The 50 batters with the most runs batted in, 1871–2021

Every batter on this list is ranked on one number: runs batted in in the regular season between 1871 and 2021. Nothing else is weighed, and the figures each ranking rests on are in the table.

Runs batted in — the leading 15. Every one of the 50 is in the table below.

#	Player	Seasons	Runs batted in	Games	Hits	HR
1	Hank Aaron	1954–1976	2,297	3,298	3,771	755
2	Babe Ruth	1914–1935	2,217	2,503	2,873	714
3	Albert Pujols	2001–2021	2,150	2,971	3,301	679
4	Alex Rodriguez	1994–2016	2,086	2,784	3,115	696
5	Cap Anson	1871–1897	2,075	2,524	3,435	97
6	Barry Bonds	1986–2007	1,996	2,986	2,935	762
7	Lou Gehrig	1923–1939	1,995	2,164	2,721	493
8	Stan Musial	1941–1963	1,951	3,026	3,630	475
9	Ty Cobb	1905–1928	1,944	3,035	4,189	117
10	Jimmie Foxx	1925–1945	1,922	2,317	2,646	534
11	Eddie Murray	1977–1997	1,917	3,026	3,255	504
12	Willie Mays	1951–1973	1,903	2,992	3,283	660
13	Mel Ott	1926–1947	1,860	2,730	2,876	511
14	Carl Yastrzemski	1961–1983	1,844	3,308	3,419	452
15	Ted Williams	1939–1960	1,839	2,292	2,654	521
16	Ken Griffey	1989–2010	1,836	2,671	2,781	630
17	Rafael Palmeiro	1986–2005	1,835	2,831	3,020	569
18	Dave Winfield	1973–1995	1,833	2,973	3,110	465
19	Manny Ramirez	1993–2011	1,831	2,302	2,574	555
20	Al Simmons	1924–1944	1,827	2,215	2,927	307
21	Frank Robinson	1956–1976	1,812	2,808	2,943	586
22	Miguel Cabrera	2003–2021	1,804	2,587	2,987	502
23	David Ortiz	1997–2016	1,768	2,408	2,472	541
24	Honus Wagner	1897–1917	1,733	2,794	3,420	101
25	Adrian Beltre	1998–2018	1,707	2,933	3,166	477
26	Frank Thomas	1990–2008	1,704	2,322	2,468	521
27	Reggie Jackson	1967–1987	1,702	2,820	2,584	563
28	Jim Thome	1991–2012	1,699	2,543	2,328	612
29	Cal Ripken	1981–2001	1,695	3,001	3,184	431
30	Gary Sheffield	1988–2009	1,676	2,576	2,689	509
31	Sammy Sosa	1989–2007	1,667	2,354	2,408	609
32	Tony Perez	1964–1986	1,652	2,777	2,732	379
33	Ernie Banks	1953–1971	1,636	2,528	2,583	512
34	Harold Baines	1980–2001	1,628	2,830	2,866	384
35	Chipper Jones	1993–2012	1,623	2,499	2,726	468
36	Goose Goslin	1921–1938	1,609	2,287	2,735	248
37	Nap Lajoie	1896–1916	1,599	2,480	3,243	82
38	George Brett	1973–1993	1,596	2,707	3,154	317
39	Mike Schmidt	1972–1989	1,595	2,404	2,234	548
40	Andre Dawson	1976–1996	1,591	2,627	2,774	438
41	Carlos Beltran	1998–2017	1,587	2,586	2,725	435
42	Rogers Hornsby	1915–1937	1,584	2,259	2,930	301
42	Harmon Killebrew	1954–1975	1,584	2,435	2,086	573
44	Al Kaline	1953–1974	1,583	2,834	3,007	399
45	Jake Beckley	1888–1907	1,581	2,392	2,938	87
46	Willie McCovey	1959–1980	1,555	2,588	2,211	521
47	Fred McGriff	1986–2004	1,550	2,460	2,490	493
48	Willie Stargell	1962–1982	1,540	2,360	2,232	475
49	Harry Heilmann	1914–1932	1,539	2,148	2,660	183
50	Joe DiMaggio	1936–1951	1,537	1,736	2,214	361

How this list is made

Ranked on runs batted in in the regular season, 1871–2021. Players are ranked on that number alone and on nothing else: there is no judgement here about who was better. Where two are level they share a rank, and the list runs past fifty when fiftieth place is shared, because splitting a tie would mean choosing between them on no stated basis.

The Negro Leagues are not in these figures. Major League Baseball recognised the Negro Leagues as major-league in December 2020 and added their statistics to the official record in May 2024. This database does not carry them: Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Buck Leonard and Cool Papa Bell are absent from it altogether, and Satchel Paige appears only from 1948, his American League seasons. These lists are therefore not the complete official record, and that is a limit of the source rather than a judgement about who belongs on them.

Counting statistics only. A rate — an average, a percentage — needs a minimum number of appearances before it means anything, and no such minimum is published that this site could cite. Inventing one would put a number nobody chose at the centre of a ranking. A total needs no cut-off: most goals is a fact with nothing hidden in it.

Some of these careers were not over. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera played in 2021, the last season this database covers, so their totals are what they had reached by then. This site has no source for what has happened since.

Career figures from the Lahman Baseball Database via the Chadwick Bureau’s Baseball Databank, CC BY-SA 3.0. Regular season only; the post-season is not counted.

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