Best Second Basemen in MLB History

All-Time Leaders by Games Played at Second Base

Second base demands a rare combination of offensive skill and defensive excellence. The greatest second basemen in history could turn double plays while also contributing at the plate. This leaderboard ranks all players who have appeared at second base in Major League Baseball from 1871 through 2026 by total career games at the position. Eddie Collins leads all second basemen with 2648 career games at the position.

ALL-TIME TOP 3

#1

Second Base

Eddie Collins

2648 games at 2B

1906-1930

47 career HR

#2

Second Base

Joe Morgan

2526 games at 2B

1963-1984

268 career HR

#3

Second Base

Roberto Alomar

2320 games at 2B

1988-2004

210 career HR

Top 10 at Second Base

By career games played at this position. Click a bar to view the player.

FULL RANKINGS – TOP 100

Best Second Basemen in MLB History — FULL RANKINGS – TOP 100
Rank Player Games at 2B Years Active Career G H HR AVG
1 Eddie Collins 2648 1906-1930 2826 3315 47 0.333
2 Joe Morgan 2526 1963-1984 2649 2517 268 0.271
3 Roberto Alomar 2320 1988-2004 2379 2724 210 0.300
4 Lou Whitaker 2306 1977-1995 2390 2369 244 0.276
5 Nellie Fox 2295 1947-1965 2367 2663 35 0.288
6 Charlie Gehringer 2205 1924-1942 2323 2839 184 0.320
7 Robinson Cano 2178 2005-2022 2267 2639 335 0.301
8 Willie Randolph 2153 1975-1992 2202 2210 54 0.276
9 Frank White 2153 1973-1990 2324 2006 160 0.255
10 Bid McPhee 2129 1882-1899 2138 2258 53 0.272
11 Bill Mazeroski 2094 1956-1972 2163 2016 138 0.260
12 Nap Lajoie 2036 1896-1916 2480 3243 82 0.338
13 Jeff Kent 2034 1992-2008 2298 2461 377 0.290
14 Ryne Sandberg 1994 1981-1997 2164 2386 282 0.285
15 Craig Biggio 1989 1988-2007 2850 3060 291 0.281
16 Bobby Doerr 1852 1937-1951 1865 2042 223 0.288
17 Ray Durham 1843 1995-2008 1975 2054 192 0.277
18 Red Schoendienst 1833 1945-1963 2216 2449 84 0.289
19 Jose Altuve 1831 2011-2026 2110 2519 271 0.300
20 Brandon Phillips 1831 2002-2018 1902 2029 211 0.275
21 Ian Kinsler 1828 2006-2019 1888 1999 257 0.269
22 Billy Herman 1812 1931-1947 1922 2345 47 0.304
23 Bobby Grich 1768 1970-1986 2008 1833 224 0.266
24 Bret Boone 1763 1992-2005 1780 1775 252 0.266
25 Frankie Frisch 1761 1919-1937 2311 2880 105 0.316
26 Chase Utley 1743 2003-2018 1937 1885 259 0.275
27 Johnny Evers 1734 1902-1929 1784 1659 12 0.270
28 Larry Doyle 1728 1907-1920 1766 1887 74 0.290
29 Del Pratt 1685 1912-1924 1836 1996 43 0.292
30 Luis Castillo 1683 1996-2010 1720 1889 28 0.290
31 Steve Sax 1679 1981-1994 1769 1949 54 0.281
32 Kid Gleason 1583 1888-1912 1968 1946 15 0.261
33 Rogers Hornsby 1554 1915-1937 2259 2930 301 0.358
34 Julian Javier 1552 1960-1972 1622 1469 78 0.257
35 Fred Pfeffer 1538 1882-1897 1671 1680 94 0.256
36 Miller Huggins 1532 1904-1916 1586 1474 9 0.265
37 Manny Trillo 1520 1973-1989 1780 1562 61 0.263
38 Frank Bolling 1518 1954-1966 1540 1415 106 0.254
39 Joe Gordon 1518 1938-1950 1566 1530 253 0.268
40 Tony Taylor 1498 1958-1976 2195 2007 75 0.261
41 Dustin Pedroia 1492 2006-2019 1512 1805 140 0.299
42 George Cutshaw 1484 1912-1923 1516 1487 25 0.265
43 Claude Ritchey 1480 1897-1909 1672 1619 18 0.273
44 Tony Lazzeri 1457 1926-1939 1740 1840 178 0.292
45 Cupid Childs 1455 1888-1901 1457 1721 20 0.306
46 Hughie Critz 1452 1924-1935 1478 1591 38 0.268
47 Felix Millan 1450 1966-1977 1480 1617 22 0.279
48 Jim Gantner 1449 1976-1992 1801 1696 47 0.274
49 Cookie Rojas 1444 1962-1977 1822 1660 54 0.263
50 Davey Lopes 1418 1972-1987 1812 1671 155 0.263
51 Tom Herr 1416 1979-1991 1514 1450 28 0.271
52 Delino DeShields 1392 1990-2002 1615 1548 80 0.268
53 Chuck Knoblauch 1380 1991-2002 1632 1839 98 0.289
54 Lou Bierbauer 1366 1886-1898 1385 1524 34 0.267
55 Mark Ellis 1364 2002-2014 1435 1343 105 0.262
56 Bill Doran 1359 1982-1993 1453 1366 84 0.266
57 Adam Kennedy 1347 1999-2012 1691 1488 80 0.272
58 Buddy Myer 1341 1925-1941 1923 2131 38 0.303
59 Harold Reynolds 1339 1983-1994 1374 1233 21 0.258
60 Bobby Richardson 1338 1955-1966 1412 1432 34 0.266
61 Glenn Hubbard 1332 1978-1989 1354 1084 70 0.244
62 Dave Cash 1330 1969-1980 1422 1571 21 0.283
63 Bobby Lowe 1317 1890-1907 1821 1934 71 0.273
64 Oscar Melillo 1317 1926-1937 1377 1316 22 0.260
65 Don Blasingame 1310 1955-1966 1444 1366 21 0.258
66 Johnny Temple 1309 1952-1964 1420 1484 22 0.284
67 Joe Quinn 1307 1884-1901 1772 1804 30 0.262
68 Brian Roberts 1304 2001-2014 1418 1527 97 0.276
69 Eric Young 1295 1992-2006 1730 1731 79 0.283
70 Ted Sizemore 1284 1969-1980 1411 1311 23 0.262
71 Dan Uggla 1283 2006-2015 1346 1149 235 0.241
72 Orlando Hudson 1279 2002-2012 1345 1319 93 0.273
73 Robby Thompson 1278 1986-1996 1304 1187 119 0.257
74 Johnny Ray 1277 1981-1990 1353 1502 53 0.290
75 Tito Fuentes 1272 1965-1978 1499 1491 45 0.268
76 Ron Hunt 1256 1963-1974 1483 1429 39 0.273
77 Bucky Harris 1252 1919-1931 1263 1297 9 0.274
78 Mickey Morandini 1245 1990-2000 1298 1222 32 0.268
79 Otto Knabe 1240 1905-1916 1278 1103 8 0.247
80 Glenn Beckert 1239 1965-1975 1320 1473 22 0.283
81 Max Bishop 1231 1924-1935 1338 1216 41 0.271
82 Aaron Hill 1210 2005-2017 1559 1501 162 0.266
83 Bill Wambsganss 1209 1914-1926 1491 1359 7 0.259
84 Tony Cuccinello 1208 1930-1945 1704 1729 94 0.280
85 Davey Johnson 1198 1965-1978 1435 1252 136 0.261
86 Mark McLemore 1197 1986-2004 1832 1602 53 0.259
87 Ronnie Belliard 1190 1998-2010 1484 1377 114 0.273
88 Juan Samuel 1190 1983-1998 1720 1578 161 0.259
89 Howie Kendrick 1183 2006-2020 1621 1747 127 0.294
90 DJ LeMahieu 1182 2011-2025 1673 1772 126 0.289
91 Jerry Priddy 1177 1941-1953 1296 1252 61 0.265
92 Jimmy Williams 1177 1899-1909 1457 1508 49 0.275
93 Ron Oester 1172 1978-1990 1276 1118 42 0.265
94 Damion Easley 1171 1992-2008 1706 1386 163 0.253
95 Bobby Avila 1168 1949-1959 1300 1296 80 0.281
96 Jim Gilliam 1162 1953-1966 2094 2021 65 0.266
97 Dick Green 1159 1963-1974 1288 960 80 0.240
98 Sandy Alomar 1153 1964-1978 1481 1168 13 0.245
99 Eddie Stanky 1152 1943-1953 1259 1154 29 0.268
100 Cub Stricker 1145 1882-1893 1196 1106 12 0.239

