He made eight straight All-Star games and 10 overall, was the 1974 NL MVP and had four other top-six finishes and had 200 hits six times. "Indian Bob" is one of the great underrated players of the 1930s and 1940s, lost in the shuffle of playing at the same time as Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg. Morris is in a race against time and semantics in his quest to make it to Cooperstown. A terrific run-producer, Cooper led the league in RBIs twice and doubles twice. Nicknamed the "Louisville Slugger," Browning was the inspiration for naming the famous bat after he purchased bats from theHillerich & Bradsby Company. At the time of his retirement, he held the major league record for games played and was in the top 10 in RBI, doubles and extra-base hits. He consistently received between 25 to 30 percent of the votes on the Hall of Fame ballot, peaking in 1988 when he finished sixth with 39.3 percent. Claim to fame: Quietly, Oliver may have been one of the best hitters of the 1970s and '80s, amassing 2,743 hits and a .303 lifetime batting average, hitting above .300 eleven of his 18 seasons. This is the first story in a three-part series about . Mays was the pitcher who hit Ray Chapman in the head with a pitch, killing the popular Cleveland Indian in a game in 1920. During a time when the game was dominated by Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez on the mound, Brown wasn't that far off from those hurlers. His peak came in 1967 when he finished with 29 percent of the vote, ahead of 10 future Hall of Famers, including pitchers Hal Newhouser and Bob Lemon. Evans was an outstanding all-around right fielder who possessed one of the game's greatest throwing arms. Note: Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after they retire. The 1985 AL MVP was a prolific run-producer for the Yankees until a bad back sabotaged his power and longevity. Because of this and a quick downfall to his production after age 35, Hodges amassed only 1,921 hits. Bill Mazeroski was a career .260 hitter. However, his ability as one of the game's top sluggers cannot be denied. Still, he should have gotten a little more support on the Hall of Fame ballot. 18 Apr. in double plays turned by a first baseman six times in his career (cover photo: Denver Post) His career total of 1,614 walks ranks 11th all time. Pete Browning-.341 average. Walker batted .357 between 1997 and 2001, leading the National League in batting three of the four years in which he was eligible. His .948 OPS ranks 21st all time. Oliva finished third in Hall of Fame voting in 1988, receiving 47.3 percent of vote. One of Wood's most incredible stats is that in 1,434 career innings pitched, he allowed just 10 home runs. He led the AL in doubles three times, RBI once, hits twice and OPS once. A remarkable career largely lost to time will take center stage this . Uh, let me try to explain. His wins total is among the highest of anybody not elected to the Hall of Fame. Since McCarthy was not BETTER than any other Hall of Famer, he also has a "zero" in front of his name. His play on the field, though, is worthy of enshrinement. For a nine-year period in the 1980s, Murphy wasunarguablyone of the best all-around players in the National League. He finished with 399 career home runs, 2,333 hits and six top-10 MVP finishes. He scored over 100 runs in seven straight season and topped 100 RBI in five of those years. He currently ranks 12th and is 18 hits away from tying Paul Molitor, who currently occupies 10th place. Lopat was a mainstay in the rotation of the great New York Yankee teams of the 1950s. But when he did play, Sain was among the best for a short period for the Boston Braves. From 1946 to 1950, he won 20 games four times, leading the league with 24 wins and 28 complete games in 1948. He won eight Gold Gloves and finished his career with a .313 average and 383 home runs. Look for your favorite MLB slugger in this impressive list of baseball's top 500 career batting leaders. He grades well in baseball-reference.com's Hall of Fame Career Standards. He finished first or second in fielding percentage for 13 of his 19 major league seasons. Of his 310 career starts, 298 of them were complete games. Grace batted over .300 nine times and over.295 three more times. Over his 12-year career, his 162-game average season was 40 home runs, 130 RBI and a .295 average. He was a six-time All-Star and twice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. Caruthers pitched for three teams from 1884 to 1892 and was a two-time 40-game winner. His 39-game hitting streak in 1987 is the longest . He is best known for his role in one of baseball's greatest tragedies. Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA, 500 games (fielding, 500 IP for Ps), 200 stolen base attempts (catchers) or 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics. His best representation on the Hall of Fame ballot came in 1981 when he received 62 votes, which was more than Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski and just shy of Orlando Cepeda's total. Staub was an excellent player early in his career, and by the age of 27, he was already a five-time All-Star. McGwire's at-bats were must-watch TV for nearly a decade, and he fully captivated the nation for a summer in 1998. Smith's case is based on being very good and compiling stats over an 18-year career. Playing in Coors Field at the height of the steroid era, Galarraga couldn't help but put upmonstrousseasons. He had six 200-hit seasons and finished his 19-year career with a .294 lifetime average. He batted .298 for his career and won multiple Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards. Arguably the best designated hitter of all time, Martinez was very similar to Baines but with a little bit more hardware. Clark's career trajectory didn't continue on that path, though, as injuries robbed him of hundreds of games in the 1990s. Its taken him a bit to reach both the magic numbers of 3,000 and 500, but he seems determined to get there. 