Saturday, May 23, 2009

3000 hits with no 200 hit seasons

Of the 27 guys to accumulate 300 hits in a career, how many do you suppose have done it without any 200-hit seasons? I asked this as I noticed that, not only is Ivan Rodriguez poised to become, in a couple of years, the first catcher to join the 3000 hit club, but he'll do it without any 200 hit seasons.

Turns out that 5 of the 27 never hit 200 in one season. The five, and their high hit season, are:

Carl Yastrzemski: high of 191 in 1962
Cap Anson: high of 187 in 1886
Eddie Murray: high 186 in 1980
Dave Winfield: high of 193 in 1984
Rickey Henderson: high 179 in 1980

Of the other 22, Pete Rose had 10 200-hit seasons; Ty Cobb, 9; Paul Waner, 8; Wade Boggs, 7; Stan Musial, 6; Tony Gwynn, 5.

After that beautiful 10-9-8-7-6-5 individual countdown, there's a logjam among 3000 hitters with 4 200-hit seasons, including Tris Speaker, Paul Molitor, Nap Lajoie, Lou Brock, Rod Carew, and Roberto Clemente.

Hank Aaron had 3; Honus Wagner Cal Ripkin, Jr. and George Brett had 2; and Eddie Collins, Willie Mays, Robin Yount, Craig Biggio, Rafael Palmeiro and Al Kaline each had just one 200-hit season.

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