13 Ways of Looking at the 3,000-Hit Club by Frank Jackson December 19, 2016 Ichiro Suzuki is the most recent member of the 3,000 hit club. (via John Maxmena) The 3,000 hit club is exclusive (30 members to date), and membership in same is pretty much an automatic induction into the Hall of Fame, with a few notable exceptions. Only five players with 3,000 hits are not in the Hall. Pete Rose has been banned, period. Rafael Palmeiro, who once appeared to be a shoo-in, has been removed from the ballot due to lack of interest which in turn was due to lying about his use of steroids. Alex Rodriguez may or may not suffer the same fate as Palmeiro. Derek Jeter will surely be elected in his first year of eligibility, as will Ichiro Suzuki. The latter was the 30th man to reach 3,000 hits, and he sits at 3,030. I’m no numerologist, but it sounds like now is the perfect time for Ichiro to retire. But he hit .291 in 327 at-bats in 2016, so he may disagree. The wild card in the group is Cap Anson. There’s no doubt he had 3,000 hits; the controversy is over how far above 3,000 he went. He played for the Chicago franchise (known as the White Stockings and the Colts) from the National League’s inaugural year of 1876 through 1897. Before the NL, however, he played with the Rockford Forest Citys (sic) and the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association, the first professional league, albeit loosely organized and arguably not of major league caliber. So should Anson’s stats from that league be included or not? Most authorities say no, so I will concur and go with Anson’s 1876-1897 stats only. Another wrinkle is the 1887 season when walks were counted as hits, but Baseball Almanac has corrected for that, so I am going with those stats. There are a number of ways to compare the members of the 3,000 hit club, so herewith are 13 lists involving the 29 members of the club. Before we get to that baker’s dozen, however, here is the ranking according to number of hits: 3,000 HIT CLUB Player Hits Pete Rose 4256 Ty Cobb 4189 Hank Aaron 3771 Stan Musial 3630 Tris Speaker 3514 Derek Jeter 3465 Carl Yastrzemski 3419 Cap Anson 3418 Honus Wagner 3415 Paul Molitor 3319 Eddie Collins 3315 Willie Mays 3283 Eddie Murray 3255 Nap Lajoie 3242 Cal Ripken 3184 George Brett 3154 Paul Waner 3152 Robin Yount 3142 Tony Gwynn 3141 Alex Rodriguez 3115 Dave Winfield 3110 Craig Biggio 3060 Rickey Henderson 3055 Rod Carew 3053 Ichiro Suzuki 3030 Lou Brock 3023 Rafael Palmeiro 3020 Wade Boggs 3010 Al Kaline 3007 Roberto Clemente 3000 So much for the foundation. Now let’s build on it. DATE OF 3,000TH HIT Player Date Cap Anson July 18, 1897 Honus Wagner June 9, 1914 Nap Lajoie Sept. 27, 1914 Ty Cobb Aug. 19, 1921 Tris Speaker May 17, 1925 Eddie Collins June 3, 1925 Paul Waner June 19, 1942 Stan Musial May 13, 1958 Hank Aaron May 17, 1970 Willie Mays July 18, 1970 Roberto Clemente Sept. 30, 1972 Al Kaline Sept. 24, 1974 Pete Rose May 5, 1978 Lou Brock Aug. 13, 1979 Carl Yastrzemski Sept. 12, 1979 Rod Carew Aug. 3, 1985 Robin Yount Sept. 9, 1992 George Brett Sept. 30, 1992 Dave Winfield Sept. 16, 1993 Eddie Murray June 30, 1995 Paul Molitor Sept. 16, 1996 Tony Gwynn Aug. 6, 1999 Wade Boggs Aug. 7, 1999 Cal Ripken April 15, 2000 Rickey Henderson Oct. 7, 2001 Rafael Palmeiro July 15, 2005 Craig Biggio June 28, 2007 Derek Jeter July 9, 2011 Alex Rodriguez June 19, 2015 Ichiro Suzuki Aug. 7, 2016 Note the gaps in the above chronology. Given the shorter schedules of 19th century baseball, it’s not surprising that that century could produce only one hitter, Cap Anson, with 3,000 hits. To a lesser degree, Honus Wagner and Nap Lajoie were also affected by shorter seasons, as they broke in during the waning years of the 19th century but played most of their careers in during the 20th century. The longstanding 154-game