MLB

How Many MLB Players Have 3,000 Hits?

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Craig Biggio celebrates after joining the MLB 3,000 hits club in June 2007

Major League Baseball‘s 3,000 hits club is easily one of the most elite clubs in all of sports. An accomplishment many believe is even more impressive than reaching 500 career home runs, getting 3,000 hits certainly isn’t an easy thing to do. Two hundred hits in a single MLB season is considered a great year, correct? Simple math obviously tells us that someone would need to do that for 15 years straight to get to 3,000 hits.

That’s a long stretch of playing at an elite level, which is why all but two eligible members of the club have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the lone exceptions being Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez. MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, became ineligible after being banned from baseball in 1989.

There are currently 33 members in the 3,000 hits club. Rose, of course, tops the list, while Roberto Clemente, who was sitting on exactly 3,000 when he was tragically killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve in 1972, serves as the other bookend.

Of the 33 members in the club, 18 were right-handed, 13 were left-handed, and two were switch hitters. Ty Cobb holds the highest career batting average among those in the club (.366), while Cal Ripken Jr. has the lowest (.276).

Cap Anson was the first MLB player to reach 3,000 hits

While his actual hit total has been disputed for decades, the first member of the 3,000 hits club was Cap Anson, who played 27 seasons of professional baseball from 1871 to 1897 and recorded 3,435 hits.

The dispute comes from the fact that Anson played his first five seasons in the National Association, which some don’t consider an official “major league.” He recorded 423 hits in those five seasons. Take those away, and his total drops to 3,012. There’s also the matter of the 1887 season in which walks were counted as hits. Add the 60 walks he took that year, and his total obviously rises.

But as Anson’s bio on the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s website lists his hit total at 3,435, which includes the NA hits but eliminates the 1887 walks, we’re just going to stick with that number. Given that total, he reached 3,000 hits in 1894, his 19th season with the Chicago Cubs franchise, then known as the Chicago Colts.

There are 33 members in MLB’s 3,000 hits club

Here’s a quick look at every member of the MLB 3,000 hits club.

  1. Pete Rose: 4,256
  2. Ty Cobb: 4,189
  3. Hank Aaron: 3,771
  4. Stan Musial: 3,630
  5. Tris Speaker: 3,514
  6. Derek Jeter: 3,465
  7. Cap Anson: 3,435
  8. Honus Wagner: 3,420
  9. Carl Yastrzemski: 3,419
  10. Albert Pujols: 3,384
  11. Paul Molitor: 3,319
  12. Eddie Collins: 3,315
  13. Willie Mays: 3,293
  14. Eddie Murray: 3,255
  15. Nap Lajoie: 3,243
  16. Cal Ripken Jr.: 3,184
  17. Adrian Beltre: 3,166
  18. George Brett: 3,154
  19. Paul Waner: 3,152
  20. Robin Yount: 3,142
  21. Tony Gwynn: 3,141
  22. Miguel Cabrera: 3,124
  23. Alex Rodriguez: 3,115
  24. Dave Winfield: 3,110
  25. Ichiro Suzuki: 3,089
  26. Craig Biggio: 3,060
  27. Rickey Henderson: 3,055
  28. Rod Carew: 3,053
  29. Lou Brock: 3,023
  30. Rafael Palmeiro: 3,020
  31. Wade Boggs: 3,010
  32. Al Kaline: 3,007
  33. Roberto Clemente: 3,000

Miguel Cabrera is the most recent member of the club

The newest member of the 3,000-hit club is Miguel Cabrera, who joined the group at the age of 39 on April 23, 2022. The future Hall of Famer is considered by many to be one of the greatest right-hand hitters of his generation. And there’s certainly plenty of evidence to back that up.

Also the newest member of the 500 home run club, Cabrera holds a .307 career average and is a four-time batting champ, an 11-time MLB All-Star, a two-time AL MVP, a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a Triple Crown winner.

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Luke Norris
Sports Editor

Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting. Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes. In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke's work has appeared on  The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.

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Author photo
Luke Norris Sports Editor

Luke Norris began his sportswriting career in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2020. The former Section Editor of the NFL and Motorsports sections, he now spends his time here in the role of Senior Writer-Programmer. His well-rounded sports knowledge allows him to cover the NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, boxing, WWE, and NASCAR for Sportscasting. Luke is an avid golfer who finds inspiration in the way sports can bring people together and provide a distraction from the real world. He hopes to provide a little entertainment or an escape from the real world with every article he writes, even if only for a few minutes. In addition to his work here at Sportscasting, Luke's work has appeared on  The Sportster, Inquisitr, GiveMeSport, FanSided, Yahoo! Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated.

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