List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders

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Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders (short version)

On-base percentage (OBP) measures how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder’s choice, dropped third strike, obstruction, or catcher’s interference. It’s calculated using hits, walks, and times hit by pitch, divided by at-bats, walks, times hit by pitch, and sacrifice flies.

All-time leaders
- Ted Williams — .4817 career OBP (the highest in MLB history). Williams played 19 seasons for the Boston Red Sox and led the American League in OBP in 12 seasons, the most in the majors.
- Babe Ruth — .4739
- John McGraw — .4657
- Billy Hamilton — .4552
- Oscar Charleston — .4487
- Lou Gehrig — .4474
- Barry Bonds — .4443
- Jud Wilson — .4351
- Bill Joyce — .4349
- Rogers Hornsby — .4337

Notes and context
- Only about 61 players with at least 3,000 career plate appearances have a career OBP of .400 or higher.
- Ted Williams holds the all-time career OBP record. Barry Bonds later set the single-season OBP record at .6094 in 2004, breaking Williams’ previous mark of .5528 from 1941.
- Juan Soto is the current active leader on the list and, as of 2025, ranks 23rd all-time with a career OBP of .4170. Mike Trout is another active player on the list, ranking 49th with a career OBP of .4065.
- The list covers players through the end of the 2025 season.

Bottom line: OBP highlights how often players reach base. Ted Williams leads all time, and the era-spanning list includes many of baseball’s greatest hitters, from early stars to modern stars like Soto and Trout.