariners 8
Roberto Alomar .411 (.41100) Baltimore Orioles 9
Paul O'Neill .411 (.41061) New York Yankees 10
Albert Belle .410 (.40979) Cleveland Indians 11
Dave Nilsson .407 (.40698) Milwaukee Brewers 12
Julio Franco .407 (.40681) Cleveland Indians 13
Bobby Higginson .404 (.40430) Detroit Tigers 14
Tony Phillips .404 (.40390) Chicago White Sox 15
Manny Ramirez .399 (.39876) Cleveland Indians 16
Harold Baines .399 (.39860) Chicago White Sox 17
John Jaha .398 (.39780) Milwaukee Brewers 18
Rusty Greer .397 (.39708) Texas Rangers 19
Brady Anderson .396 (.39648) Baltimore Orioles 20
Dave Martinez .393 (.39315) Chicago White Sox 21
Scott Brosius .393 (.39279) Oakland Athletics 22
Ken Griffey, Jr. .392 (.39246) Seattle Mariners 23
Jeff Cirillo .391 (.39089) Milwaukee Brewers 24
Bernie Williams .391 (.39063) New York Yankees 25



The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?

Did you know that more than forty players have worn the number twenty-five for the Boston Red Sox — including Jack Clark, Denny Galehouse, Dizzy Trout and Tony Conigliaro.

The first player from the Angels franchise (they were the California Angels at the time) to wear the number twenty-five was Bob Perry.