Chasing Rickey Henderson's MLB record for most runs scored

Starr Cards Infographic: Chasing Rickey Henderson’s MLB record for most runs scored

Most reasonably-seasoned baseball fans can recite the career MLB leaders in home runs (Barry Bonds), RBIs (Hank Aaron) and hits (Pete Rose), but far fewer can conjure the reigning runs scored record holder.

RICKEY HENDERSON: THE RUNS KING

On October 4, 2001, Padres outfielder Rickey Henderson passed Ty Cobb, to become the new all-time runs scored leader at 2247. He would finish his career having made a staggering 2295 trips around the bases.

MLB RUNS SCORED LEADERS

Rickey Henderson, 2295 Runs — 100%

Ty Cobb, 2246 Runs — 97.9%

Barry Bonds, 2227 Runs — 97%

Hank Aaron, 2174 Runs — 94.7%

Babe Ruth, 2174 Runs — 94.7%

Pete Rose, 2165 Runs — 94.3%

Willie Mays, 2062 Runs — 89.8%

Alex Rodriguez, 2021 Runs — 87.8%

Cap Anson, 1999 Runs — 87.1%

Stan Musial, 1949 Runs — 84.9%

Derek Jeter, 1923 Runs — 83.8%

Lou Gehrig, 1888 Runs — 82.3%

Tris Speaker, 1882 Runs — 82%

Mel Ott, 1859 Runs — 81%

Craig Biggio, 1844 Runs — 80.3%

Frank Robinson, 1829 Runs — 79.7%

Eddie Collins, 1821 Runs — 79.3%

Carl Yastrzemski, 1816 Runs — 79.1%

Ted Williams, 1798 Runs — 78.3%

Paul Molitor, 1782 Runs — 77.6%

Unsurprisingly, the top two run scorers were both tenacious runners on the base path — Henderson also sits atop the career stolen bases leaderboard with 1406. As for challengers to his runs record, the only active player in the all-time top fifty is Albert Pujols, who sits number 25 with 1723 runs at the completion of the 2017 season.