schedule was instituted in 1904, and was followed by the current 162-game schedule in the AL in 1961 and the NL in 1962. With 30 major league teams (since 1998) playing a 162-game schedule, in the 21st century more players have more opportunities to accumulate 3,000 hits than in the 20th century. DATE OF FIRST MLB AT-BAT Player Date Cap Anson May 6, 1876 Nap Lajoie Aug. 12, 1896 Honus Wagner July 19, 1897 Ty Cobb Aug. 30, 1905 Eddie Collins Sept. 17, 1906 Tris Speaker Sept. 12, 1907 Paul Waner April 13, 1926 Stan Musial Sept. 17, 1941 Willie Mays May 25, 1951 Al Kaline June 25, 1953 Hank Aaron May 13, 1954 Roberto Clemente April 17, 1955 Carl Yastrzemski April 11, 1961 Lou Brock Sept. 10, 1961 Pete Rose April 8, 1963 Rod Carew April 11, 1967 Dave Winfield June 19, 1973 George Brett Aug. 2, 1973 Robin Yount April 5, 1974 Eddie Murray April 7, 1977 Paul Molitor April 7, 1978 Rickey Henderson June 24, 1979 Cal Ripken Aug. 10, 1981 Wade Boggs April 10, 1982 Tony Gwynn July 19, 1982 Rafael Palmeiro Sept. 8, 1986 Craig Biggio June 26, 1988 Alex Rodriguez July 8, 1994 Derek Jeter May 29, 1995 Ichiro Suzuki April 2, 2001 Again, the gaps are intriguing. Note that 19 seasons elapsed between the rookie seasons of Tris Speaker and Paul Waner. To be sure, many outstanding hitters (e.g., Sisler, Ruth, Gehrig, Hornsby) came into the game during that time period, yet no 3,000-hit men emerged from the pack. After Waner, it was 15 years till the next 3,000-hit man (Stan Musial) came along. After Musial, it was 10 years until Willie Mays arrived on the scene. Since Mays, the maximum wait has been six years. As noted above, Honus Wagner and Nap Lajoie are the only players who played in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Ichiro is the first member of the 3,000-hit club whose career includes the 21st century only. LENGTH OF TIME TO REACH 3,000 HITS Player Length Pete Rose 15 years, 27 days Ichiro Suzuki 15 years, 4 months, 5 days Ty Cobb 15 years, 11 months, 20 days Hank Aaron 16 years, 4 days Derek Jeter 16 years, 1 month, 10 days Paul Waner 16 years, 2 months, 6 days Stan Musial 16 years, 7 months, 26 days Honus Wagner 16 years, 10 months, 21 days Tony Gwynn 17 years, 18 days Wade Boggs 17 years, 3 months, 28 days Roberto Clemente 17 years, 5 months, 13 days Tris Speaker 17 years, 8 months, 5 days Cal Ripken 17 years, 8 months, 5 days Lou Brock 17 years, 11 months, 3 days Nap Lajoie 18 years, 1 month, 15 days Eddie Murray 18 years, 2 months, 23 days Rod Carew 18 years, 3 months, 23 days Carl Yastrzemski 18 years, 5 months, 1 day Robin Yount 18 years, 5 months, 4 days Paul Molitor 18 years, 5 months, 9 days Eddie Collins 18 years, 8 months, 17 days Rafael Palmeiro 18 years, 10 months, 7 days Craig Biggio 19 years, 2 days Willie Mays 19 days, 1 month, 23 days George Brett 19 years, 1 month, 29 days Dave Winfield 20 years, 2 months, 28 days Alex Rodriguez 20 years, 11 months, 11 days Al Kaline 21 years, 2 months, 30 days Cap Anson 21 years, 2 months, 12 days Rickey Henderson 22 years, 3 months, 13 days To get 3,000 hits, one would have to average 150 hits for 20 years, or 200 hits for 15 years, or some average in-between. So in a sense, Winfield, Rodriguez, Kaline, Henderson and Anson, who took more than 20 years, could be considered “slackers,” though Anson could be given a pass because of the short schedules of his era. The hitters who played during the 154-game-season era were handicapped, time-wise in relation to players who have broken in since the early 1960s when 162 games became the norm. Providing eight extra games per season, the 162-game season provides 160 extra games – the equivalent of a full season – over a 20-year career. Given the length of time necessary to amass 3,000 hits, those extra games can make all the difference. We can surmise that remaining healthy