(Pete Rose .org)

The word “club” has always represented “exclusivity.”  Just for a selected few! Not open to everyone! Admittance is reserved for the cream of the crop – the elite, the best of the best; those who have earned the distinction, the honour and the right to call themselves “members.”

And there are no clubs more exclusive than Major League Baseball’s Three Thousand Hits Club!

1869 was the year when the first Major League was created. One hundred and forty-two years later, over ten thousand men have taken their places in the Major League Batters’ Box – but only twenty-seven of them have scored 3000 or more regular-season career hits to earn their membership in this hallowed club.

Why are there so few of them? How difficult can it be to score 3000 hits over a twenty-year or so career in baseball?

Well, let’s take a look at some of the immortal names!

Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams — unquestionably some of the greatest hitters to have ever stepped up to the plate. But not one of them managed to reach a total of 3,000 career big league hits! That number is attained by those select few who have managed to combine a consistently high level of hitting with a remarkably lengthy career.

We need to look at the numbers – a career of fifteen seasons in the major league would require that you average 200 hits per season, consistently. An injury can put you out of the game temporarily – but can effectively destroy your chances for ever, depending on the injury and your age. You’d return to the game, but that old injury can have lingering effects and can louse up your hits average for the remainder of your career.

 

CAP ANSON

The first member of the 3,000 Hit Club was Cap Anson, way back in 1897 when he played twenty-seven seasons! Initially, he played for the National Association (later the National League) and signed for the Chicago White Stockings in 1876. He was named Captain/Manager of the club in 1879 and his team won five Pennants between 1880 and 1886. He was a great innovator, introducing new tactics and strategies such as adding a third-base coach, signaling the batters and rotating his pitchers. Aggressive running of the bases by his players resulted in the tactic called “hit and run” plays. He was instrumental in introducing spring training for his players to prepare for the upcoming season.

Cap Anson was the team’s best hitter – throughout his career, he achieved many “firsts.” He was the first player to hit three consecutive home runs, five homers in two games and four doubles in a single game. He was also the first to perform two unassisted double plays in one game. He numbers among the few to score six runs in one game – on August 24, 1886. He contracted to manage the White Stockings until 1897 and, as his best years were now behind him, it ended his long career.

There were many years of controversy about Cap Anson’s 3000 hits – his five years playing for the National Association was not included, as MLB at that time did not recognize the NA as a major league. That changed recently and Cap Anson’s record now shows his major league hits as 3,418 total, achieved in 1897 which places him seventh in the all-time leaders in hits. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 – one of the first nineteenth century players so honoured.

 

HONUS WAGNER

Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and considered the greatest shortstop of all time reached his 3000 hits in 1914 and retired as the NL’s all-time hit leader with 3,418 hits.. In 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam.  He continued his baseball career with the Pirates for a further 39 years as hitting coach. And on the 100^th anniversary of professional baseball in 1969, he was honoured as the greatest short-stop ever. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 he died in 1955 at the great age of 81 years.

 

NAP LAJOIE

Nap Lajoie reached 3000 hits on September 27, 1914 and ended up with a career total of 3,242 hitse contracted to managerH. His induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame took place with the second group of players in 1939. His legendary rivalry with Ty Cobb reached its zenith in 1910, when the Chalmers Auto Company promised a car to the batting leader and MVP of that year. Ty took the last two games off, knowing that he already held the highest batting average and the only way that Nap was going to beat him would be if he achieved an almost-perfect final game!

Lajoie was allowed to go 8-for-8 in a season-ending double-header. A fly-ball went for a triple and another batted ball went for a single. Nap had five subsequent hits which were bunt singles to third baseman who had been ordered to play close to a shallow left-field. Nap then laid down a sixth bunt which was muffed for an error and this gave him an official hitless at-bat and dropped his average! Ty Cobb’s average was also surrounded by controversy, when a game was counted twice in his stats, when he went 2-for-3 one day – this was discovered seventy years later! Ultimately, the Chalmers Auto Company gave cars to both players, choosing to opt out of the growing controversy – everybody won!