7) Ken Griffey Jr.: 630 500th HR: June 20, 2004 During his eight seasons in pinstripes, he went 131-60 with a 3.30 ERA. 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. 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. Don Mattingly was a New York Yankee his entire career and would definitely be in the hall of fame if not for his back problems that developed later in his career. At the end of his career, he ranked in the top five for American League right-handed batters in career RBI, runs, total bases, slugging and walks. 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. . He played for five teams over 22 years and was a well-respected, professional hitter everywhere he went. Predictably, he ran into arm trouble after that and his career numbers suffered as a result. From 1988 to 1993, he batted .234 and averaged just 15 homers a season. After serving in the military, Boyer made his debut at the age of 24 and instantly became an impact player for the Cardinals. The star of the 1931 World Series, Martin was a four-time All-Star and twice was a top-10 MVP player. Paul Konerko A sold-out crowd cheers for Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox as he is honored during a pre-game ceremony. Like Dale Murphy, he consistently gets dinged for having too short of a peak. However, once Hershiser reached the age of 30, health issues set in and curtailed what could have been a Hall of Fame career. Harder may never have been a dominant pitcher, but he was incredibly reliable over a career that started while Babe Ruth was in his heyday and ended after World War II. Hell be a first-ballot inductee for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class. He lasted just five years before falling off after getting just 4.8 percent of the vote in 2011. Through the 1988 season, it looked like Hershiser was on his way to a truly elite pitching career. He finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times, made seven All-Star games and received MVP votes in four seasons. Guidry turned in one of the great pitching seasons of all time when he went 25-3 in 1978 with a 1.78 ERA. Hodges lost three years early in his career to World War II, causing his breakout as a player to be delayed until he was 25 years old. Cavarretta got excellent support in Hall of Fame balloting in the 1970s, peaking in 1975 when he received 35.6 percent of the vote. At the time of his retirement, only Harmon Killebrew and Jimmie Foxx had more home runs in the American League by a right-handed hitter. The very worst position player ever selected to the Hall of Fame was Tommy McCarthy, a 19th-century outfielder. Walker was a phenomenal all-around player, and for a five-year period during the peak of the steroid era, Walker had some of the best seasons the game had seen. Edgar Martinez, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, could really hit the baseball. Mattingly batted over .300 in each of his first six full seasons, leading the AL in 1984 with a .343 average. He was the 1972 MVP and a seven-time All-Star. He played five years in the NA before the league morphed into the National League. One of the more underrated hitters of the 1970s and 1980s, Oliver batted over .300 11 times, finishing with a career average of .303. He hit 136 homers over his final five seasons after hitting just 159 the previous 10 seasons. He finished with 283 wins, the second-highest total of any modern pitcher not elected to the Hall of Fame who is eligible. The two-time World Series winner finished his career with 2,182 hits and two injury-plagued seasons at the end of his career dropped his lifetime average below .300 to .296. Stanton. Colavito was a great power hitter and run producer in the 1950s who received surprisingly little support in his Hall of Fame candidacy. By Jim McLennan @AZSnakepit Apr 11, 2012, 11:00pm EDT. He finished with 254 career wins, finished in the top five in Cy Young voting five times and won 20 games three times. From 1996-2006, through his age-31 season, Rolen produced 54.4 of his 69.9 career fWAR. He also didn't have a great batting average. That's no small task when his staffmates were Hall of Famers Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski. 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. In the era between 1965 and 1990, Foster was the only player to hit 50 home runs. 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. Needless to say, he won the NL MVP that season. Belle may have been a jerk and got caught with a corked bat, but the fact that he had just two meek representations on the Hall of Fame ballot before being dropped is a crime. His percentage was higher than seven eventual Hall of Famers, including Duke Snider, Phil Rizzuto, Richie Ashburn and Don Drysdale. Nettles was a superior defender who finished fifth and sixth in the American League MVP voting in 1977 and 1978, respectively. He was the 1910 batting champion and was one of the top hitters on the Phillies during the first years of the 20th century. John won 20 games three times, all post-surgery, and was an All-Star on four occasions. He won the National League pitching triple crown in 1918 and finished with a career record of 178-137. Through Aug. 13, 2020, 203 qualified players had batting averages over .300. "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. He made a fool of himself in front of Congress, was named in the Mitchell Report and Jose Canseco's book Juiced, and was implicated in Jason Grimsley's affidavit about amphetamine use in the major leagues. | Brian Kersey/Getty Images Take the case of former Phoenix high school legend, Paul Konerko. He was up for Hall of Fame consideration in 2008, but he fell short of enshrinement once again. He has a .279 average with a .350 OBP, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBIs and 312 steals to go along with nine. Starting in 1953, Pierce made the All-Star game seven out of the next nine years and received MVP votes in five seasons. It is usually reported to three decimal places and pronounced as if it were multiplied by 1,000: a player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred." A point (or percentage point) is understood to be .001. Tiant made three All-Star games and had two top-10 MVP finishes. Harder spent 20 seasons hurling for the Indians and was at his best in the mid-1930s. A. He won three Gold Glove awards and is known for having one of the great outfield arms of all time. Gonzalez was suspected of steroid abuse and was named in Jose Canseco's book Juiced. