In baseball statistics, a double play (denoted as DP) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. One double play is recorded for every defensive player who participates in the play, regardless of how many of the outs in which they were directly involved, and is counted in addition to whatever putouts and assists might also apply. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. [1]
Most of the career leaders are relatively recent players who have benefitted from improved infield defense, with equipment of better quality; only six of the top 25 players made their major league debut before 1966, none of them before 1944. Only seven of the top 84 single-season totals were recorded before 1949, and only two of the top 152 were recorded before 1918. [2] Brooks Robinson holds the record for the most career double plays by a third baseman with 618. [3]
Rank | Rank among leaders in career double plays. A blank field indicates a tie. |
Player (2023 DPs) | Recorded double plays in 2023 |
MLB | Total career double plays as a third baseman in Major League Baseball |
* | Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame |
---|---|
Bold | Denotes active player [lower-alpha 1] |
Rank | Player (2023 DPs) | Double plays as a third baseman | Other leagues, notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MLB | American League | National League | |||
1 | Brooks Robinson* | 618 | 618 | 0 | |
2 | Adrián Beltré | 523 | 355 | 168 | |
3 | Graig Nettles | 470 | 418 | 52 | Holds the single-season record of 54 (set in 1971) |
4 | Gary Gaetti | 460 | 395 | 65 | |
5 | Mike Schmidt* | 450 | 0 | 450 | |
6 | Buddy Bell | 430 | 362 | 68 | |
7 | Wade Boggs* | 423 | 423 | 0 | |
8 | Aurelio Rodriguez | 408 | 396 | 12 | |
9 | Nolan Arenado (31) | 395 | 0 | 395 | |
Ron Santo* | 395 | 6 | 389 | Held National League record, 1972-1986 | |
11 | Evan Longoria (4) | 390 | 303 | 87 | |
12 | Eddie Mathews* | 369 | 0 | 369 | Held major league record, 1966-1968; held National League record, 1964-1972 |
13 | Robin Ventura | 359 | 269 | 90 | |
14 | Ken Boyer | 355 | 5 | 350 | |
Scott Rolen* | 355 | 30 | 325 | ||
16 | Kyle Seager | 351 | 351 | 0 | |
17 | Sal Bando | 345 | 345 | 0 | |
Eddie Yost | 345 | 345 | 0 | Held major league record, 1959-1966; held American League record, 1959-1967 | |
19 | Vinny Castilla | 331 | 25 | 306 | |
Doug DeCinces | 331 | 331 | 0 | ||
21 | Tim Wallach | 319 | 4 | 315 | |
22 | Clete Boyer | 315 | 223 | 92 | |
Ron Cey | 315 | 1 | 314 | ||
Matt Williams | 315 | 21 | 294 | ||
25 | Terry Pendleton | 312 | 2 | 310 | |
26 | Harlond Clift | 309 | 309 | 0 | Held major league record, 1945-1959; held the single-season record, 1937-1971 |
27 | George Brett* | 307 | 307 | 0 | |
28 | George Kell* | 306 | 306 | 0 | |
Ken Keltner | 306 | 306 | 0 | ||
30 | Pie Traynor* | 303 | 0 | 303 | Held major league record, 1933-1945; held National League record, 1933-1964; held single-season record, 1925-1927; held NL single-season record, 1925-1950 |
31 | Mike Lowell | 302 | 109 | 193 | |
32 | Willie Kamm | 299 | 299 | 0 | Held American League record, 1933-1945 |
33 | Frank Malzone | 289 | 289 | 0 | |
34 | Pinky Higgins | 288 | 288 | 0 | |
Manny Machado (33) | 288 | 164 | 124 | ||
36 | Aramis Ramírez | 287 | 0 | 287 | |
37 | Ken Caminiti | 280 | 10 | 270 | |