 

TY COBB

Ty Cobb, arguably the greatest baseball player of all time, scored his 3000^th hit on August 19, 1921, playing with the Detroit Tigers. Not satisfied with that, he made MLB history by scoring his 4,000^th hit in 1927 and ended up with 4,100 at the end of his illustrious twenty-three year career. He received 222 votes out of 226 for induction into the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, richly deserved, as he set 90 MLB records during his career. Many of his records have not been broken to this day and stand as a monument to his greatness. Other Ty Cobb records remained untouched for fifty years after his retirement – the most career hits, runs, games played and at-bats. He held the record for most stolen bases until 1977.

His surly temperament, racist attitude and aggressive playing style did not endear him to his baseball colleagues. It was said that every time at bat was for him, a crusade – pursued by demons, he achieved his goals through will alone. He was one of the first to use strategic “mind games” in his game. His baseball buddy Joe Jackson who led Ty in batting average with a .009 point lead was so concerned at the way Ty treated him, that his game diminished to a final average of .408, while Ty finished with a .420 average. His game was all offense – laying mental traps for his opponents – he worked on angles to keep them guessing and studied each player to see how he could exploit a certain style or tendency. He lived hard and played hard all his life until his death in 1961.

 

TRIS SPEAKER

Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians was the next to earn his place in the 3,000 Club. He singled off pitcher Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators on May 17, 1925 and continued to a total of 3,515 career hits. Another aggressive player, Tris was a right-handed player, but following a fractured right arm while a child, he was forced to throw using his left hand – something he did for his entire baseball career. His best season was in 1912, leading the American League in doubles with 53 and home runs with ten. In that season, he set many career highs – 222 hits,  136 runs, 580 at-bats and 52 steals which remained unbroken until Tommy Harper stole 54 in 1973 – over sixty years later. He hit over .350 in ten of his eleven seasons with the Indians, batting .386 in 1916. In 1920, as player/manager, Tris took the Indians to their first World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers and managed 1137 games before “retiring” as manager, following the accusation that he and Ty Cobb had “fixed” a Cleveland-Detroit game. He was reinstated after no basis was found for the charge, but the team let him know that he was a “free agent” and could sign on with whatever team he wished. In 1927, Tris signed on with the Washington Senators and in 1933, he became part-owner of the Kansas City Blues.arper stole    

Tris Speaker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937 and until his death in 1958, he acted as advisor, coach and scout for the Indians. His achievements were many – the most career doubles, most career outfield assists and is one of the only two players ever to reach 50 stolen bases and 50 doubles in one season (1912).

 

EDDIE COLLINS

Eddie Collins played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago White Sox during his twenty-four year baseball career, hitting his 3,000^th in 1925 off pitcher Rip Collins of the Detroit Tigers. At the end of his career, he placed second in MLB history for career games – 2,826; walks, 1,499 and stolen bases – 744 and he still holds the record of 512 career sacrifice hits, over one hundred more than any other MLB player. According to the win shares statistical rating system which was compiled by baseball historian Bill James, Eddie (Cocky) Collins was the greatest second baseman of all time!

The Philadelphia Athletics sold him to the White Sox in 1914 for the highest price ever paid for a player to that date. He was the third highest-paid player in the League, just behind Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. With Cocky on board, the White Sox won the pennant in 1917 and in 1919 and although he was on the team, he was not part of the group which “threw” the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. For the last two years of his career with the White Sox, he was player/manager, returning to the Athletics in 1927, spending two years with them. He coached for them for a couple of years after retiring and from 1933 to 1937, was the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. He was racist – not unusual for his time – and would not sign Jews, Blacks or Catholics to the team.