is also a big advantage in the quest for 3,000 hits. Pete Rose’s appearance at the top of the list is a testament to his ability to avoid the DL. Starting with his rookie year in 1963, he never had less than 558 plate appearances until 1981 when he was 40 years old. One durable player we don’t hear about much these days is Paul Waner, whose heavy drinking apparently had no effect on his hitting. Waner got 2,868 of his 3,152 hits as a member of the Pirates. He got 180 hits in his rookie year of 1926 and never less than 175 through 1938. During that span, his rookie year total of 536 at bats was his lowest total. When Waner reached 3,000 (as a member of the Braves), he actually refused the honor initially, insisting that the infield hit he was awarded should have been an error. Remarkably, the official scorer changed his mind and Waner reached 3,000 two days later with an undisputed base hit. AGE AT 3,000TH HIT Player Age Birthday Ty Cobb 34 Dec. 18 Hank Aaron 36 Feb. 5 Robin Yount 36 Sept. 16 Tris Speaker 37 Apr. 4 Pete Rose 37 Apr. 14 Derek Jeter 37 May 29 Stan Musial 37 Nov. 21 Eddie Collins 38 May 2 Roberto Clemente 38 Aug. 17 Paul Waner 39 Apr. 16 Willie Mays 39 May 6 Tony Gwynn 39 May 9 George Brett 39 May 15 Alex Rodriguez 39 Jul. 27 Cal Ripken 39 Aug. 24 Rod Carew 39 Oct. 1 Al Kaline 39 Dec. 19 Eddie Murray 40 Feb. 24 Honus Wagner 40 Feb. 24 Lou Brock 40 June 18 Carl Yastrzemski 40 Aug. 22 Paul Molitor 40 Aug. 22 Nap Lajoie 40 Sept. 5 Rafael Palmeiro 40 Sept. 24 Wade Boggs 41 June 15 Dave Winfield 41 Oct. 3 Craig Biggio 41 Dec. 14 Rickey Henderson 42 Oct. 7 Ichiro Suzuki 42 Oct. 22 Cap Anson 45 Apr. 17 Probably the big surprises here are the second and third names on the list. The power-hitting exploits of No. 2, Hank Aaron, are well known, but in addition to 755 home runs, he had 98 triples, 624 doubles and 2,294 singles! From 1955, his sophomore season at age 21, through 1971, he never had fewer than 154 hits. Robin Yount was only 18 when he broke in, so that helped him reach 3,000 at a relatively young age, and he played a 162-game schedule throughout his career. Ichiro, thanks to his late arrival in major league baseball, occupies an unusual niche. He was old chronologically but relatively “young” in terms of how many years it took him to reach 3,000. Only Pete Rose got there faster. CAREER BATTING AVERAGE Player AVG Ty Cobb 0.366 Tris Speaker 0.345 Nap Lajoie 0.33820 Tony Gwynn 0.33817 Paul Waner 0.3332 Eddie Collins 0.3331 Cap Anson 0.3308427 Stan Musial 0.3308421 Honus Wagner 0.329 Wade Boggs 0.3278 Rod Carew 0.3277 Roberto Clemente 0.317 Ichiro Suzuki 0.313 Derek Jeter 0.310 Paul Molitor 0.306 Hank Aaron 0.3049 George Brett 0.3047 Pete Rose 0.303 Willie Mays 0.302 Al Kaline 0.297 Alex Rodriguez 0.295 Lou Brock 0.293 Rafael Palmeiro 0.288 Eddie Murray 0.287 Robin Yount 0.2854 Carl Yastrzemski 0.2852 Dave Winfield 0.283 Craig Biggio 0.281 Rickey Henderson 0.279 Cal Ripken 0.276 A 90-point spread from top to bottom is surprising given the outstanding talent of all 30 hitters. Interesting to note is that 11 of the 30 did not reach .300. Pete Rose’s 4,256 hits garnered him no better than a .303 average. Had he merely tied Cobb in the same amount of at-bats, he would have hit just .298; an even 4,000 hits in the same number of at bats would have put him at just .285. Given Cobb’s record lifetime batting average, and his early start (age 18), it’s easy to see why he was the youngest to reach 3,000 hits. Cal Ripken’s famed streak of 2,632 games enabled him to maximize his at-bats and hits while rising above his .276 average. Since Ripken is the all-time leader in GIDP (350), I think we can safely assume that his lack of speed (36 stolen bases in 21 seasons) eliminated a lot of potential infield hits, thus depressing his batting average. Speedy left-handed hitters