There have been 65 players in MLB history that have racked up at least 2,700 hits. 3,000 hits has been a magic benchmark, but to get 2,700 hits – if you’re not in the Hall of Fame – you’re just one notch below.
So who are the members of the 2,700 hit club that aren’t in the Hall?
Here they are including still active players.
65 – Doc Cramer. Doc played 20 seasons in the majors from 1929-48 with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, and Detroit Tigers. During his career – he had 2,705 hits and a .296 career batting average. The Center Fielder made made 5 All-Star teams, had three 200 hit seasons, led the American League in hits in 1940, led the American League in at-bats 7 times, led the American League in singles 5 times, and was the hardest man to strike out in the American League 4 times. The closest he came to the Hall was in 1964 when he received 6% of the vote.
63 – Dave Parker. Dave played 19 MLB seasons (1973-91) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland A’s, Milwaukee Brewers, and California Angels. He had 2,712 career hits, a .290 career batting average and 339 home runs. The closest he came to the HOF was in 1998 when he received 24.5% of the vote. Dave was a 7-time All-Star, won two batting titles, three Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, and was the 1978 National League MVP when he hit .334 with 30 HR, 117 RBI’s and won a Gold Glove. His 1,493 RBI’s is 54th in MLB history.
62 – Bill Buckner. We all know Bill. He was much, much more than the Goat of Game 6. He was an outstanding Major Leaguer that played 22 seasons (1969-90) with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals. He collected 2,715 hits during his career with a career .289 batting average. He won a batting crown with the Cubs in 1980. He led the National League in doubles twice. He made one All-Star team. He was the hardest man to strike out in the National League twice and two more times in the American League. The closest he came to the Hall was in 1996 when he received 2.1% of the vote.
61 – Rusty Staub. Our Rusty played 23 seasons (1963-85) with the Houston Colt 45’s/Astros, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He collected 2,716 career hits and was a .279 career hitter. The closest he came to the HOF was 1994 with 7.9% of the vote. Rusty was a six time All-Star and led the National League in doubles in 1967. He also led the National League in outfield assists 4 times.
58 – Chipper Jones. Chipper generated 2,726 hits and a .303 batting average during his 19 year career (1993, 1995-2012) with the Atlanta Braves. He’ll get into the Hall when he’s eligible.
55 – Al Oliver. Al played 18 years in the Majors (1968-95) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Toronto Blue Jays. He collected 2,743 career hits with a .303 career batting average. In addition to winning the batting crown with the Expos in 1982, he also led the National League in hits, doubles, and RBI’s that season. Al was a 7-time All-Star and won 3 Silver Sluggers. The closest he came to the HOF was in 1991 when he received 4.3% of the vote.
53 – Vada Pinson. Vada played 18 MLB seasons (1958-75) with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals. He collected 2,757 hits with a .286 career batting average. He was a 3-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove in 1961, led the National League in Runs in 1959, led the National League in hits twice, had four 200-hit seasons, led the National League in triples twice, and led the National League in doubles twice. The closest he came to the HOF was in 1988 with 15.7% of the vote.
52 – Johnny Damon. Damon will be an interesting case as to how close he’ll get the the Hall when he’s eligible. I personally don’t think he’ll get in. He played 18 MLB seasons (1995-2012) with the Kansas City Royals, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, and Cleveland Indians. He collected 2,769 hits with a career .284 batting average. Johnny made two All-Star teams, in 2000 he led the American League in runs scored and stolen bases. He also led the American League in Triples in 2002.
50 – Ken Griffey, Jr. Junior played 22 seasons (1989-2010) with the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox and will be in the Big Room of the HOF when he’s eligible. He had 2,781 hits and a .284 batting average in his career. He was the 1997 MVP when he led the American League in HR, RBI, runs, and Slugging. Griffey was a 13-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, and won 7 Silver Slugger awards. His 630 career Home Runs is 6th on the all time list.
46t – Ivan Rodriguez. Pudge played 21 MLB seasons (1991-2011) with the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Washington Nationals. He had 2,844 hits with a .296 batting average. He was the 1999 American League MVP when he hit .332 with 35 HR, 113 RBI while winning a Gold Glove. He was a 14-time All-Star, won 13 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Sluggers, and is 1st on the all time career list of games played as a Catcher. Were it not for PED suspicions, Rodriguez’s place in the HOF wouldn’t even be in question. We’ll see what happens when he’s eligible.