To this day, Cocky Collins is still the only player in MLB history to play for two teams – spending at least twelve seasons with the Athletics and another twelve with the White Sox. He ended his career with 1,300 runs batted in and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

 

PAUL WANER

Paul Waner threw and batted left-handed for the Pittsburgh Pirates for fifteen of his twenty-year career with MLB, finishing up with the New York Yankees. Known as the “Big Poison,” he hit his 3,000^th on June 19, 1942 – a single to center field in the fifth inning of an eleven innings game between the Pirates who won - and the Boston Braves with whom he played from 1941 – 1942. It seems that the Big Poison hit a better game when he was hung over! The management got him to stop drinking, whereupon he hit just .280, just one of the two times he ever hit under .300! Casey Stengal described him as “a very graceful player, because he could slide without breaking the bottle on his hip." And much later in his career, it was found that he was extremely near-sighted and was unable to read the huge ads on the outfield walls. But glasses did not help him one bit, because now he had to try to hit a smaller spinning ball instead of the big fuzzy melon-sized ball he’d hit previously!

Big Poison was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952 and he died in 1965 at the age of just 62.

 

STAN MUSIAL

Stan (The Man) Musial was considered the “gentleman” of baseball. Always gracious and accommodating to the fans, his fellow players and management, he was quiet and shy – until he walked to the batters’ plate where, with his unorthodox batting stance, he turned into the one of the greatest hitters in baseball. His unique ability to hit consistently to left field was developed as a child, where he used a broomstick and a ball of tape, rarely missing the hit. That skill became his greatest weapon and caused him to be named as one of the top 100 baseball players ever. His entire MLB career was spent with the St. Louis Cardinals; from 1941 to 1963 except for the year 1945 during which he served with the US Navy.

Selected for the All-Star team twenty-four times, Stan was named MVP three times, and played in three World Series championship teams. He became a member of the 3000 Hits Club on May 15, 1958 in a game against the Chicago Cubs in the sixth inning, where he smashed a double from pitcher Drabowsky and the game was stopped so that Stan could be presented with the ball. His total number of career hits was 3,630 during his twenty-two year career. His batting average at the end of his career was .331. Stan retired in 1973 but continued in baseball as the Cardinals’ General Manager, winning the pennant and the World Series. Stan Musial was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969, the first year he was eligible, winning over 95% of the vote.

He was chosen for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999 at the age of 79. And for his contribution to baseball, Stan Musial was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award to be awarded to a civilian by President Barack Obama on February 15, 2011.

 

HANK AARON

The great Hank Aaron started his twenty-two year baseball career with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954ank aaron began. The following year, he was selected for the All-Star team; the first of his record-tying 21 All-Star Game appearances. By the end of his 1958 season, Hank hit .326, achieved 30 home runs and 95 RBI’s and in 1959 he hit three two-run homers against the San Francisco Giants. He almost won the Triple Crown in 1963 and led the League with 44 home runs, and 130 RBI’s, finishing third in batting average. After the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta, he hit 500 home runs and in 1969, hit his 579^th home run, surpassing the immortal Mickey Mantle.

He clocked his 3,000^th hit in May, 1970, against the Cincinnati Reds and in the same year, held the record for thirty or more home runs in the League. He began his race for the most career home runs, tying and then beating Willie Mays to become the second player on the home-run listings. He was expected to break Babe Ruth’s home run record the following year.

As he neared that record, he became the player to watch! Thousands of letters poured in, some encouraging and some threatening, as racism was still alive and thriving in Major League Baseball. At the end of the 1973 season, he was one homer away from tying the Babe’s record! He stated that his fear was that “I may not live to see the 1974 season!” He received death threats and mountains of hate mail from those who couldn’t bear the thought of a black player breaking Babe Ruth’s record. Members of the press also received threats and the editor of the Atlanta Journal had an obituary secretly prepared for Hank Aaron, in case the worst happened.

