One of the great power and speed combination players of all time, Bonds was just the second player to ever hit 300 home runs and steal 300 bases in a career, joining Willie Mays in that group. He finished with a career record of 193-121 but had an ERA of 4.04. The righty went 48-16 and struck out 417 batters in 587 innings. Brown was named in the Mitchell Report as a possible steroid user, but no hard evidence surfaced about his use. Strikeouts thrown by a pitcher in a career, 5,714, Nolan Ryan, 1966-93 . 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. He won the 1994 MVP award and finished in the top 10 in the voting five other times. The tragedy of Munson is well-known, and his stature as the unquestioned leader of the Yankees made it even more difficult to take. Cramer played a total of 20 seasons from 1929 to 1948 and had long stints with the As, Red Sox and Tigers. NEW! NL in hits in 1999 with 206. Like Allen, Freehan played during baseball's second dead-ball period in the 1960s, causing his offensive statistics to be hindered. Palmeiro topped 30 home runs 11 times and batted over .300 six times. In 1952 he made history by becoming the first African-American coach in the major leagues when he joined the Cubs coaching staff. Reynolds got his start in the majors as a solid pitcher for the Indians in the 1940s. The 1964 NL MVP was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. Trammell played for 20 years, all for the Detroit Tigers, and was a six-time All-Star. He grades well in baseball-reference.com's Hall of Fame Career Standards. He still holds the Reds' franchise records for most wins by a righty with 161, and his 579 games pitched ranked eighth in NL history when he retired in 1945 after a 15-year career. Kaat was a classic compiler thanks to an incredible 25-year major league career. Sign up for the List Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. He won three Gold Glove awards and is known for having one of the great outfield arms of all time. He finished with just 275 career homers and a .260 batting average. . 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. Shocker was a workhorse for the Browns and Yankees from 1916 to 1928. Research by Baseball Almanac. He made seven straight All-Star games in the 1980s and has three top-seven MVP finishes. Bagwell led the NL in home runs in 1996, scored 100 runs nine times and drove in 100 runs eight times. Mullane was anambidextrous pitcher who compiled 284 wins from 1881 to 1894. Johnson played just 13 years, but topped 100 RBI eight times, 100 runs six times and 25 home runs six times. During his time with the White Sox, Minoso was a seven-time All-Star who finished fourth in the MVP voting on four different occasions. He was an eight-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger Award winner and won three Gold Gloves. 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. Wood received 29 votes in the 1947 Hall of Fame voting, the most of any player who still hasn't been elected. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame . From 1996-2006, through his age-31 season, Rolen produced 54.4 of his 69.9 career fWAR. He might never have been a superstar, much of a defender, or someone I'd seriously consider voting into the Hall of Fame, but with 150 more hits, he'd probably have been a first ballot inductee. Arguably the second-best leadoff hitter of all time, Raines' stats have gained morecredenceas on-base percentage becomes a more valued statistic. He was a four-time All-Star and received MVP votes in eight consecutive seasons from 1938 to 1945. By Jim McLennan @AZSnakepit Apr 11, 2012, 11:00pm EDT. Although his case was one of 10 reviewed by a special committee in 2008, Ferrell's numbers fell short. Rose has more hits than anyone whos ever picked up a bat, but his decision to bet on baseball has kept him the sports most famous living outsider. Second, a player has to be eligible for induction. He played five years in the NA before the league morphed into the National League. He batted .298 for his career and won multiple Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards. White became the second batting champion ever in the National League when he hit .387 in 1877. He finished his career with a .307 batting average. Ryan was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999. Brown won 21 games in 1992 and had an ERA under 3.00 six times during the steroids era. Although he never really had that true great season, he was the mark of consistency for two decades. Torre's best showing on the ballot came in his final year of eligibility when he finished ninth with 105 votes. The 3,000-hit club is the group of 33 batters who have collected 3,000 or more regular-season hits in their careers in Major League Baseball (MLB), achieving a milestone "long considered the greatest measure of superior bat handling" and often described as a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.. Cap Anson was the first to do so, although his precise career hit total is . Before that, O'Doul had some great seasons as a left fielder after being converted from a pitcher at the age of 31. Before getting started on the modern ballplayers, here is a look at nine deserving players from the 1800s who haven't been inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, he remarkably made it back, and he was better than before. Notes: A minimum of 1,000 career games played and 1,000 career at-bats are needed to make this list, raw averages are presented to further clarify the one-thousand greatest career batting averages of all-time, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season. Mattingly batted over .300 in each of his first six full seasons, leading the AL in 1984 with a .343 average. He led the NL in home runs four times. Injuries sapped him of his production over the last half of his career so most of his Hall of Fame resume was built with both the Phillies and Cardinals before the age of 32. A. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame. Vander Meer had a losing record over the course of his career, and that will likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Like many others,. He had set a major league record with 59 straight scoreless innings, and in four of his first five full seasons, he had an ERA of 3.06 or lower. Garvey will likely be a strong Veterans Committee candidate years down the line. His career average was .300 and he ranks as the sixth-best first baseman in Florida history in Baseball State by State. Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens Roger Clemens hurls a pitch in his rookie year with the Red Sox in 1984. His support waned from there, though. His best years came between 1983 and 1987 when he made all five of his All-Star appearances, won four Silver Slugger and three Gold Glove Awards. He also held the record for most hits and doubles by a catcher with 2,472 and 483, respectively. Buffinton authored one of the most incomprehensible statistical seasons in baseball history in 1884. For James Laurie "Deacon" White, the journey took 123 years. He was a six-time All-Star and a three-time top-five MVP finisher. But the truth is he ended up having a productive career after all. Brown has a better winning percentage than Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton and Don Drysdale, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is better than Ton Seaver, Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan, Gibson and Carlton. 01, 2023, 6:00 a.m. 9. McNally was part of one of the great pitching staffs of all time along with Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson. However, once he got to the Yankees in 1947 his career took off. John's 288 career wins are the highest total of any eligible non-Hall of Famer, and he is one of just eight pitchers to start at least 700 games in his career. His career total of 1,614 walks ranks 11th all time. After his playing career ended Buck became a scout for the Cubs, signing Lou Brock for the team. A seven-time All-Star between 1966-82, Smith has nonetheless become an unfairly overlooked player, receiving almost no Hall of Fame consideration despite roughly 65 career WAR. Gonzalez was one of the more feared home run hitters of the steroid era, topping 40 in a season five times. Oliver accumulated 2,743 hits in his career. Grace batted over .300 nine times and over.295 three more times. At times, Tiant was one of the great clutch pitchers of his generation. McGwire's candidacy is obviously tainted by his steroids admissions, and it could keep him out of the Hall of Fame altogether. 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. He has three top-three finishes in MVP voting and placed sixth in 1978. 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. He went 208-126 with a 2.92 ERA and twice led the league in complete games, shutouts and saves. He won eight Gold Gloves and finished his career with a .313 average and 383 home runs. There has been a "rule of thumb" in baseball for quite some time that any player who accumulates 3000 hits in his career will be elected to the Hall of Fame. Maris' lifetime numbers simply don't stack up, as he tailed off dramatically after the age of 29. From 1988 to 1993, he batted .234 and averaged just 15 homers a season. Batting average: .440, Hugh Duffy, 1894 . Garvey was a remarkably consistent and clutch performer for the great Dodgers teams for over a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. Through the 1988 season, it looked like Hershiser was on his way to a truly elite pitching career. Sain received support for the Hall of Fame in 1975 when he received 123 votes in his final year on the ballot. His .688 winning percentage ranks fifth all time. He made seven All-Star games during his career. He was the Cy Young award runner-up twice and had two other top-eight finishes. He led the AL in hits four times and won the 1959 batting title with a .353 average. Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto collected career hit No. He lasted just five years before falling off after getting just 4.8 percent of the vote in 2011. His career average of .320 ranks fifth. Of the 244 Hall of Famers, 83 fall in this range. Negro League data is not complete. However, in his prime, he made seven straight All-Star games, had eight top-20 MVP finishes, won three Gold Gloves and three World Series titles. He was a six-time All-Star and twice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. He won seven Gold Gloves behind the plate and led the league in games played at catcher and assists as a catcher six times each. He retired early at the age of 36, and if he hung on as long as some of his more accomplished outfield peers, he could have easily gotten to 3,000 hits. Blue never did reach those heights again, but he still made six All-Star games and received Cy Young votes in five seasons. Baines played in 2,830 career games, 19th all time, and amassed 2,866 career hits, the highest total of any eligible non-Hall of Famer. Coombs, however, didn't have the longevity of his teammates and faded fast. He only led the league in saves four times in his 18-year career, and his 3.03 career ERA isn't sparkling for a closer. While he was one of the best players in the league during that time, he didn't maintain that excellence for a long period of time. Belle finished his career on a run of nine straight seasons of 100 RBI. From 1984 to 1989 "Donnie Baseball" was the most prolific hitter in baseball. Whitaker was a solid all-around player for the Tigers, but never really excelled in any one area on an elite level. 