3,000-hit club
In Major League Baseball, the 3000 hit club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have made 3000 or more career base hits. Currently, there are 27 players who have accomplished this. Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros is the latest player to achieve this milestone on June 28, 2007 against the Colorado Rockies in Houston.
In general, the 3000th hit is not a surprise, as the player has been approaching the mark for some time. However, teams will often interrupt the game in which the player reaches the mark in order to honor him on reaching a historically significant milestone in what has been an excellent baseball career. The club's "founding member" was Cap Anson in 1897, even before what is known as the "modern era of baseball," making the 3000 hit club one of the oldest markers of greatness in the sport. Getting 3000 hits is generally considered — barring severe bad behavior off the field — one of the most reliable marks of a player entering the Baseball Hall of Fame. Not only that, but every Hall of Fame eligble player who has reached the 3000 hit club after 1962 (the first year players got inducted on the first ballot) has gotten in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
The 3000 hits mark indicates good performance over a long period of time. An average ball player gets approximately 500-600 at-bats per year, of which a good player will bat safely in roughly 180-233—between a .300 and a .333 batting average. Since most players only play for up to 8-10 years at the Major League level, and usually decline significantly in their numbers toward the end of that period, only a player who remains healthy over a long period and can continue to play like a younger man into his late 30s and even his early 40s can successfully amass 3,000 hits.
Rarely mentioned is the 4000 hit club, which only has two members (Pete Rose and Ty Cobb).
After a slump in the 1980s, the 1990s saw seven players reaching 3000 hits, tied with the 1970s for the most of any decade.
See also: List of lifetime MLB hit leaders through history, List of major league players with 2,000 hits
The members
Closest Active Players
| Player | Hits | Teams | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Bonds | 2894 | Pittsburgh, San Francisco | 1986- |
| Julio Franco | 2575 | Philadelphia, Cleveland, Texas, Chicago (AL), Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, New York (NL) | 1982- |
| Steve Finley | 2548 | Baltimore, Houston, San Diego, Arizona, Los Angeles (NL), Los Angeles (AL), San Francisco, Colorado | 1989- |
| Omar Vizquel | 2531 | Seattle, Cleveland, San Francisco | 1989- |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 2484 | Seattle, Cincinnati | 1989- |
Notes and references
- ^ Major League Baseball still lists Cobb's hit total at 4,191, but almost all independent baseball historians have revised the total to 4,189.