Ozzie Smith, the all-time leader in assists by a shortstop.
In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is credited to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also credited if a putout would have occurred, had another fielder not committed an error. For example, a shortstop might field a ground ball cleanly, but the first baseman might drop his throw. In this case, an error would be charged to the first baseman, and the shortstop would be credited with an assist.
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. The position is mostly filled by defensive specialists, so shortstops are generally relatively poor batters who bat later in the batting order, with some exceptions. In the numbering system used by scorers to record defensive plays, the shortstop is assigned the number 6.
Ozzie Smith is the all-time leader in career assists as a shortstop with 8,375. Luis Aparicio (8,016) is the only other shortstop to record more than 8,000 career assists.
Key
List
Elvis Andrus, the active leader in assists by a shortstop and 52nd all-time.
- Stats updated as of the end of the 2021 season.
Rank
|
Player (2021 As)
|
A as SS
|
1
|
Ozzie Smith *
|
8,375
|
2
|
Luis Aparicio *
|
8,016
|
3
|
Omar Vizquel
|
7,676
|
4
|
Bill Dahlen
|
7,505
|
5
|
Rabbit Maranville *
|
7,354
|
6
|
Luke Appling *
|
7,218
|
7
|
Tommy Corcoran
|
7,123
|
8
|
Cal Ripken Jr. *
|
6,977
|
9
|
Larry Bowa
|
6,857
|
10
|
Derek Jeter *
|
6,605
|
11
|
Dave Concepción
|
6,594
|
12
|
Dave Bancroft *
|
6,561
|
13
|
Roger Peckinpaugh
|
6,337
|
14
|
Bobby Wallace *
|
6,303
|
15
|
Don Kessinger
|
6,212
|
16
|
Roy McMillan
|
6,191
|
17
|
Alan Trammell *
|
6,172
|
18
|
Germany Smith
|
6,166
|
19
|
Bert Campaneris
|
6,160
|
20
|
Jimmy Rollins
|
6,139
|
21
|
Herman Long
|
6,137
|
22
|
Donie Bush
|
6,119
|
23
|
Garry Templeton
|
6,041
|
|
Honus Wagner *
|
6,041
|
25
|
Royce Clayton
|
5,902
|
26
|
Pee Wee Reese *
|
5,891
|
27
|
Barry Larkin *
|
5,858
|
28
|
Joe Tinker *
|
5,856
|
29
|
Joe Cronin *
|
5,814
|
30
|
Dick Groat
|
5,811
|
31
|
Miguel Tejada
|
5,804
|
32
|
Mark Belanger
|
5,786
|
33
|
Chris Speier
|
5,781
|
34
|
Édgar Rentería
|
5,701
|
35
|
Jack Glasscock
|
5,632
|
36
|
Dick Bartell
|
5,590
|
37
|
Bill Russell
|
5,546
|
38
|
Ed Brinkman
|
5,466
|
39
|
Monte Cross
|
5,375
|
40
|
Ozzie Guillén
|
5,335
|
41
|
Leo Cárdenas
|
5,303
|
42
|
Mickey Doolin
|
5,290
|
43
|
George McBride
|
5,274
|
44
|
Alfredo Griffin
|
5,186
|
45
|
Art Fletcher
|
5,134
|
46
|
Orlando Cabrera
|
5,097
|
47
|
Everett Scott
|
5,053
|
48
|
Billy Jurges
|
4,959
|
49
|
Greg Gagne
|
4,930
|
50
|
Ed McKean
|
4,854
|
Rank
|
Player (2021 As)
|
A as SS
|
51
|
Marty Marion
|
4,829
|
52
|
Elvis Andrus (338)
|
4,824
|
53
|
Tim Foli
|
4,804
|
|
Maury Wills
|
4,804
|
55
|
George Davis *
|
4,794
|
|
Robin Yount *
|
4,794
|
57
|
Freddie Patek
|
4,786
|
58
|
Arky Vaughan *
|
4,780
|
59
|
Lou Boudreau *
|
4,760
|
60
|
Rafael Furcal
|
4,678
|
61
|
Phil Rizzuto *
|
4,666
|
62
|
Travis Jackson *
|
4,636
|
63
|
Jay Bell
|
4,595
|
64
|
Tony Fernández
|
4,511
|
65
|
Eddie Miller
|
4,500
|
66
|
Frankie Crosetti
|
4,484
|
67
|
Leo Durocher *
|
4,431
|
68
|
Mike Bordick
|
4,410
|
69
|
Johnny Logan
|
4,397
|
70
|
José Reyes
|
4,363
|
71
|
J. J. Hardy
|
4,340
|
72
|
Bucky Dent
|
4,332
|
73
|
Bones Ely
|
4,328
|
74
|
Wally Gerber
|
4,319
|
75
|
Álex González
|
4,271
|
76
|
Jim Fregosi
|
4,169
|
77
|
Alvin Dark
|
4,168
|
78
|
Vern Stephens
|
4,150
|
79
|
Jhonny Peralta
|
4,123
|
80
|
Jack Wilson
|
4,059
|
81
|
Iván DeJesús
|
4,036
|
82
|
Walt Weiss
|
4,007
|
83
|
Rafael Ramírez
|
3,978
|
84
|
Bud Harrelson
|
3,975
|
85
|
Joe Sewell *
|
3,933
|
86
|
Troy Tulowitzki
|
3,889
|
87
|
Billy Rogell
|
3,886
|
88
|
Dick Schofield
|
3,873
|
89
|
Rick Burleson
|
3,871
|
90
|
Brandon Crawford (340)
|
3,856
|
91
|
Eddie Joost
|
3,844
|
92
|
Alcides Escobar (121)
|
3,829
|
93
|
Spike Owen
|
3,814
|
94
|
Freddy Parent
|
3,788
|
95
|
Shawon Dunston
|
3,731
|
96
|
Zoilo Versalles
|
3,645
|
97
|
Doc Lavan
|
3,628
|
98
|
Chico Carrasquel
|
3,619
|
99
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
3,605
|
100
|
José Valentín
|
3,565
|
|
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Batting leaders | Career | |
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Baserunning leaders | |
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Pitching leaders | Career | |
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Misc | |
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Fielding leaders | |
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Sabermetrics leaders | |
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Managing records | |
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Multiple stat records | |
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Other | |
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