List of Major League Baseball career games played leaders
{{Short description|None}}
Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, before a game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as ex ante substitutes, whether or not they play,[http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/official_scorer_10.jsp Section 20 of the official scorer guidelines] although, in Major League Baseball, the application of this statistic does not extend to consecutive games played streaks. A starting pitcher, then, may be credited with a game played even as he is not credited with a game started or an inning pitched.
Ty Cobb was the first player to reach 3,000 games played. Cobb's record of 3,035 games played lasted for 46 seasons until Hank Aaron would break the record. Aaron's record was subsequently broken by Carl Yastrzemski in 1983 and finally broken the following season by Pete Rose, who currently holds the record for most games played at 3,562. Rickey Henderson, Eddie Murray, Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, and Cal Ripken Jr. are the only other players to play in over 3,000 career games.
As of June 1, 2025, no active players are in the top 100 for career games played. The active leader is Andrew McCutchen, 156th with 2,179.
Key
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%;"
| Rank | Rank amongst leaders in career games played. A blank field indicates a tie. |
| Player (2025 Gs) | Number of games played during the 2025 Major League Baseball season. |
| G | Total career games played. |
| scope="row" style="background-color:#ffffbb"|*
|Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. | |
|---|---|
| scope="row" style="background:#cfecec;"|Bold
|Denotes active player.A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season. |
List
File:Andrew_McCutchen,_April_2014.JPG, the active leader and 156th all-time in career games played.]]
- Stats updated as of June 1, 2025.
| class="wikitable" style="float:left;" |
| style="white-space:nowrap;"
!Rank !Player (2025 Gs) !G |
| 1
|3,562 |
| 2
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Carl Yastrzemski* |3,308 |
| 3
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Hank Aaron* |3,298 |
| 4
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Rickey Henderson* |3,081 |
| 5
|3,080 |
| 6
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ty Cobb * |3,035 |
| 7
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Eddie Murray* |3,026 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Stan Musial*
|3,026 |
| 9
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Willie Mays* |3,005 |
| 10
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Cal Ripken Jr.* |3,001 |
| 11
|2,986 |
| 12
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Dave Winfield* |2,973 |
| 13
|2,968 |
| 14
|2,951 |
| 15
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Adrián Beltré* |2,933 |
| 16
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Brooks Robinson* |2,896 |
| 17
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Robin Yount* |2,856 |
| 18
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Craig Biggio* |2,850 |
| 19
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Al Kaline* |2,834 |
| 20
|2,831 |
| 21
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Harold Baines* |2,830 |
| 22
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Eddie Collins* |2,826 |
| 23
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Reggie Jackson* |2,820 |
| 24
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Frank Robinson* |2,808 |
| 25
|2,797 |
| 26
| style="background:#ffffbb;" |Honus Wagner* |2,794 |
| 27
| style="background:#ffffbb;" |Tris Speaker* |2,789 |
| 28
|2,784 |
| 29
| style="background:#ffffbb;" |Tony Pérez* |2,777 |
| 30
| style="background:#ffffbb;" |Derek Jeter* |2,747 |
| 31
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Mel Ott* |2,730 |
| 32
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|George Brett* |2,707 |
| 33
|2,700 |
| 34
|2,687 |
| 35
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Paul Molitor* |2,683 |
| 36
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ken Griffey Jr.* |2,671 |
| 37
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Rabbit Maranville* |2,670 |
| 38
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ichiro Suzuki* |2,653 |
| 39
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Joe Morgan* |2,649 |
| 40
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Andre Dawson* |2,627 |
| 41
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Lou Brock* |2,616 |
| 42
|2,606 |
| 43
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Luis Aparicio* |2,599 |
| 44
|2,591 |
| 45
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Willie McCovey* |2,588 |
| 46
|2,586 |
| 47
|2,583 |
| 48
|2,576 |
| 49
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ozzie Smith* |2,573 |
| 50
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Paul Waner* |2,549 |
| class="wikitable" style="float:left;" |
| style="white-space: nowrap;"
!Rank !Player (2025 Gs) !G |
| 51
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Iván Rodríguez* |2,543 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Jim Thome*
|2,543 |
| 53
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ernie Banks* |2,528 |
| 54
|2,527 |
| 55
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Cap Anson* |2,524 |
| 56
|2,517 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Sam Crawford*
|2,517 |
| 58
|2,507 |
| 59
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Babe Ruth* |2,503 |
| 60
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Tim Raines* |2,502 |
| 61
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Carlton Fisk* |2,499 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Chipper Jones*
|2,499 |
| 63
|2,490 |
| 64
|2,488 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Billy Williams*
|2,488 |
| 66
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Nap Lajoie* |2,480 |
| 67
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Max Carey* |2,476 |
| 68
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Rod Carew* |2,469 |
| |Vada Pinson
|2,469 |
| 70
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Dave Parker* |2,466 |
| 71
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Fred McGriff* |2,460 |
| 72
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Ted Simmons* |2,456 |
| 73
|2,443 |
| 74
|2,442 |
| 75
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Tony Gwynn* |2,440 |
| 76
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Wade Boggs* |2,439 |
| 77
|2,436 |
| 78
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Harmon Killebrew* |2,435 |
| 79
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Roberto Clemente* |2,433 |
| 80
|2,429 |
| 81
|2,425 |
| 82
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Luke Appling* |2,422 |
| 83
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Zack Wheat* |2,410 |
| 84
|2,409 |
| 85
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|David Ortiz* |2,408 |
| 86
|2,405 |
| 87
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Sam Rice* |2,404 |
| |style="background:#ffffbb;"|Mike Schmidt*
|2,404 |
| 89
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Mickey Mantle* |2,401 |
| 90
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Jake Beckley* |2,392 |
| 91
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Eddie Mathews* |2,391 |
| 92
|2,390 |
| 93
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Bobby Wallace* |2,383 |
| 94
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Enos Slaughter* |2,380 |
| 95
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Roberto Alomar* |2,379 |
| 96
|2,372 |
| 97
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|George Davis* |2,368 |
| |Al Oliver
|2,368 |
| 99
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Nellie Fox* |2,367 |
| 100
|style="background:#ffffbb;"|Willie Stargell* |2,360 |
{{Clear}}
Notes
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
Bibliography
- [https://www.mlb.com/stats/games/all-time-totals MLB official list]
- {{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/G_career.shtml|title=Career Leaders & Records for Games Played|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}