Hank tied Babe Ruth’s homer record in his first at-bat, off pitcher Jack Billingham at the beginning of the 1974 season. On April 8, 1974 at Turner Stadium, in a game between the Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, played in front of 53,775 cheering fans, Hank Aaron hit home run number 715 – the ball landing in the Braves’ bullpen where one of the pitchers caught it. Two white college students jogged alongside him for part of his run around the bases and the broadcaster ran out of words to describe the occasion “A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”

As well as entering the 3,000 Hits Club, Hank hit 755 career home runs – a record which remained untouched until Barry Bonds hit his 756^th in 2007. Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, garnering almost 98% of the vote.

 

WILLIE MAYS

Willie Mays is considered by many to be the greatest of all time – the complete player. He hit for power and average, ran the bases with speed, using his intelligence, was brilliant at center field and was possessed of a great arm.

Willie Mays earned his place in the 3,000 Hits Club on July 18, 1970, playing with the San Francisco Giants and finished his spectacular career with 3,283 hits with the New York Mets. One of his greatest achievements occurred in 1970, where in Game One of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, he engineered a spectacular catch – an over the shoulder running grab in deep center field off the bat of Vic Wertz. An impossible performance, it remains as one of baseball’s most memorable plays. It stopped two Cleveland Indians runners from scoring and resulted in a tied game. The Giants won in the tenth inning, with Mays scoring the winning run.

His multiple career achievements include twenty-four All Star selections and two All-Star game MVP’s, twelve Gold Gloves, World Series champion and a membership in the MLB All-Century Team.  For the last two years of his MLB career, he returned to the New York Mets, appearing in 133 games. He was the oldest regular position player in baseball and also the oldest to appear in a World Series game.

Willie Mays Day is celebrated in San Francisco on May 24 of every year – paying tribute to his birthday in May, his jersey number (24) and of course, to his name. Willie Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, capturing 95% of the vote on the first ballot.

 

ROBERTO CLEMENTE

Roberto Clemente of Puerto Rico joined MLB in 1955, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although his was a comparatively short career (eighteen years) he earned his place in the 3,000 Hits Club on September 30, 1972 by doubling in the fourth inning during a game between the Pirates and the New York Mets.

He started out with the Montreal Royals and played with them for a year before joining the Pirates in MLB’s Rule 5 Draft of 1954. He received the National League’s MVP award in 1966 and was chosen for the All-Star Game twelve times. His twelve Gold Gloves awards, his two World Series appearances (MVP in 1971) and his Babe Ruth Award, also in 1971 raises the question of just how far this talented player would have risen, had he not been killed in a New Year’s Eve, 1972 plane crash, while on his way to assist earthquake victims in Nicaragua.  His body was never found and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame post-humously the following year. He is the only Hall of Famer for whom the five-year waiting period was waived.

Major League Baseball presents the Roberto Clemente award each year to the player who best follows Clemente’s example of humanitarian work. In 1973, he was awarded the Congressional  Gold Medal and the first Presidential Citizens’ Medal. At MLB’s All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, he was awarded the Commissioner’s Historical Achievement Award which was accepted by his widow. Commissioner Bud Selig stated that “Roberto was a hero in every sense of the word.”

 

AL KALINE

Al Kaline went directly to the Major Leagues and played for the Detroit Tigers for the whole of his baseball career of twenty-two years. Within a couple of years, he became the youngest player ever to win the American League Batting Title with an average of .340. He hit two home runs in the same inning, three homers in one game and finished the 1955 season with 200 hits, twenty-seven home runs and 102 RBI’s. During the 1968 World Series, Game 5, Al hit a bases-loaded single to drive in two runs. The Tigers won the Series and Al Kaline hit .379, two home runs and eight RBI’s in the seven games.

He joined his baseball colleagues in the 3,000 Hits Club on September 24, 1974, hitting a double off pitcher Dave McNally of the Baltimore Orioles and finished his career with a total of 3,007 hits.

Al Kaline is still very involved with the Detroit Tigers as a commentator on TV broadcasts and also acts as a team consultant. Now in his mid-70’s, Al coaches outfielders during Tigers’ spring training and plays golf almost every day.

