Most Career GIDP by a Leadoff Hitter Since 1957

It's harder for the players occupying the first spot in a team's batting order to ground into a double play than anybody else. Logically this makes sense since at least once a game it is impossible for them to do it. Also, the leadoff man in a given batting order usually tends to be fast so it seems harder for the opposing team to turn a double play with him running to first. Even so, leadoff hitters still ground into double plays sometimes and, if they play enough, also can end up with some pretty high career GIDP totals.

The Baseball-Reference Play Index lets us look up all the double plays since 1957 that have been started by the hitter occupying his team's #1 spot in the lineup so it comes down to counting names. I've listed the players with 50 or more GIDP while in the leadoff spot with their number of career plate appearances batting first next to it. While it doesn't tell us much about their ability to avoid/ground into double plays, the plate appearances column does let us know how long it took a player to reach his career total; someone with a high total PA relative to the players around him might indicate someone with above-average luck (or teammates with low on-base skills). To help show that the last column is the number of plate appearances per GIDP.

Most Career GIDP While in the Leadoff Spot Since 1957

Rank	Name	GIDP	PA in Leadoff Spot	PA/GIDP
1	Rickey Henderson	171	13122	76.7
2	Pete Rose	158	10710	67.8
3	Eric Young	110	5748	52.3
4	Paul Molitor	103	7291	70.8
5	Shannon Stewart	92	5396	58.7
6	Kenny Lofton	88	7929	90.1
7	Chuck Knoblauch	87	5964	68.6
	Tony Taylor	87	5421	62.3
9	Luis Aparicio	86	5740	66.7
10	Tony Phillips	84	6489	77.3
11	Steve Sax	83	5028	60.6
	Wade Boggs	83	4361	52.5
13	Lou Brock	81	8653	106.8
14	Willie Randolph	78	4059	52.0
15	Tim Raines	76	6514	85.7
	Davey Lopes	76	4710	62.0
17	Maury Wills	74	6900	93.2
18	Ron LeFlore	72	4756	66.1
	Luis Polonia	72	4493	62.4
20	Horace Clarke	71	4679	65.9
21	Craig Biggio	70	7297	104.2
22	Bert Campaneris	68	6571	96.6
23	Al Bumbry	67	5177	77.3
24	Dave Cash	65	4415	67.9
25	Otis Nixon	63	5078	80.6
	Rick Burleson	63	2772	44.0
27	Dan Gladden	62	3662	59.1
28	David Eckstein	60	3942	65.7
29	Willie Wilson	59	6350	107.6
30	Don Kessinger	56	5276	94.2
31	Brett Butler	55	8432	153.3
	Pat Kelly	55	2909	52.9
33	Johnny Damon	54	6553	121.4
34	Marquis Grissom	53	3471	65.5
35	Fernando Vina	52	4040	77.7
	Luis Castillo	52	3980	76.5
37	Tommy Harper	51	5238	102.7
	Lou Whitaker	51	4268	83.7
39	Rafael Furcal	50	4680	93.6

The bolded players are still active. Brett Butler and Johnny Damon seem to be better than average at avoiding double plays; I'm not sure if it's because they don't have many career plate appearances in double play situations or if it's because they really are/were skilled at avoiding ground balls in those situations.