List of Major League Baseball career fielding errors as a right fielder leaders

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Harry Hooper, the modern leader in fielding errors as a right fielder Harry Hooper 1915.jpg
Harry Hooper, the modern leader in fielding errors as a right fielder

In baseball statistics, an error is an act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to advance one or more bases or allows an at bat to continue after the batter should have been put out. The right fielder (RF) is one of the three outfielders, the defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing toward the pitcher's mound. The outfielders must try to catch long fly balls before they hit the ground, or to quickly catch or retrieve and return to the infield any other balls entering the outfield. The right fielder must also be adept at navigating the area of right field where the foul line approaches the corner of the playing field and the walls of the seating areas. Being the outfielder farthest from third base, the right fielder often has to make longer throws than the other outfielders to throw out runners advancing around the bases, so they often have the strongest or most accurate throwing arm. The right fielder normally plays behind the second baseman and first baseman, who play in or near the infield; unlike catchers and most infielders (excepting first basemen), who are virtually exclusively right-handed, right fielders can be either right- or left-handed. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the right fielder is assigned the number 9, the highest number.

Contents

The list of career leaders is dominated by players from the early 20th century; only six of the top 20 players were active after 1951, only one of whom played primarily in the American League. Only nine of the top 91 single-season totals were recorded after 1939, only four after 1979. To a large extent, the leaders reflect longevity rather than lower skill. Roberto Clemente, who tied a modern National League record with 131 errors as a right fielder, won twelve consecutive Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence.

Because game accounts and box scores often did not distinguish between the outfield positions, there has been some difficulty in determining precise defensive statistics prior to 1901; because of this, and because of the similarity in their roles, defensive statistics for the three positions are frequently combined. Although efforts to distinguish between the three positions regarding games played during this period and reconstruct the separate totals have been largely successful, separate error totals are unavailable; players whose totals are missing the figures for pre-1901 games are notated in the table below. Harry Hooper is the modern (post-1900) leader in career errors committed by a right fielder with 144. Dave Parker is second all-time, and holds the modern National League record with 134 career errors in right field. Only fourteen right fielders have committed more than 100 career errors at the position since 1900.

Key

RankRank amongst leaders in career errors committed. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2023 Es)Number of errors committed during the 2023 Major League Baseball season
E as RFTotal career errors committed as a right fielder
*Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
Denotes total is missing figures for pre-1901 games
BoldDenotes active player [note 1]

List

Giancarlo Stanton, the active leader in fielding errors by a right fielder and tied for 90th all-time Giancarlo Stanton 2019.jpg
Giancarlo Stanton, the active leader in fielding errors by a right fielder and tied for 90th all-time
RankPlayer (2024 Es)E as RF
1 Harry Hooper *144
2 Dave Parker 134
3 Roberto Clemente *131
Paul Waner *131
5 Reggie Jackson *126
6 Vladimir Guerrero *125
7 Ross Youngs *116
8 Sammy Sosa 111
9 Harry Heilmann *109
10 Chuck Klein *107
11 Bruce Campbell 104
Tommy Griffith 104
13 Sam Rice *101
Curt Walker 101
15 Wally Moses 99
16 George Browne 96
17 Rusty Staub 95
Jack Tobin 95
19 Gavvy Cravath 93
20 Sam Crawford * 92
21 Hank Aaron *88
Mel Ott *88
23 John Titus 87
24 Rubén Sierra 86
25 Babe Herman 85
26 Babe Ruth *84
27 Elmer Flick * 77
28 Bobby Abreu 71
Bobby Bonds 71
Dixie Walker 71
31 Steve Evans 68
32 José Guillén 67
Mike Mitchell 67
34 Harry Lumley 66
35 Roy Johnson 65
Raúl Mondesí 65
Tim Salmon 65
Chief Wilson 65
39 Frank Schulte 64
40 Willie Keeler * 63
Bill Nicholson 63
Casey Stengel *63
Claudell Washington 63
44 Dave Winfield *62
45 Jeromy Burnitz 61
Shano Collins 61
Jermaine Dye 61
Al Kaline *61
49 Dwight Evans 60
Max Flack 60
RankPlayer (2024 Es)E as RF
51 Carl Furillo 59
Jackie Jensen 59
Bing Miller 59
Danny Moeller 59
Tony Oliva *59
56 Cozy Dolan 58
Billy Southworth *58
Darryl Strawberry 58
59 Jesse Barfield 57
Ty Cobb *57
Bob Meusel 57
Red Murray 57
63 Pete Fox 56
Tony Gwynn *56
Enos Slaughter *56
Homer Summa 56
67 Rocky Colavito 55
68 Elmer Valo 54
69 Elmer Smith 53
70 Tom Brunansky 52
Mike Davis 52
72 Wally Post 51
Socks Seybold 51
74 Rob Deer 50
Ival Goodman 50
Eddie Murphy 50
Ken Singleton 50
Justin Upton 50
79 Mark Whiten 49
80 Jay Bruce 48
Johnny Callison 48
Shoeless Joe Jackson 48
Dave Robertson 48
Braggo Roth 48
85 Wilbur Good 47
Danny Green 47
Gene Moore 47
Reggie Smith 47
Larry Walker *47
90 Harold Baines *46
Jack Clark 46
Shawn Green 46
Giancarlo Stanton (0)46
94 Kiki Cuyler *45
Dan Ford 45
Jeff Francoeur 45
Lance Richbourg 45
George Watkins 45
Earl Webb 45
Glenn Wilson 45

Other Hall of Famers

PlayerEOther leagues, notes
MLBAmerican LeagueNational League
Andre Dawson*43043
Frank Robinson*32248
Billy Williams*21021
Stan Musial*20020
Ted Williams*20200
Lou Brock*18018
Goose Goslin*18180

Notes

  1. A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outfielder</span> Defensive position in baseball

An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch fly balls and ground balls then to return them to the infield for the out or before the runner advances, if there are any runners on the bases. As an outfielder, they normally play behind the six players located in the field. By convention, each of the nine defensive positions in baseball is numbered. The outfield positions are 7, 8 and 9. These numbers are shorthand designations useful in baseball scorekeeping and are not necessarily the same as the squad numbers worn on player uniforms.

References