 

PETE ROSE

Pete Rose, of the Cincinnati Reds and arguably the greatest of them all slugged his way to his 3,000^th hit on May 5, 1978, in the third inning of a game against the Montreal Expos. He beat out an infield hit for hit 2,999 and followed it up with a line drive to left off pitcher Steve Rogers, earning his membership in the 3,000 Hits Club to a five-minute standing ovation from a screaming crowd! Pete kept going and became only player to date to hit 4,000 hits, on April 13, 1984 joining Ty Cobb in the 4,000 Hits Club. He holds the record for a total of 4,256 career hits, 3,562 games played, over 14,000 at-bats and over 10,000 outs.

He won three World Series rings, two Gold Gloves and appeared in seventeen All-Star games during his twenty-three year career, which he finished as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Pete was accused of gambling on baseball games while playing and managing the Reds and in 2004 following many years of denial, Pete agreed to his “permanent ineligibility from baseball” thereby eliminating his chances of ever being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Other players over the years have committed similar infractions and have been reinstated but not Pete Rose, despite several applications to the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig. Bud is slated to retire in 2012 and perhaps Pete might be reinstated once a new Commissioner is appointed. Generally, a place in the 3,000 Hits Club guarantees a player his spot in the Hall of Fame and Pete Rose did it all – contributing the most to America’s most beloved game. After all this time, Pete deserves a place among his Hall of Fame colleagues.

 

LOU BROCK

Left-handed Lou Brock entered the Major League in 1961, joining the Chicago Cubs after playing college baseball at Southern University in Baton Rouge.  He was traded in 1964 to the St. Louis Cardinals who were in eighth place in the National League. Four months later, the team won the World Series in seven games against the New York Yankees. Famous for his awesome base-stealing abilities, he proved his value on August 13, 1979 by hitting his 3,000^th career hit. He sliced a single to left field in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs and ran a line drive off the hand of pitcher Dennis Lamp, which forced Lamp to sit out the game. He earned six All-Star selections, played in two World Series and won the Babe Ruth Award, the 1974 Player of the Year Award, the Roberto Clemente Award, Lou Gehrig’s Memorial Award and the 1979 Hutch Award. He made No. 58 on the List of the One Hundred Greatest Baseball Players and entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

 

CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz) entered Major League Baseball in 1961, playing with the Boston Red Sox for his entire twenty-two year career. He reached his 3,000^th hit on September 12, 1979 with a single off Jim Beattie, pitcher with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox’ life-long adversary. Yaz was the first American Leaguer to make 3,000 career hits and 400 home runs. He reached a career zenith in 1967 by leading the Sox to the AL pennant for the first time in over twenty years and in the same year, was voted MVP.

Yaz went on to 3,419 career hits and was selected for the All-Star game eighteen times. He won the Gold Glove award seven times and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, cornering 95% of the vote.

 

ROD CAREW

Born in Panama, Rod Carew was discovered by Minnesota Twins scout Monroe Katz while playing for the Bronx Cavaliers. He signed an amateur free agent with the Twins and three years later he found himself in the Major League roster right out of spring training. He won the American League’s Rookie of the Year that same season and was chosen for the All-Star game eighteen times, missing out only in his final year.

Rod was signed up by the California Angels in 1979 and, during his last season, joined the select few in the 3,000 Hits Club on August 4, 1985, with a single off pitcher Frank Viola of the Minnesota Twins. Together with Ty Cobb, Rod Carew is the only player to lead both the American and National Leagues in batting average for three consecutive seasons, batting .388.

Rod Carew was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, which was his first year of eligibility. He is on the list of One Hundred Greatest Baseball Players and was a finalist for MLB’s All-Century Team. Rod is still deeply involved in the game he loves so much – as hitting coach for the Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers, helping both teams to develop their young talent.

