Camila Sosa
As much as the home run is one of the most special things in baseball, in practice, getting hits is one of the most sought-after skills for any coach and manager. And today in a league where power reigns, anyone who can get more than 130 or 150 hits in a season is very special.
Therefore, we bring you the list of the top 5 hitters with most hits in history and who are considered the best baseball players with the most outsanding careers of all.
5.- Tris Speaker
Beginning his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1907, Tris is considered one of the best center fielders in history, leading the categories of assists (449) and double plays (143) for an outfielder.
Offensively, he is MLB’s all-time leader in doubles (792), and is fifth on the all-time list of hits, accumulating 3,514 in his 22-year career. He won 2 World Series with the Red Sox (1912, 1915), and one more with the Cleveland Indians serving as player-manager in the 1920 campaign.
4.- Stan Musial
The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder and first baseman was one of the best hitters from the 1940s through the 1960s in MLB, setting National League records for hits, runs batted in, games played, at-bats, runs scored and doubles.
During his 22-year career, he averaged a .331/.417/.559 line with 475 homers, 1951 RBIs, 725 doubles and 3630 hits, what ranked him fourth all-time in the major leagues. He would go on to win 3 championships with the Cardinals, 3 MVP awards, 7 batting titles and 20 All-Star Game appearances, the third highest number in history.
3.- Henry “Hank” Aaron
Hank Aaron’s name appears all over the record charts in baseball history as one of the most dominant and impactful players ever. With his presence in the major leagues from 1954 to the 1975 season, the Atlanta native would accumulate, among his greatest hits, 3771 hits during 3298 games played in his 23-year career, what places him in third place all-time.
Aaron would also win 2 batting titles, 21 All-Star Game appearances (which is also an all-time record), 3 Gold Gloves and an MVP award in 1957, when he won his only championship with the Milwaukee Braves. Hank owns many other records but we could dedicate a separate article talking about them because of the large amount he accumulated.
2.- Ty Cobb
The most mythical figure in baseball from the 1900s to 1920s after Babe Ruth, the Detroit Tigers outfielder set 90 all-time records during his 24-year career. Of those 90, he has only been able to maintain 2 to date: he is the player with the most batting titles (12), he has stolen home plate the most times in history (54) and he has stolen second, third base and home plate consecutively (4).
Cobb was the first and youngest player to reach 4,000 hits and 2,000 runs scored in his career. Through his 3034 games played, he finished his career with 4189 hits (second-highest mark in history) and the highest career batting average of any MLB player: .366.
Ty would also accumulate 897 stolen bases (4th highest record in history), and was a player-coach for the Tigers since 1921. He would never win a championship, but he did win the MVP award and a Triple Crown, which he achieved with only inside-the-park home runs (nine total).
1.- Pete Rose
Multi-position Pete Rose is a special figure in baseball, being the player able to break Ty Cobb’s record in September 1985 during the 23rd season of the 24 he spent in his MLB career. He would thus be crowned as the player with the most hits in history, ending his career in the majors with 4256 lifetime hits.
Rose also holds the records for games played (3562), at-bats (14,053), plate appearances (15,890), and is the player to be an All-Star at more than 5 different positions (second base, left and right fielder, third base and first base), having a total of 17 appearances.
He won 3 World Series, 2 with the Cincinnati Reds (1975 and 1976, where he was the MVP in the first one) and one with the Philadelphia Phillies (1980). He won the Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, 2 Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and 3 batting titles. Unfortunately, controversy tainted his career, as he was excluded from any type of activity related to Major Leagues Baseball due to his participation in betting where his own team was involved, all this during his time as a player and coach.
He is the last player-coach to have such activity in MLB to date.