38 | Heinie Groh | 277 | 0 | 277 | Held major league record, 1924-1933; held National League record, 1922-1933; held NL single-season record, 1915-1925 |
39 | Jeff Cirillo | 276 | 110 | 166 | Holds the National League single-season record (45 in 1998; tie) |
Chipper Jones* | 276 | 0 | 276 | ||
41 | Willie Jones | 273 | 2 | 271 | |
42 | Darrell Evans | 270 | 2 | 268 | Holds the National League single-season record (45 in 1974) |
43 | Ossie Bluege | 266 | 266 | 0 | |
Billy Nash | 266 | 0 | 221 | Includes 37 in Players' League, 8 in American Association; held major league record, 1897-1924; held single-season record, 1890-1925 | |
45 | Eric Chavez | 262 | 254 | 8 | |
46 | Larry Gardner | 261 | 261 | 0 | Held American League record, 1923-1933; held the single-season record, 1920-1925 (tie) |
47 | Home Run Baker* | 260 | 260 | 0 | Held American League record, 1918-1924; held AL single-season record, 1910-1925 |
48 | Ken McMullen | 258 | 248 | 10 | |
49 | Carney Lansford | 256 | 256 | 0 | |
Doug Rader | 256 | 2 | 254 | ||
51 | Stan Hack | 255 | 0 | 255 | |
52 | Arlie Latham | 253 | 0 | 118 | Includes 126 in American Association, 9 in the Players' League; held major league record, 1890-1897 |
53 | Bob Elliott | 252 | 21 | 231 | |
54 | Josh Donaldson (9) | 245 | 203 | 42 | |
55 | Troy Glaus | 243 | 190 | 53 | |
56 | Todd Zeile | 238 | 47 | 191 | |
57 | David Wright | 237 | 0 | 237 | |
58 | Charlie Hayes | 231 | 52 | 179 | |
59 | Travis Fryman | 230 | 230 | 0 | |
60 | Ryan Zimmerman | 229 | 0 | 229 | |
61 | Jimmy Austin | 228 | 228 | 0 | Held American League record, 1916-1918 |
62 | Don Hoak | 227 | 0 | 227 | |
63 | Jimmy Collins* | 225 | 113 | 112 | |
64 | Richie Hebner | 224 | 10 | 214 | |
Brandon Inge | 224 | 222 | 2 | ||
Don Money | 224 | 153 | 71 | ||
67 | Matt Chapman (35) | 223 | 223 | 0 | |
68 | Eddie Foster | 220 | 220 | 0 | |
69 | Ken Reitz | 219 | 0 | 219 | |
Pinky Whitney | 219 | 0 | 219 | ||
71 | Joe Randa | 218 | 165 | 53 | |
72 | Billy Shindle | 215 | 0 | 164 | Includes 51 in American Association |
73 | Billy Werber | 214 | 114 | 100 | |
74 | Lave Cross | 212 | 71 | 139 | Includes 2 in American Association; held National League single-season record, 1899-1915 |
75 | Alex Rodriguez | 205 | 205 | 0 | |
76 | Bob Bailey | 203 | 0 | 203 | |
77 | Bill Madlock | 200 | 2 | 198 | |
78 | Todd Frazier | 199 | 74 | 125 | |
Milt Stock | 199 | 0 | 199 | ||
80 | Mike Moustakas (11) | 196 | 162 | 34 | |
81 | Andy Carey | 194 | 190 | 4 | |
Mike Pagliarulo | 194 | 175 | 19 | ||
83 | Hank Majeski | 192 | 171 | 21 | |
84 | Bill Mueller | 190 | 57 | 133 | |
85 | Kevin Seitzer | 189 | 189 | 0 | |
86 | Joe Crede | 188 | 188 | 0 | |
Jimmy Dykes | 188 | 188 | 0 | ||
88 | Paul Molitor* | 185 | 185 | 0 | |
89 | Steve Buechele | 184 | 123 | 61 | |
Bill Melton | 184 | 184 | 0 | ||
Red Rolfe | 184 | 184 | 0 | ||
92 | David Freese | 183 | 31 | 152 | |
93 | Bill Bradley | 182 | 160 | 18 | Includes 4 in Federal League; held American League single-season record, 1901-1902 (tie) |
94 | Eugenio Suárez (21) | 181 | 44 | 137 | |
95 | Ken Oberkfell | 180 | 0 | 180 | |
96 | Jim Tabor | 178 | 153 | 25 | |
97 | Pedro Feliz | 177 | 0 | 177 | |
Toby Harrah | 177 | 177 | 0 | ||
Anthony Rendon (6) | 177 | 32 | 145 | ||
100 | Tony Batista | 174 | 138 | 36 | |
