Ted Williams, one among baseball’s biggest gamers, mentioned the toughest factor to do is to hit a baseball. He is likely to be proper.
Even the perfect hitters in MLB historical past fail to report a success in most of their at-bats. The participant with the perfect batting common in MLB historical past hit .366 in his profession, which means he didn’t report a success in almost 45% of his at-bats. What’s extra, no participant has hit .400 in a season since Williams did so in 1941.
That mentioned, you recognize you are particular for those who’re among the many prime 10 in MLB hits. Let’s check out who makes that listing.
10. Paul Molitor: 3,319
Molitor was arguably probably the most constant hitters of all time, recording 140 or extra hits in 16 of his 21 seasons. A gradual pressure within the Milwaukee Brewers‘ lineup for almost 20 years, Molitor additionally led the majors in hits on two events.
MLB has seen an infusion of foreign-born stars over the previous few a long time. As of 2025, Pujols is the perfect hitter in that group. The St. Louis Cardinals icon has probably the most hits and residential runs (703) for a foreign-born participant.
8. Carl Yastrzemski: 3,419
“Yaz” had a swing made for Fenway Park, as evidenced by his hit whole. The Boston Red Sox icon had a profession .305 batting common at his residence ballpark, whereas he led the majors in hits twice. He additionally led the majors in batting common on three events, holding a .285 profession batting common.
7. Honus Wagner: 3,430
Whereas some would possibly know Wagner for being the face of the most well-liked buying and selling card in baseball historical past, his prowess on the plate helped create worth for the cardboard. He had 16 seasons wherein he had a batting common of at the very least .300, main the Nationwide League within the stat eight instances in his 21-year profession.
6. Derek Jeter: 3,465
The New York Yankees have had a number of nice hitters of their storied historical past. How else do you suppose they received 27 titles? Jeter has probably the most of any participant to put on the pinstripes, hitting .310 in his historic profession. His sturdy hitting means was a key motive why the Yankees received their final 5 World Collection titles, and his 3,000th hit was memorable as he hit a house run to achieve the landmark.
5. Tris Speaker: 3,515
Speaker was not solely probably the greatest hitters in MLB historical past, however he’s additionally the league’s doubles king. His 752 profession doubles are probably the most of all time and almost 50 greater than another participant. Moreover, he recorded a batting common of .300 or higher in 18 of his 22 seasons.
4. Stan Musial: 3,630
“Stan the Man’s” hitting prowess helped him grow to be probably the greatest hitters in MLB historical past. As he led the Nationwide League in hits on seven events, Musial was named an All-Star in each season he performed (excluding his 12-game 1941 season), taking part in within the Midsummer Basic 21 instances.
3. Hank Aaron: 3,771
MLB’s residence run king can be probably the greatest hitters in historical past. Aaron led the league in hits and batting common twice in his legendary profession. He additionally completed within the prime 10 within the Nationwide League in hits 13 instances and batting common a dozen instances. Essentially the most hits he had in a season got here in 1959, recording 223 that 12 months to go together with a .355 batting common.
2. Ty Cobb: 4,191
Cobb may not be the all-time hits chief, however he’s MLB’s all-time batting common chief. His .366 batting common is the one profession batting common over .360 in league historical past (min. 5,000 profession plate appearances), as he led the majors in that stat on 12 events. In two of these years, Cobb had a batting common of .400, as he additionally led the majors in hits eight instances.
1. Pete Rose: 4,256
The baseball participant who holds the Main League report for many profession hits, Pete Rose, of the Philadelphia Phillies bats.
Rose is the MLB’s all-time hit king, main the majors in hits on seven events in his historic profession. Whereas nobody has extra hits than Rose in league historical past, he turned higher identified for his playing scandal as a supervisor, which led MLB to ban him for all times. That ban was lifted in 2025, making him eligible for induction into the Baseball Corridor of Fame.
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