46t – Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro has 2,844 base hits in his 14 year MLB career with the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. The surefire Hall of Famer has a career .317 batting average and had 200+ hits during the first 10 seasons of his career including a MLB record 262 hits during the 2004 season. He is a 10 time All-Star, the 2001 American League MVP, the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year, won 10 straight Gold Gloves, 3 time Silver Slugger and 2 time Batting Champion.
43 – Harold Baines. He played for 22 years (1980-2001) with the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians. A Designated Hitter and Right Fielder for most of his career, Harold earned 2,866 hits with a .289 career batting average. The closest he ever came to the Hall was in 2010 when he earned 6.1% of the vote. He was a 6-time All-Star, won a Silver Slugger in 1989, and led the American League in Slugging in 1984.
40 – Omar Vizquel. Omar played 24 MLB seasons (1989-2012) with the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. He collected 2,877 hits with a .272 career batting average and was one of the greatest defensive Shortstops of all time. Omar was a 3-time All-Star and earned 11 Gold Gloves, including in 2006 during his age 39 season as a member of the Giants. His 2,709 games as a Shortstop is 1st All-Time and is 1,734 Double Plays turned as a SS is 1st All-Time. If Omar doesn’t get into the HOF – something is wrong with the voting.
33 – Barry Bonds. Barry played 22 MLB seasons (1986-2007) with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He has 2,935 hits and a .298 career batting average to his name. The 7-time National League MVP has been locked out of the HOF. His 762 Home Runs is 1st all time, as is his 2,558 walks and 688 intentional walks. He led the majors in home runs twice, including his MLB record 73 in 2001. He was a 14-time All-Star, won 8 Gold Gloves, 12 Silver Sluggers, won two National League Batting Crowns, and led the National League in OBP 10 times. The closest he’s come to the Hall was in 2013 with 36.2% of the vote. With his tainted PED career, the only way he may get into Cooperstown is as a paying patron.
32 – Alex Rodriguez. How many more hits Alex will collect when he returns from a year long PED suspension remains to be seen. As of now, he has played 20 MLB seasons (1994-2013) with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. He currently has 2,939 hits and a .299 career batting average. He is a 3-time American League MVP, 14 time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove winner, and 10-time Silver Slugger. He won a batting crown in 1996, led the AL in slugging four times, led the AL in runs scored 5 times, led the AL in hits in 1998, led the AL in home runs 5 times, led the AL in RBI’s twice, had three 200 hit seasons, scored 100+ runs 13 straight seasons, and 13 straight seasons of 100 RBI’s. He is 6th on the all-time RBI list and his 654 career home runs is 5th in MLB history. Despite this resume, he’ll likely be locked out of Cooperstown as well.
24 – Rafael Palmeiro. Rafael played 20 MLB seasons (1986-2005) with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles. Rafael is a member of the 500 HR club and 3,000 hit club and has 3,020 career hits with a .288 batting average and his 569 career home runs is 12th all time. He has the numbers to be in the HOF, but with his PED history – he never achieved more than 12.6% of the vote in 2012 and was dropped from consideration after the 2014 vote after failing to earn 5% of the vote. Rafael was a 4-time All Star, won 3 Gold Gloves, 2 Silver Sluggers, led the American League in runs scored in 1993, and led the American League in hits in 1990.
20 – Craig Biggio. Craig played 20 years (1988-2007) with the Houston Astros. He has 3,060 career hits and has a .281 career batting average. He just narrowly missed being voted into the HOF in 2014 with 74.8% of the vote and will get in. Craig was a 7 time All-Star, won 4 Gold Gloves, won 5 Silver Sluggers, led the National League in runs scored twice, led the National League in Doubles 3 times, led the NL in hit by pitches 5 times, and led the National League in stolen bases in 1994. He was hit by 285 pitches in his MLB career (2nd all time).
6 – Derek Jeter. Derek ended his career 6th on the All-time Hit list, collecting 3,465 hits in his 20 year career (1995-2014). The future HOF’er ended with a career .310 batting average, was the 1996 Rookie of the Year, is a 14 time All-Star, 5 time Gold Glove winner, and has won 5 Silver Sluggers.
1 – Pete Rose. The All Time Hit King belongs in the Hall of Fame. Pete played 24 seasons (1963-86) with the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Montreal Expos. His 4,256 hits is first all time to go with a .303 career batting average. He was the 1973 National League MVP, a 17-time All-Star, won 2 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger, won 3 Batting Crowns, has played more games in MLB history (3,562) than anyone else, led the NL in hits 7 times, led the NL in runs scored 4 times, led the NL in doubles 4 times, is 2nd on the career doubles list (746), and had ten 200+ hit seasons.
