List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and pronounced as if it were multiplied by 1,000: a player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three hundred." A point (or percentage point) is understood to be .001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken to more than three decimal places.

Josh Gibson has the highest career batting average (.371) in major-league history.

Catcher Josh Gibson, whose career ended in 1946, has the highest batting average in major-league history.[1][a] He batted .371 over 14 seasons, mostly with the Homestead Grays. In addition, he also holds the single-season record for highest batting average in major league history at .466 in 1943. Gibson never recorded a batting average of under .316 in any qualifying season. Ty Cobb is second all-time with a career batting average of .367.[1] He won a record 11 batting titles in the American League from 1907–1909, 1911–1915, and 1917–1919. Oscar Charleston is third with a career batting average of .363.[1] Charleston and Gibson are the only players to have won consecutive Triple Crowns, having done so in 1924 and 1925 and 1936 and 1937, respectively.

Career batting average leaders

Different sources of baseball records present somewhat differing lists of career batting average leaders.[b] Until the incorporation of statistics from Negro league baseball into major-league records in 2024, Ty Cobb was the consensus leader; subsequently, he was supplanted by Josh Gibson.[4] The below table presents the 100 players with the highest qualified batting averages for their major-league careers, as published on MLB.com.[1] A player must have a minimum of 5,000 at bats to qualify for the list.[5][c] For Negro League players, the minimum is set at 1,800 at bats, or 5,000 at bats combining their Negro league, National League, and American League statistics.[5]

As of May 8, 2026, no active player appears in the list below; the active player ranking highest is Jose Altuve, 156th with a .302 career batting average.

Key

More information *, Bold ...
RankRank among leaders in career batting average
PlayerName of the player
BAMajor-league career batting average
* Denotes a player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Bold Denotes an active player[d]
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List

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player BA
1 Josh Gibson* .371
2 Ty Cobb* .367
3 Oscar Charleston* .363
4 Rogers Hornsby* .358
5 Jud Wilson* .351
6 Turkey Stearnes* .349
7 Ed Delahanty* .346
8 Tris Speaker* .345
9 Ted Williams* .344
10 Billy Hamilton* .344
11 Buck Leonard* .344
12 Dan Brouthers* .342
13 Babe Ruth* .342
14 Harry Heilmann* .342
15 Willie Keeler* .341
16 Bill Terry* .341
17 Lou Gehrig* .340
18 George Sisler* .340
19 Mule Suttles* .340
20 Nap Lajoie* .339
21 Jesse Burkett* .338
22 Tony Gwynn* .338
23 Bullet Rogan* .337
24 Cristóbal Torriente* .335
25 Ben Taylor* .335
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More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player BA
26 Al Simmons* .334
27 Paul Waner* .333
28 Fats Jenkins .333
29 Eddie Collins* .333
30 Dick Lundy .332
31 Cap Anson* .331
32 Stan Musial* .331
33 Sam Thompson* .331
34 Heinie Manush* .330
34 Red Parnell .330
36 Honus Wagner* .329
37 Willie Wells* .328
38 Wade Boggs* .328
39 Rod Carew* .328
40 Hugh Duffy* .325
41 Biz Mackey* .325
42 Jimmie Foxx* .325
43 Cool Papa Bell* .325
44 Earle Combs* .325
45 Joe DiMaggio* .325
46 Babe Herman .324
47 Joe Medwick* .324
48 Hurley McNair .323
49 George Scales .323
50 Edd Roush* .323
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More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player BA
51 Sam Rice* .322
52 Chaney White .322
53 Clarence Smith .321
54 Kiki Cuyler* .321
55 Charlie Gehringer* .320
56 Chuck Klein* .320
57 Pie Traynor* .320
58 Mickey Cochrane* .320
59 Kirby Puckett* .318
60 Earl Averill* .318
61 Vladimir Guerrero* .318
62 Arky Vaughan* .318
63 Roberto Clemente* .317
64 Joe Kelley* .317
65 Zack Wheat* .317
66 George Van Haltren .317
67 Roger Connor* .317
68 Lloyd Waner* .316
69 Todd Helton* .316
70 George Carr .316
71 Frankie Frisch* .316
72 Goose Goslin* .316
73 Hank Greenberg* .313
74 Jackie Robinson* .313
75 Jack Fournier .313
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More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player BA
76 Elmer Flick* .313
77 Nomar Garciaparra .313
78 Larry Walker* .313
79 Bill Dickey* .313
80 Manny Ramirez .312
81 Johnny Mize* .312
82 Joe Sewell* .312
83 Fred Clarke* .312
84 Edgar Martínez* .312
85 Freddie Lindstrom* .311
86 Bing Miller .311
87 Baby Doll Jacobson .311
88 Ichiro Suzuki* .311
89 Ginger Beaumont .311
90 Mike Tiernan .311
91 Luke Appling* .310
92 Bobby Veach .310
93 Jim O'Rourke* .310
94 Jim Bottomley* .310
95 Derek Jeter* .310
96 Sam Crawford* .309
97 Bob Meusel .309
98 Magglio Ordóñez* .309
99 Jack Tobin .309
100 Branch Russell .308
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Players ranked 2nd through 9th per MLB.com
  • (2) Ty Cobb: .367
    (2) Ty Cobb: .367
  • (3) Oscar Charleston: .363
    (3) Oscar Charleston: .363
  • (4) Rogers Hornsby: .358
    (4) Rogers Hornsby: .358
  • (5) Jud Wilson: .351
    (5) Jud Wilson: .351
  • (6) Turkey Stearnes: .349
    (6) Turkey Stearnes: .349
  • (7) Ed Delahanty: .346
    (7) Ed Delahanty: .346
  • (8) Tris Speaker .345
    (8) Tris Speaker .345
  • (9) Ted Williams .344
    (9) Ted Williams .344