Reading the second base games leaderboard

Eddie Collins leads with 2648 games at second base, out of 2826 career games. The list runs 100 deep; the last spot belongs to Cub Stricker with 1145 games. The rows stretch from Bid McPhee, active 1882-1899, to Jose Altuve, active 2011-2026. The highest batting average in the top 25 is 0.338, by Nap Lajoie. For power, Jeff Kent leads the top 25 with 377 home runs. Some of the leaders spent nearly all of their careers at second base, among them Eddie Collins, Joe Morgan, Roberto Alomar, and Lou Whitaker. The ranking counts games played at second base only, not a player's whole career, which is why career games are shown alongside.

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RELATED LEADERBOARDS

Career Home Runs → Career Batting Average → Single-Season HR → PIV Career Leaders → Career RBI → Career ERA →

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who has played the most games as a Second Base in MLB history?

Eddie Collins holds the all-time record with 2648 games played at Second Base during a career spanning 1906-1930. Joe Morgan (2526) and Roberto Alomar (2320) rank second and third all-time.

What makes a great second baseman in baseball?

Great second basemen combine reliable defense with offensive versatility. Key defensive skills include turning double plays and covering the bag on stolen base attempts. Offensively, second basemen often emphasize contact and on-base percentage.

How far back does this historical data go?

Baseball Data Hub covers Major League Baseball history from 1871 through 2026, drawing on the Lahman Baseball Database and supplemental data sources. This includes the National League (founded 1876), American League (founded 1901), and other recognized major leagues. Negro Leagues statistics are tracked and reported separately.

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