Harry Steinfeldt | 174 | 0 | 174 |
Player | Double plays as a third baseman | Other leagues, notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
MLB | American League | National League | ||
Tony Pérez* | 141 | 0 | 141 | |
Freddie Lindstrom* | 135 | 0 | 135 | |
Deacon White* | 118 | 0 | 100 | Includes 18 in Players' League |
Cal Ripken Jr.* | 117 | 117 | 0 | |
John McGraw * | 104 | 11 | 93 | |
Joe Sewell* | 103 | 103 | 0 | |
George Davis* | 90 | 0 | 90 | |
Edgar Martínez* | 90 | 90 | 0 | |
Harmon Killebrew* | 88 | 88 | 0 | |
Bill McKechnie* | 88 | 0 | 43 | Includes 45 in Federal League |
Frankie Frisch* | 83 | 0 | 83 | |
Jim Thome* | 77 | 77 | 0 | |
Joe Torre* | 71 | 0 | 71 | |
Judy Johnson * | 68 | 0 | 0 | Includes 28 in Eastern Colored League, 25 in Negro National League (second), 10 in American Negro League, 5 in East–West League (incomplete) |
Bobby Wallace* | 60 | 18 | 42 | |
Jackie Robinson* | 54 | 0 | 54 | |
Cap Anson* | 29 | 0 | 18 | Includes 11 in National Association |
Jud Wilson* | 27 | 0 | 0 | Includes 18 in Eastern Colored League, 6 in Negro National League (second), 2 in East-West League, 1 in American Negro League (incomplete) |
Rogers Hornsby* | 26 | 1 | 25 | |
Honus Wagner* | 26 | 0 | 26 | |
Ray Dandridge* | 25 | 0 | 0 | Includes 25 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
Buck Ewing* | 22 | 0 | 22 | |
Ryne Sandberg* | 19 | 0 | 19 | |
Jimmie Foxx* | 18 | 18 | 0 | |
Jim O'Rourke* | 18 | 0 | 15 | Includes 3 in National Association |
Johnny Bench* | 17 | 0 | 17 | |
Joe Cronin* | 13 | 13 | 0 | |
Roger Connor* | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
King Kelly* | 9 | 0 | 7 | Includes 2 in American Association |
Willie Wells* | 4 | 0 | 0 | Includes 4 in Negro National League (second) (incomplete) |
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A double is a type of hit and is sometimes called a "two-bagger" or "two-base hit". For statistical and scorekeeping purposes it is denoted by 2B.
In baseball and softball, a double play is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs.
Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977. Nicknamed "the Human Vacuum Cleaner", "Mr. Hoover", and "Mr. Oriole", he is generally considered to have been the greatest defensive third baseman in major league history. An 18-time All-Star, he won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards, the most by a position player, and tied with Jim Kaat for the second-most of all-time, behind Greg Maddux. His 2,870 career games at third base not only exceeded the closest player by nearly 700 games when he retired, but also remain the most games by any player in major league history at a single position. His 23 seasons spent with a single team set a major league record since matched only by Carl Yastrzemski.
Lafayette Napoleon Cross was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1887 to 1907. Cross played most of his 21-year career with Philadelphia-based teams in four different leagues. One of the sport's top all-around players in the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, when he retired he ranked fifth in major league history in hits (2,644) and runs batted in (1,371), ninth in doubles (411) and total bases (3,466), and third in games played (2,275) and at bats (9,064).