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Most Unbreakable Baseball Hitting Records of All Time

Written by Bugeatersteve

Monday, 30 July 2007

{mosimage}In writing this article, I am avoiding single season records such as home runs, doubles, hits and reflecting on the career achievements that often get overlooked because they aren’t the glamour stats. There are of course many, many records that could be considered, but I chose these five because of the longevity they have, as well as the uniqueness of them. Without any further delay, here are my top 5.

Number 5 – Pete Rose – 4,256 Hits in a 24-year career

Everyone is well aware of Pete’s situation since he was forced out of baseball’s spotlight, but Charlie Hustle broke Ty Cobb’s career hit record in 1985 that had lasted 62 years and I feel that it is safe to say that Rose’s record will last at least that long before it is approached. Baseball’s current hitting champion, Ichiro Suzuki recently became the 3rd faster player to reach 1,500 hits, doing it in 1,060 games, but he doesn’t pose a threat to Rose’s record since he is already 33 years old. Craig Biggio just became the latest member of the 3,000 hit club, but he is retiring at the end of this (2007) season. The next active player is Barry Bonds, who is 90 hits away and is 42. After Bonds all the active players are around 2,500 hits and are at least 37 years old.

Number 4 – Ricky Henderson – 1,406 Stolen Bases in a 25-year career

I know, I know, Ricky could come out of retirement at any time and extend this record, which is so impressive that he is more than 450 stolen bases ahead of the second place holder Lou Brock, who held the record prior to Henderson for 13 years. Kenny Lofton is the current active leader at 620, but he is 40 years old. Henderson is the only player to have more than 1,000 in his career and I think that in 50 years from now, he will still be the leader. The youngest player with a “shot” is Juan Pierre who at 29 and a veteran of 8 seasons has 367, so he would need to play 20 more years and average 50 stolen bases per year to be at 1,367, still 39 short of the mark.

Number 3 – Ty Cobb - .366 Batting Average in a 24-year career

During Cobb’s career only in his rookie year did he have a batting average under .300 (.240) including his final year when he hit .323. Cobb’s career average has been the record for 96 years and no one has even come close to it, nor will they. Ichiro Suzuki is the current active leader at .332, which ranks 29th on the all-time list. Even recently hall of fame inductee Tony Gwynn at .338 is only 20th on the list. Given the argument as to why I haven’t ranked this record even higher than 3rd. Well when you read further, you will soon realize the reason why.

Number 2 – Tris Speaker – 792 Doubles in a 22-year career

Some of you may think that this record doesn’t really sound all that impressive, but then when you look at the players who trail Speaker, a member of the 2nd ever hall of fame class you begin to see how impressive this record is. Speaker has held the career doubles record for 82 years, since 1925. Second place on the doubles list is Pete Rose, who finished 46 away from the record and the 3rd through 5th place, reads like a whose who of hitters, with Stan Musial and Ty Cobb in 3rd and 4th place. George Brett rounds out the top 5 at 665, but Craig Biggio is only 4 away and should pass Brett for 5th place by the end of the 2007 season. After Biggio is Barry Bonds at 598, but he is 42 and won’t even come close to the top 5. Ivan Rodriguez is 50th on the list at 493, but at age 35 I don’t think he is a threat. So know that only leaves us with the number 1 untouchable record, which is….

Number 1 – Sam Crawford – 309 Triples in a 19-year career

Okay, so again you say that 309 doesn’t sound like a Huge number, that is until you look and see that Ty Cobb is second on this list with 295 then the third place player, Honus Wagner at 252 and the number starts to look at little more impressive. Need more, how about the fact that Crawford has been the career leader since 1913, we’re talking World War 1 here now, and that’s a total of 96 seasons. Need some more convincing? How about the most for an active player? That would be Steve Finley checking in at 90th place with 124. Before Finley, Willie Wilson retired in 1994 finished tied for 56th place on the list. No I think that Crawford’s record will be around for at least another 100 years, unless they change the rules on how you score.

Well that’s all I have on this little tid-bit of information. Hope you enjoyed it.

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Gotham Dark Knight said:

	Crawford's record is golden...Stadiums are too short even if a speedster comes along that can hit...it ain't coming down...
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