Baseball Wiki
Register
Advertisement

In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by striking the ball and getting to first before being made out, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice.

Singles are not usually tabulated separately in a player's records, although a player's total number of singles can easily be determined by subtracting doubles, triples and home runs from hits.

Singles Leaders[]

Career Leaders[]

  1. Pete Rose - 3215
  2. Ty Cobb - 3053
  3. Eddie Collins - 2643
  4. Cap Anson - 2598
  5. Willie Keeler - 2513
  6. Honus Wagner - 2422
  7. Rod Carew - 2404
  8. Tris Speaker - 2383
  9. Tony Gwynn - 2378
  10. Paul Molitor - 2366

Single Season[]

Up until 2001, the single season records for singles were dominated by players and seasons from the 1890's. The current single season record holder is Ichiro Suzuki who hit 225 singles in 2004. The record had stood for almost 100 years after Willie Keeler hit 206 singles in 1898.

  1. Ichiro Suzuki - 225 2004)
  2. Willie Keeler - 206 (1898)
  3. Ichiro Suzuki - 203 (2007)
  4. Lloyd Waner - 198 (1927)
  5. Willie Keeler - 193 (1897)

Types of Singles[]

There are several sub-types of singles:

  • An Infield Single is a single where the ball was fielded cleanly on the infield but the batter was safe at first regardless.
  • A Bloop Single is a single where a lightly hit fly ball lands between the infielders and the outfielders.
  • A Bunt Single is a single where the batter bunted the ball, typically as a drag bunt rather than a sacrifice bunt.
Advertisement