 

ROBIN YOUNT

Seven years were to pass before another player joined the 3,000 Hits Club; Robin Yount did it on September 9, 1992, playing for the Milwaukee Brewers – his only team. He hit a single off Cleveland’s pitcher Jose Mesa and went on to accumulate a total of 3,142 career hits. He collected more hits throughout the 1980’s than any other player. In 1982, he won his only Gold Glove Award which garnered him his first unanimous vote for MVP.

Robin Yount holds Brewers’ records for games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers, RBI’s, total bases, walks and strike-outs. He is the last playing team member who played with Hank Aaron in the 1975 – 1976 season. Selected for the All-Star team three times, Robin Yount was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, his first eligible year. He continues in baseball, serving as bench coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

GEORGE BRETT

George “Mullet” Brett played for the Kansas City Royals for his entire twenty-one year career as third baseman, designated hitter and first baseman. He is one of only four players in Major League Baseball to rack up 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, 200 stolen bases with a career batting average of .300, joining Willie Mays, Stan Musial and of course, Hank Aaron. He reached his 3,000^th on September 30, 1992 in the seventh inning of a nail-biting game between the Royals and the California Angels off pitcher Tim Fortugno.

The combination of his terrific hitting skills with superb defensive ability and focus, Mullet is considered one of the most “complete” baseball players of all time. Nominated for the MLB All-Century Team, he was selected thirteen times for All-Star, won three Silver Slugger awards, two MVP’s  and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame 1n 1999.

Since the mid-1980’s, he has worked at raising funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and in 1986, earned the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award while still playing pro baseball. He became a vice-president of the Royals after his retirement and acts as coach and as a special instructor in spring training, also sharing his expertise as a batting coach.

 

DAVE WINFIELD

Dave Winfield joined the San Diego Padres in 1973 and was promoted immediately to the Majors. Dave was a pitcher, but the Padres wanted him in the batting lineup as well. He proved his value by batting .277 in fifty-six games during his first of seven seasons with them.

In 1981, he made baseball paycheck history by signing with the New York Yankees for a ten-year stretch at M (M in today’s terms), the highest ever. But the love affair did not last and George Steinbrenner’s relationship with Dave soured and George found himself banned from managing the Yankees because he had paid ,000 to a known Mafia gambler to dig up dirt on Dave. Dave went to the California Angels in 1989 and in 1990, he won the MLB Comeback Player of the Year award.  In 1991, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays won the pennant and in Game 6, of the World Series, Dave Winfield (Mr. Jay) scored the game-winning two-run double in the eleventh inning. At his advanced age of 41 (for baseball), Dave was the oldest player ever to reach an extra base-hit in the World Series.

·             He became the nineteenth player to take his place in MLB’s 3,000 Hits Club. On September 16, 1993, playing with his hometown team, the Minnesota Twins, he smacked an RBI single off pitcher Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics. He wound up with 3,110 career hits and was picked twelve times for the All-Star game. Seven Gold Gloves,e wound up

Six Silver Slugger awards, the Babe Ruth award are just a few of this great player’s achievements. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 on the first ballot.

 

EDDIE MURRAY

Eddie Murray was the twentieth player in baseball history to reach his 3,000^th hit, playing for the Cleveland Indians. He singled to right field off Minnesota Twins’ pitcher, Mike Trombley on June 30, 1995. He scored a career total of 3,255 by the time he retired from baseball in 1997 with 504 home runs. In 2008, he offered the Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet – a charity wine, commemorating his 504 homers and all proceeds went to the Baltimore Community Foundation.

Long before that, Eddie Murray appeared in his first MLB role on April 7, 1977 with the Baltimore Orioles, winning American Rookie of the Year. He stayed with the Orioles until 1988, scoring his best season in 1983, hitting .306/.393/.538 with 110 RBI’s and 33 home runs. Between 1994 and 1997, he played for the Cleveland Indians, the Baltimore Orioles, the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers. During his well-documented career, Eddie was selected eight times for the All-Star game, won three Gold Glove Awards as well as three Silver Sluggers and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. From 2002 to 2005, he was the hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians.

