Look for your favorite MLB slugger in this impressive list of baseball's top 500 career batting leaders. The fact that Carter and Fisk were elected and Simmons lasted just one year on the ballot is just wrong. Kuenn won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1953, then led all shortstops in putouts and assists the following year. Top 3 Seaons. Richardson played just 12 years in the major leagues, appearing in the World Series in seven of them. generally a low batting average used to be a bad thing and the only way to make the hall as a sub 300 hitter used to be hitting 500+ home runs (killebrew). That came 10 years after he clubbed 51 for the Giants in 1955, the longest stretch between 50-homer seasons for any player. 300 career average used to be an important part of an Hall of fame career. !rogermaris.com, Maris' career batting average was .260, which is minuscule compared to other greats like Hank Aaron and Ted Williams who both surpassed .300, that number being considered to be the gold standard for a hitter. For the kind of player Raines was, that should not keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Despite his 119-121 record, Vander Meer consistently received over 20 percent of the votes in Hall of Fame balloting throughout hiseligibility. He scored over 100 runs in seven straight season and topped 100 RBI in five of those years. A sturdy third sacker, listed at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds during his playing career, Rolen - just the ninth third basemen elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA - played 17 seasons from 1996 through 2012, splitting his time between the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds. His .948 OPS ranks 21st all time. Miguel Cabrera leads a group comfortably over .300 Negro League data is not complete. He led the league in the category five times, including 1919 and 1920 when he registered WHIPs below 1.000. He went 208-126 with a 2.92 ERA and twice led the league in complete games, shutouts and saves. Suttles earned five All-Star nods as part of a 23-year Hall of Fame . Evans averaged just 18 home runs a season between 1976 and 1984. Ryne Sandberg : in his first year of eligibility in 2003 received 49.2% of the vote and gets enshrined in 2005 in his third year on the ballot receiving 76.2 . From age 26 to 28, DiMaggio served during World War II, losing three peak seasons serving overseas as many players of his era did. Note: Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after they retire. now in the modern age batting average is deemed pretty meaningless by Saber metrics. While he never reached those heights again, Guidry had four top-five Cy Young finishes, made four All-Star games and won five straight Gold Gloves in the 1980s. The list includes everyone from John Kruk, a 10-year veteran who hit .302, to Tigers legend Ty Cobb, who hit an MLB-record .366. Sain was robbed of three prime years when he served in World War II, contributing to a short peak as a star pitcher. Blue never did reach those heights again, but he still made six All-Star games and received Cy Young votes in five seasons. Pujols will obviously make the Hall of Fame one day, but right now the biggest question is if he reached the top 10 for most hits ever. According to not in WC! However, Smith does have a case that puts him in the Hall of Fame discussion. Ryan authored his sixth no-hitter in 1990 and followed with his seventh a year later at the age of 44. For James Laurie "Deacon" White, the journey took 123 years. Considered one of the top dead-ball era players not in the Hall of Fame, Daubert was an excellent all-around players for the Brooklyn Superbas and Cincinnati Reds in the early 20th century. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. Travis played in just 226 games after returning from the war, though, batting just .241 over that time. Garvey was a remarkably consistent and clutch performer for the great Dodgers teams for over a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. He received MVP votes seven times, finishing second in 1987. He got moderate support for his Hall of Fame candidacy, peaking in 1988 when he finished fifth in the voting with 43.1 percent, better than Hall of Famers Ron Santo and Bill Mazeroski. The 3,000-hit club is the group of 33 batters who have collected 3,000 or more regular-season hits in their careers in Major League Baseball (MLB), achieving a milestone "long considered the greatest measure of superior bat handling" and often described as a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.. Cap Anson was the first to do so, although his precise career hit total is . If in doubt, leave it out. The very worst position player ever selected to the Hall of Fame was Tommy McCarthy, a 19th-century outfielder. Murphy was hurt by a severe drop-off in production after the age of 31. He finished fourth in the MVP voting that year behind Hall of Famers Paul Waner, Frankie Frisch and Rogers Hornsby. It is not quite a three-hour drive from Caton to Cooperstown. He also didn't thrive in the postseason, going 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in four games. Like Allen, Freehan played during baseball's second dead-ball period in the 1960s, causing his offensive statistics to be hindered. Its taken him a bit to reach both the magic numbers of 3,000 and 500, but he seems determined to get there. The others are Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax. Pierce is a tremendously underrated pitcher who hurled mostly for the White Sox over an 18-year, post-WWII career. A-Rods unpopularity with the public and his suspensions for PED use means hell likely require a ticket to visit Cooperstown for the forseeable future. But others are there for good. From 1988 to 1993, he batted .234 and averaged just 15 homers a season. There just is no way to pick and choose who definitely did use steroids, who didn't and just what kind of impact they had on their play. Through the 1988 season, it looked like Hershiser was on his way to a truly elite pitching career. At the time of his retirement, Williams was the National League's all-time home run leader with 251. Garvey was even better in the postseason, holding a .338 average and 11 home runs in 55 games. Before that, O'Doul had some great seasons as a left fielder after being converted from a pitcher at the age of 31. However, once Hershiser reached the age of 30, health issues set in and curtailed what could have been a Hall of Fame career. 