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. Best 3 Year Period. 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 in due to situations of their own making. Hodges' case for the Hall of Fame is interesting because he is a player whose value went beyond the numbers he put up. If in doubt, leave it out. !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. The Hall of Fame case for Keith Hernandez starts with his brilliant glove-work at first base. He didn't top 100 strikeouts in any of his final 11 seasons. But not many . Herman was an excellent hitter in the 1920s and 1930s, even if he never did really break through to the elite level. George Kell was a 10-time All-Star and hit more than .300 nine times. One of the best and longest-running arguments fans like to get involved with revolves around the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Pierce is a tremendously underrated pitcher who hurled mostly for the White Sox over an 18-year, post-WWII career. Franco holds the record for most game pitched in the National League with 1,119 over his 21-year career. He also held the record for most hits and doubles by a catcher with 2,472 and 483, respectively. 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. Here are the 25 best hitters in Major League Baseball history. Dunn finished his career with a lowly .234 batting average. That it took Votto, one of the best pure hitters of his era, 15 seasons to reach 2,000 hits came as a bit of a surprise to many baseball fans. Torre's best showing on the ballot came in his final year of eligibility when he finished ninth with 105 votes. Torre was a nine-time All-Star and the 1971 NL MVP after batting .363 with 230 hits and 137 RBI. His 288 home runs ranked eighth in MLB history at the time of his retirement. Oliver was a career .303 hitter over 18 seasons and won the 1982 NL title with the Expos as a 35-year-old. Despite his longevity, Baines never won a World Series, never led the league in a major category and the only major award he won was the Silver Slugger award in 1989. The 3,000 Hits Club is a collection of Major League Baseball players who have recorded 3,000 or more regular-season hits during their big league career. Cooper was a main cog in the great Brewers teams of the 1980s, batting third in the lineup behind Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. Reulbach led the league in winning percentage for three straight years from 1906 to 1908 when he compiled a record of 60-15 over the three-year period. In making this list, players were not penalized for admitting steroid use or rumored steroid use. He was a six-time All-Star and a three-time top-five MVP finisher. Schuerholz also scored . The 1964 NL MVP was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. There are a lot of players who are on the outside looking in, despite being superior to some players who are already enshrined. He received MVP votes seven times, finishing second in 1987. He received 55 votes in the 2012 Hall of Fame voting, his first year on the ballot. He received Cy Young award votes in five seasons, winning it in 1994. Wood received 29 votes in the 1947 Hall of Fame voting, the most of any player who still hasn't been elected. Gonzalez racked up his total over 19 seasonas and 10,531 major league plate appearances and led the. From the time he broke into the league in 1986, Clark was one of the top hitters in the National League. He finished with just 275 career homers and a .260 batting average. Groat was also the 1963 MVP runner-up to Sandy Koufax. Staub may have cost himself an enshrinement when he chose to return to the Mets to mentor young players in a part-time role rather than seeking full-time work elsewhere late in his career. From 1973 to the conclusion of the 2017 season, only nine players appeared in 1,000 or more games at DH. This slideshow ranks the top 100 players who are eligible for Hall of Fame induction, but they currently do not have that plaque in Cooperstown. Here are three players who hit 400 HRs and won't make it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In DiMaggio's 11 seasons, he made the All-Star game seven times and received MVP votes in six seasons. Two of those former members came close to Emeritus Member status Ivan Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. Johnson's career numbers were hurt by a late start, as he didn't make his debut until he was 27 years old. https://thelistwire.usatoday.com/lists/20-mlb-players-with-the-most-hits-not-in-the-hall-of-fame-pete-rose-joey-votto-cooperstown/, These players have a lot of hits, but no plaque, The fastest 40 times in NFL combine history, In memoriam: Celebrities who have died in 2022, 50 largest cities in the United States by population 2022, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The next nine years and received MVP votes in five seasons after hitting just 159 the previous 10 seasons,... Three teams from 1884 to 1892 and was named in Jose Canseco 's Juiced! Ninth with 105 votes nearly a decade, and was named in Jose Canseco 's Juiced., all post-surgery, and by the age of 24 and instantly became an impact player for Boston... The numbers he put up runs, 130 RBI and a quick downfall to his after. In any of his retirement seven eventual Hall of Fame consideration in 2008, but seems. 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