 

PAUL MOLITOR

Paul Molitor reached his 3,000 career hits milestone with a triple – the only player ever to do so! He was playing for the Minnesota Twins, on September 16, 1996 when he made his record-setting hit – fifteen years ago!

He started out with the Milwaukee Brewers as shortstop and then moved to second base. He was with the team when they lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 – but in Game One, he had five hits which is a World Series record. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 who offered him a M contract. He played in their second World Championship and won the World Series MVP Award, batting .500 in the six-game series. He joined the Minnesota Twins for the last three seasons of his career when he reached his 3,000^th hit. During that career, he was selected seven times for the All-Star game, won four Silver Slugger Awards, as well as the Babe Ruth Award, the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the Branch Rickey Award and the Hutch Award. And this amazing player earned all this while missing about 500 games due to multiple injuries throughout his career.

Paul Molitar is still active with the Minnesota Twins and served as a bench coach for three seasons. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in January, 2004 during his first eligible year and is one of two Hall of Famers wearing Brewers caps on their plaques.

 

TONY GWYNN

Loyal to the San Diego Padres for his entire twenty-year career, Tony Gwynn scored his 3,000^th career hit on August 6, 1999 – a single of Montreal Expos pitcher Dan Smith. August 6 seems to be his lucky day, because six years earlier, he scored his 2,000^th hit. He earned the title National League Batting Champion eight times. He calls himself a “contact hitter” able to hit to all parts of the field and is acknowledged as one of the best bunters ever. He ranked in the List of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as one of the finalists in MLB’s All-Century Team.

Tony Gwynn is thought to be the best baseball player ever to wear a Padres jersey, an opinion borne out by his fifteen selections for All-Star, five Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, the Roberto Clemente Award, the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the Branch Rickey Award. Since his retirement in 2001, he works as a commentator for ESPN and is the head baseball coach at San Diego State University.

And in January, 2007, Tony Gwynn was elected to the hallowed Baseball Hall of Fame securing almost 98% of the vote – thirteen votes short of unanimous!

 

WADE BOGGS

Wade Boggs spent his first ten years in MLB with the Boston Red Sox – from 1982 to 1992 and batted .349 during his rookie year. He regularly appeared on the League’s leaders in hitting. The Red Sox made it to the World Series in 1986, losing against the New York Mets who won in seven. A memorable photo of Wade Boggs holding back tears at the loss, was taken just after the game, echoing the emotions of all Red Sox fans.

He joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the last two seasons of his memorable career and struck his 3,000^th career hit on August 7, 1999. Wade was not known as a powerful hitter, but on this one glorious and memorable occasion, the baseball angels got behind the ball and delivered it safely into the hands of a sports reporter in the right-field stand, making it the only 3,000^th hit which was also a home run! There is a lone yellow seat among the expanse of blue ones in right field which is marked with a small metal plaque, commemorating this historic hit.

Wade Boggs was superstitious, eating chicken before every game, took exactly one hundred ground balls in practice and he trod the same path between his position and the home dugout. He created news outside his baseball career by settling a lawsuit brought by a lady friend who settled out of court and was rumoured to have drunk sixty-odd beers during a single flight across country. He refused to confirm the story, but stated that it was “just a few Miller Lites” and many fans now call the beer a “Boggs Lite.”

Wade Boggs was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. He was selected twelve times for All-Star appearances, won eight Silver Slugger awards, two Gold Gloves and finished his playing career with 3,010 hits.

 

CAL RIPKEN

Who doesn’t  know of Cal Ripken? He is one of those baseball heroes known and revered even by non-baseball fans! He slugged in his 3,000^th career hit on April 15, 2000, singling off a relief pitcher in a game against the Minnesota Twins and joined his illustrious colleagues in the 3,000 Hits Club.