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. Herman was an excellent hitter in the 1920s and 1930s, even if he never did really break through to the elite level. While all of those marks were eventually broken, there was no question that at the time of his retirement, he was one of the greatest hitting catchers of all time. 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. Morris has increased his votes in each of the past five years, peaking in 2012 at 66.7 percent to finish second behind Barry Larkin. The four-time Gold Glove winner finished with a .977 fielding percentage, which ranks 23rd all time at shortstop. He has just two years left on the ballot but figures to have a tough time cracking through against stiff competition the next two seasons. From 1946 to 1950, he won 20 games four times, leading the league with 24 wins and 28 complete games in 1948. 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. The fact that Carter and Fisk were elected and Simmons lasted just one year on the ballot is just wrong. McInnis was a fine defender who set numerous fielding records as a first baseman. When the Cubs legend retired in 1947, he was arguably the best National League third baseman outside of Pie Traynor. He also was one of the first power-hitting leadoff hitters, setting a MLB record with 35 career leadoff homers, a record that has since been broken. John won 20 games three times, all post-surgery, and was an All-Star on four occasions. Helton is one of only two players in baseball history to have at least. Bagwell's numbers are there, and he passes the eye test as a dominant player in his era, but the cloud of steroids has kept him out so far, right or wrong. O'Doul finished his career with a .349 batting average, still the fourth-best in major league history. O'Doul actually is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, just not the one in Cooperstown. Pete Browning-.341 average. But when he was at his best, Reynolds could pitch with anybody. The total was higher than Orlando Cepeda, Ron Santo and Bill Mazeroski. Reynolds helped the Yankees to six World Series titles, racking up a 7-2 record with a 2.79 ERA over 15 World Series games. You won't find Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe or Eddie Cicotte on this list. In an era dominated by the long ball, Grace was a consistent .300 hitter who played an outstanding defensive first base. McNally may have had a short peak with the Baltimore Orioles, but what a peak it was. Everyone has their own opinion. Here are the 25 best hitters in Major League Baseball history. He topped 20 wins for the Browns in four consecutive seasons, maxing out at a league-leading 27 wins in 1921. Arguably the best designated hitter of all time, Martinez was very similar to Baines but with a little bit more hardware. Herman's best seasons came in 1929 and 1930 when he combined to hit .387 over the two-year span. All other pitchers in that category who are eligible are in the Hall of Fame as well. First, a player had to play a majority of their games in the 1900s. Oliva finished third in Hall of Fame voting in 1988, receiving 47.3 percent of vote. . Maris was considered a power show more content Even for people who think Smith was better than Trammell, it wasn't as much as their Hall of Fame ballot gaps suggest. The 1945 NL MVP, Cavarretta played more seasons with the Cubs than anybody in the 20th century. Arguably the greatest fielding pitcher of all time, Kaat won 16 Gold Gloves, the most at any position until he was topped by Greg Maddux, who won 18. There's a legitimate case for him to garner support on the Hall of Fame ballot. His 383 sacrifice hits still remains third all time. Predictably, he ran into arm trouble after that and his career numbers suffered as a result. The plaque dedicated to Sanford 'Sandy' Koufax at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New . He ranks 22nd with 2,668 career strikeouts. Belle has a laundry list of reasons why this happened, so he has nobody to blame but himself, but there's no denying his ability as a player before his career was cut short by injuries. Tiant twice led the league with ERAs under 2.00, but he also had five years with an ERA over 4.00. Nicknamed the "Louisville Slugger," Browning was the inspiration for naming the famous bat after he purchased bats from theHillerich & Bradsby Company. He didn't top 100 strikeouts in any of his final 11 seasons. He received MVP votes in eight seasons, finishing in the top 10 in six of those years. For all of his accomplishments, though, he only made four All-Star games and had just three top-10 MVP finishes. 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