7) Ken Griffey Jr.: 630 500th HR: June 20, 2004 The highest batting average for an ELIGIBLE player is Lefty O'Doul, 6th place overall, at .3493. His 385 career home runs are the 10th-highest total for any American League right-handed batter. HR Rank All Time. He led the National League in batting in 1890 and was credited with being among the first shortstops to give defensive signals and backup second base on throws. He received 11 and 12 percent of the Hall of Fame votes thus far in his candidacy. The Worst Starts To Hall Of Fame Careers. He had more votes than players like Ralph Kiner, Chuck Klein, Lefty Grove and Lloyd Waner. There's a legitimate case for him to garner support on the Hall of Fame ballot. Everybody concentrates on Gooden's squandered talent, and rightly so. First, a player had to play a majority of their games in the 1900s. Doug Clark to be inducted in WMass Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the great crimes in modern Hall of Fame balloting is that Bill Freehan received just two votes in 1982, his only year on the ballot. April 18, 2022 . Grace batted over .300 nine times and over.295 three more times. He led the NL in home runs four times. Sain received support for the Hall of Fame in 1975 when he received 123 votes in his final year on the ballot. Remarkably, he finished with 90 more votes than teammate Duke Snider who would go on to be elected in 1980. Franco holds the record for most game pitched in the National League with 1,119 over his 21-year career. Reynolds got a late start to his MLB career and pitched in only 12 full seasons. O'Doul finished his career with a .349 batting average, still the fourth-best in major league history. | Brian Kersey/Getty Images Take the case of former Phoenix high school legend, Paul Konerko. One of the great clutch hitters of his era, Martinez finished with a .312 career average and topped 500 doubles and 300 homers in his 18-year career. + - Indicates Hall of Famer. His career average of .320 ranks fifth. By Jim McLennan @AZSnakepit Apr 11, 2012, 11:00pm EDT. Tiant twice led the league with ERAs under 2.00, but he also had five years with an ERA over 4.00. His best years came between 1983 and 1987 when he made all five of his All-Star appearances, won four Silver Slugger and three Gold Glove Awards. Parker was not only a feared hitter who won two batting titles, but he was also one of the top defensive outfielders in the game. a . Dave Kingman Home Runs: 442 Out of all eligible players, only Vada Pinson and Harold Baines have had more and not been voted into the Hall of Fame. "Rowdy Richard" Bartell's career started just as Ty Cobb's was ending, but Bartell carried Cobb's legacy of playing the game with reckless abandon. Reaching 3,000 hits, in our opinion, is a benchmark of true greatness that few will ever achieve. He led the National League in hits in both 1961 and 1963. Good ole Donnie Baseball Don Mattingly hit .307 and is not in the Hall of Fame. He won the 1994 MVP award and finished in the top 10 in the voting five other times. Before getting started on the modern ballplayers, here is a look at nine deserving players from the 1800s who haven't been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Herman was an excellent hitter in the 1920s and 1930s, even if he never did really break through to the elite level. Please check your email for a confirmation. Caruthers pitched for three teams from 1884 to 1892 and was a two-time 40-game winner. However, his ability as one of the game's top sluggers cannot be denied. He won 20 games four times, but he also was one of the few post-WWII pitchers to lose 20 in a season. The brother of Hall of Fame catcher Rick Ferrell, Wes was a workhorse pitcher mostly for the Indians and Red Sox before World War II. A terrific lead-off hitter and defensive center fielder, Lofton's excellence was overshadowed by the home runs and steroids which came to dominate baseball in the late 1990s. Staubs numbers arent quite Hall of Fame level, but his longevity (23 years) is off the charts. When Smith retired, he was the game's all-time saves leader and topped the list in games finished. Smith had a long, productive career and while he was never great, he was often very good. He also held the record for most hits and doubles by a catcher with 2,472 and 483, respectively. With another 2-3 seasons, he wouldve reached the magic 3,000 number that wouldve almost assuredly ensured his induction. He finished with 283 wins, the second-highest total of any modern pitcher not elected to the Hall of Fame who is eligible. Vizquel had a borderline Hall of Fame case, but thats gone after the sexual harassment and domestic abuse allegations that have been recently leveled against him. Torre will one day get into the Hall of Fame as a manager, but the chance also remains that he will be inducted as a player one day by the Veterans Committee. He hit 136 homers over his final five seasons after hitting just 159 the previous 10 seasons. The general rule is that 3,000 career hits is an automatic ticket to induction in the Hall of Fame and that generally remains the case, though there are a handful still on the outside looking. He received more votes than six eventual Hall of Famers. All of them are retired from the game, and two are in the Hall of Fame: Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor. He retired early at the age of 36, and if he hung on as long as some of his more accomplished outfield peers, he could have easily gotten to 3,000 hits. Also of note here, because this is the era in which we live, the steroids issue must be addressed. As a player, Palmeiro should have received automatic first-ballot induction into Cooperstown after compiling over 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in his 20-year career. Bill Buckner Only four players who are eligible for the Hall of Fame and not enshrined have more hits than Buckner's. It is hard to argue that Beltran's resume is not Hall of Fame-worthy. He ranks 22nd with 2,668 career strikeouts. Root's best year came in 1927 when he led the NL with 27 wins. His Hall of Fame candidacy peaked in 1995, his third year on the ballot. Mays hit his 500th blast during a career-best 52-homer campaign for the Giants in 1965. Oliver was a six-time All-Star, received MVP votes in 10 different seasons and won the 1982 batting title when he hit at a .331 clip. Through Aug. 13, 2020, 203 qualified players had batting averages over .300. Yost was a supremely talented defender who set American League records for third basemen in career putouts, assists and total chances by the end of his career. Maris' lifetime numbers simply don't stack up, as he tailed off dramatically after the age of 29. With Clark in the fold, it's easy to think that another World Series flag, or two, would be flying at Kauffman. Johnson's career numbers were hurt by a late start, as he didn't make his debut until he was 27 years old. Mullane won 30 games five times. He had four top-four finishes in Cy Young award voting, winning the award unanimously in 1988. McInnis was an excellent, fundamentally sound first baseman in the early part of the 20th century for the A's and Red Sox. 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