Big Cal – six feet, four inches of him, played his entire MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, debuting in 1981. He reached and broke so many records that he deserves an article all to himself, but he’s probably best known for breaking Lou Gehrig’s “unbreakable” record of 2,130 consecutive games played by playing in his 2,131^st game on September 6, 1995 in front of a sold-out crowd at Oriole Park. He ended his streak of 2,632 consecutive games by voluntarily removing his name from the Orioles final season game lineup in 1998.

Considered the best shortstop and third basemen ever to play professional baseball, Cal was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, with over 98% of the vote on the first ballot.  Nineteen times selected for the All-Star game, he earned two Gold Gloves, eight Silver Sluggers, two American League MVP’s as well as two MLB All-Star game MVP’s. A member of the MLB’s All-Century Team, he supports many charities today including Lou Gehrig’s disease Research. In 2007, together with other sports notables, he founded Athletes for Hope which helps professional athletes become involved with charitable causes.

 

RICKEY HENDERSON

Rickey Henderson played for nine different MLB teams over his twenty-four year career. Known as the “Man of Steal,” he is considered the greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner and holds the major league records for stolen bases and runs scored. He was also among the league’s top ten base stealers in twenty one seasons.

He returned to the Padres in 2001 and in the final game of the season, scored his 3,000^th career hit – a leadoff double off Rockies’ pitcher John Thomson. During his entire career since June, 1979 through the end of the 2001 season, Rickey Henderson had stolen 1,395 bases – more than his new team, the Boston Red Sox ever had.

He played his final Major League game in September, 2003 at the age of 45. Despite his reluctance to retire officially, he did so in July 2007 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, having satisfied the five-year delay after retirement because the rule applies only to MLB players – he had played with several non-MLB teams since 2002.

There are many post-retirement stories about Rickey Henderson, some true, some not so true. A colourful figure indeed, he admits to some of them and ignores the rest. During his amazing career, his achievements were legion - he earned ten All-Star selections, two World Series championships, three Silver Slugger Awards, over 1,400 stolen career bases, 2,295 career runs and a host of others too numerous to record here.

 

RAFAEL PALMEIRO

Rafael Palmeiro scored his 3,000^th career hit on July 15, 2005, off pitcher Joel Pineiro of the Seattle Mariners. He is one of just four players to earn membership in both the 3,000 Hits Club and the 500 Home Runs Club. He made All-Star selection four times, won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger Awards. He earned eligibility for entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 but unfortunately, did not make the cut. On Major League Baseball’s official website, it states that “Rafael Palmeiro should have been a sure-fire first-ballot inductee, as a member of the 500-homer, 3,000-hit club, but was suspended in 2005 after testing positive for steroid use.”

 

CRAIG BIGGIO

Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros is the most recent recipient of the blessed right to breathe the rarified air of the 3,000 Hits Club! He achieved it on June 28, 2007 with a single off Colorado Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook.  He tried to stretch it into a double to draw a throw, permitting a run, but was tagged out. It was his third hit of the game and earned him the honour of being the first player in Astros history to reach 3,000 career hits. He is also the only player in baseball history with 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 250 home runs.

Craig Biggio announced his retirement in 2007 which would end his 20^th season with the Houston Astros, making it a franchise record. Later, during that day’s game, the Astros were tied 3-3 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Craig Biggio’s grand slam in the sixth gave the game to the Astros with a score of 7-4. During his career, he gained a reputation for being hit by pitches – none of them seriously – and earned the nickname “king of the hits batsmen.”  Biggio was selected seven times for the All-Star game, earned four Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers. He was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award in 2007 and also earned the Hutch Award, the Branch Rickey Award and the Heart and Hustle Award.

For most of his career, he has been a supporter of the Sunshine Kids Foundation which provides exciting activities for children with cancer. Presently, he is head varsity baseball coach at St. Thomas High School in Houston.  He is yet to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as the five-year delay rule is in effect until 2012. His legendary professional career, awards and membership in the 3,000 Hits Club probably guarantees his election on the first ballot when the time comes.

 

So who’s next, after Craig Biggio?  

 

Could it be Pete Rose?