Top ten rankings per different sources

Different sources of baseball records present somewhat differing lists of career batting average leaders, primarily due to differences in minimums needed to qualify (number of games played or plate appearances), or differences in early baseball records. Baseball Reference includes the Negro League teams considered major leagues by Major League Baseball,[7] while such players do not appear in the lists presented by Baseball Almanac or ESPN. The criteria used by Baseball Reference—a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances—results in Josh Gibson being omitted. In sources where Gibson is omitted, Ty Cobb leads this category.

None of the players listed below are still living; each is an inductee of the Baseball Hall of Fame, except for Lefty O'Doul, Pete Browning, and Shoeless Joe Jackson (who was ineligible due to his alleged role in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 until his eligibility was reinstated in 2025).[8]

More information Baseball Reference, Baseball Almanac ...
Baseball Reference[2] Baseball Almanac[3] ESPN[9] MLB.com[1]
RankPlayerAverage RankPlayerAverage RankPlayerAverage RankPlayerAverage
1Ty Cobb.3662 1Ty Cobb.36636 1Ty Cobb.366 1Josh Gibson.371
2Oscar Charleston.3648 2Rogers Hornsby.35850 2Rogers Hornsby.358 2Ty Cobb.367
3Rogers Hornsby.3585 3Shoeless Joe Jackson.35575 3Shoeless Joe Jackson.356 3Oscar Charleston.363
4Shoeless Joe Jackson.3558 4Ed Delahanty.34590 4Ed Delahanty.346 4Rogers Hornsby.358
5Jud Wilson.3504 5Tris Speaker.34468 5Tris Speaker.345 5Jud Wilson.351
6Lefty O'Doul.3493 6Ted Williams.34441 6Billy Hamilton.344 6Turkey Stearnes.349
7Turkey Stearnes.3483 7Billy Hamilton.34429 Ted Williams.344 7Ed Delahanty.346
8Ed Delahanty.3458 8Babe Ruth.34206 8Dan Brouthers.342 8Buck Leonard.345
9Tris Speaker.3447 9Harry Heilmann.34159 Harry Heilmann.342 9Ted Williams.344
10Billy Hamilton.3444 10Pete Browning.34149 Babe Ruth.342 Billy Hamilton.344
Ted Williams.3444 Buck Leonard.344
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    The list presented includes players and statistics from defunct leagues considered "major" by Major League Baseball, not only the National League and American League. See Major League Baseball#Other recognized leagues.
  2. [b]
    For example, Baseball Reference requires a player to have had at least 3,000 plate appearances in their major-league career to qualify,[2] while Baseball Almanac requires 1,000 career games played and 1,000 career at bats;[3] both exclude Josh Gibson, who had 2526 plate appearances in 602 games.
  3. [c]
    The 5,000 at bat minimum used by MLB.com results in the omission of Shoeless Joe Jackson, who had 4,981 at bats during his major-league career.[6]
  4. [d]
    A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played professionally for a full season.

References

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