<P> In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher . An at bat is different from a plate appearance . A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during his turn at bat . A batter is only credited with an at bat if that plate appearance does not have one of the results enumerated below . While at bats are used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on - base percentage, and slugging percentage, a player can only qualify for the season - ending rankings in these categories if he accumulates 502 plate appearances during the season . </P> <P> Pete Rose is the all - time leader in at bats with 14,053 . Rose is also the only player in MLB history with more than 13,000 or 14,000 at bats . There are only 28 players in MLB history that have reached 10,000 career at bats, with Adrián Beltré being the only one active . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> Rank </Td> <Td> Rank amongst leaders in career at - bats . A blank field indicates a tie . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Player (2017 ABs) </Td> <Td> Number of at - bats hit during the 2017 Major League Baseball season </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> AB </Td> <Td> Total career at - bats </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> * </Th> <Td> Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Bold </Th> <Td> Denotes active player . </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who has the most at bats in mlb history