have a decisive advantage when it comes to accruing infield hits, so the right-handed, slow-footed Ripken defied the odds by reaching 3,000. GAMES PLAYED TO REACH 3,000 HITS Player Games Played Ty Cobb 2,135 Nap Lajoie 2,224 Tony Gwynn 2,284 Cap Anson 2,236 Stan Musial 2,301 Paul Waner 2,314 Honus Wagner 2,332 Tris Speaker 2,341 Derek Jeter 2,362 Pete Rose 2,370 Paul Molitor 2,411 Rod Carew 2,417 Wade Boggs 2,430 Roberto Clemente 2,433 Hank Aaron 2,460 Ichiro Suzuki 2,452 Eddie Collins 2,505 George Brett 2,559 Lou Brock 2,629 Alex Rodriguez 2,631 Willie Mays 2,639 Robin Yount 2,708 Eddie Murray 2,764 Craig Biggio 2,781 Cal Ripken 2,800 Rafael Palmeiro 2,809 Al Kaline 2,825 Dave Winfield 2,840 Carl Yastrzemski 2,848 Rickey Henderson 2,979 The spread in number of games to reach the 3,000 milestone is 844 games, the equivalent of more than five full seasons. It should come as no surprise that the names in this list closely parallel the names in the career batting average list. Since Henderson played only 21 games fewer than 3,000, it suggests the possibility that one day someone may join the 3,000-hit club while playing in more than 3,000 games. CAREER PLATE APPEARANCES Player PA Pete Rose 15876 Carl Yastrzemski 13991 Hank Aaron 13940 Rickey Henderson 13346 Ty Cobb 13072 Cal Ripken 12883 Eddie Murray 12817 Stan Musial 12712 Derek Jeter 12602 Craig Biggio 12504 Willie Mays 12493 Dave Winfield 12358 Robin Yount 12249 Alex Rodriguez 12207 Paul Molitor 12167 Rafael Palmeiro 12046 Eddie Collins 12037 Tris Speaker 11988 Honus Wagner 11739 George Brett 11625 Al Kaline 11597 Cap Anson 11319 Lou Brock 11238 Paul Waner 10762 Wade Boggs 10740 Rod Carew 10550 Ichiro Suzuki 10466 Nap Lajoie 10460 Tony Gwynn 10232 Roberto Clemente 10212 The most noticeable stat in this chart is the gap between No. 1 and No. 2, Pete Rose and Carl Yastrzemski, whose careers overlapped from 1963 to 1983. Rose had 1,885 more plate appearances than Yastrzemski. This is by far the biggest gap between consecutive batters on the list. Rose and Yastrzemski are also No. 1 and 2 for total games played (3,562 for Rose and 3,308 for Yaz). You have to tip your hat to the both of them for staying healthy and hanging in there, Rose through age 45, and Yaz through age 44. CAREER HOME RUNS Player HR Hank Aaron 755 Alex Rodriguez 696 Willie Mays 660 Rafael Palmeiro 569 Eddie Murray 504 Stan Musial 475 Dave Winfield 465 Carl Yastrzemski 452 Cal Ripken 431 Al Kaline 399 George Brett 317 Rickey Henderson 297 Craig Biggio 291 Derek Jeter 260 Robin Yount 251 Roberto Clemente 240 Paul Molitor 234 Pete Rose 160 Lou Brock 149 Tony Gwynn 135 Wade Boggs 118 Ty Cobb 117 Tris Speaker 117 Ichiro Suzuki 114 Paul Waner 113 Honus Wagner 101 Cap Anson 97 Rod Carew 92 Nap Lajoie 83 Eddie Collins 47 Clearly, the 3,000 hit club is open to every kind of hitter, from power hitters (Aaron) to line-drive hitters (Brett) to contact hitters (Collins). Collins, by the way, was a renowned place hitter and bunter. I can’t find any stats on the number of bunt singles he amassed, but he is clear and away the all-time leader in sacrifice hits (512, 120 more than Jake Daubert), so I think it’s fair to assume that a significant proportion of his 3,314 hits were bunt singles. Note that the only non-deadball era hitter to fall short of 100 home runs is Rod Carew. He actually won the 1972 batting title (170 for 535 good for a .318 average) without once going yard. Even by Carew’s standards this was an oddity, as he hit 14 home runs in 1975 and 1977 when he won batting titles with much higher averages (.359 and .388). CAREER ON-BASE PERCENTAGE Player OBP Ty Cobb 0.433 Tris Speaker 0.428 Eddie Collins 0.424 Stan Musial 0.417 Wade Boggs 0.415 Paul Waner 0.404 Rickey Henderson 0.401 Cap Anson 0.396 Rod Carew 0.393 Honus Wagner 0.391 Willie Mays 0.388 Tony Gwynn 0.388 Nap Lajoie 0.3811 Alex Rodriguez 0.3797 Carl Yastrzemski 0.3795 Derek Jeter 0.377 Al Kaline 0.376 Pete Rose 0.375 Hank Aaron 0.374 Rafael Palmeiro 0.371 George Brett 0.369 Paul Molitor 0.369 Craig Biggio 0.363 Eddie Murray 0.359 Roberto Clemente 0.359 Ichiro Suzuki 0.356 Dave Winfield 0.353 Lou Brock 0.343 Robin Yount 0.342 Cal Ripken 0.340 “A walk’s as good as a hit,” goes the old Little League refrain. Well, that’s often true, but not when you’re on a quest for 3,000 hits. Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, for example, are not members of the 3,000-hit club. But Bonds is the all-time leader in walks with 2,558; Ruth had 2,062 and eagle-eye Williams (the all-time OBP leader at .482) 2,021. Of the four men in baseball history with more than 2,000 walks, the only 3,000-hit man is Rickey Henderson – and it took him longer (22 years, three months, 13 days) than anyone else on the list to reach 3,000. On the other hand, his .401 on-base percentage helped him set the major league record for runs scored with 2,295. Speaking of renowned base-stealers, Lou Brock, surprisingly, registers at No. 28 on the above list. One might think a longtime leadoff hitter and base-stealer with 3,023 hits would be higher on the list, but Brock didn’t walk much (761 in 19 years). CAREER SLUGGING PERCENTAGE Player SLG Stan Musial 0.559 Willie Mays 0.557 Hank Aaron 0.555 Alex Rodriguez 0.550 Rafael Palmeiro 0.515 Ty Cobb 0.512 Tris Speaker 0.500 George Brett 0.487 Al Kaline 0.480 Eddie Murray 0.476 Roberto Clemente 0.4751 Dave Winfield 0.4745 Paul Waner 0.473 Honus Wagner 0.467 Nap Lajoie 0.466 Carl Yastrzemski 0.462 Tony Gwynn 0.459 Paul Molitor 0.4479 Cal Ripken 0.4474 Cap Anson 0.4466 Wade Boggs 0.443 Derek Jeter 0.440 Craig Biggio 0.433 Robin Yount 0.430 Rod Carew 0.4292 Eddie Collins 0.4289 Rickey Henderson 0.419 Lou Brock 0.410 Pete Rose 0.409 Ichiro Suzuki 0.405 Pete Rose and Ichiro, who were the quickest to reach 3,000 hits, are at the bottom of the slugging percentage rankings. As leadoff hitters, they had a built-in advantage, as they got more at-bats. Of course, if you’re batting leadoff, you’re probably not a slugger, so your slugging percentage will reflect that. A .400 slugging percentage appears to be a threshold number for membership in the 3,000-hit club. Yet one fine day a prolific banjo hitter with a .399 slugging percentage may break through the floor. Stay tuned. CAREER TOTAL BASES Player Total Bases Hank Aaron 6,856 Stan Musial 6,134 Willie Mays 6,066 Ty Cobb 5,854 Alex Rodriguez 5,813 Pete Rose 5,752 Carl Yastrzemski 5,539 Eddie Murray 5,397 Rafael Palmeiro 5,388 Dave Winfield 5,221 Cal Ripken 5,168 Tris Speaker 5,101 George Brett 5,044 Derek Jeter 4,921 Honus Wagner 4,870 Paul Molitor 4,854 Al Kaline 4,852 Robin Yount 4,730 Craig Biggio 4,711 Rickey Henderson 4,588 Roberto Clemente 4,492 Paul Waner 4,478 Nap Lajoie 4,472 Eddie Collins 4,268 Tony Gwynn 4,259 Lou Brock 4,238 Cap Anson 4,080 Wade Boggs 4,064 Rod Carew 3,998 Ichiro Suzuki 3,920 The spread from 1 to 30 is huge with Ichiro 2,936 behind Hank Aaron. In fact, Aaron is 722 ahead of No. 2, Stan Musial. In fact, Aaron, Musial and Mays are the three all-time leaders in total bases among all hitters, with or without 3,000 hits. If Ichiro plays in 2017, he could get 80 more total bases to lift him to 4,000. That would leave Rod Carew as the only member of the club with fewer than 4,000. CAREER BASES ON BALLS Player BB Rickey Henderson 2,190 Carl Yastrzemski 1,845 Stan Musial 1,599 Pete Rose 1,566 Eddie Collins 1,499 Willie Mays 1,464 Wade Boggs 1,412 Hank Aaron 1,402 Tris Speaker 1,381 Rafael Palmeiro 1,353 Alex Rodriguez 1,338 Eddie Murray 1,333 Al Kaline 1,277 Ty Cobb 1,249 Dave Winfield 1,216 Craig Biggio 1,160 Cal Ripken 1,129 George Brett 1,096 Paul Molitor 1,094 Paul Waner 1,091 Derek Jeter 1,082 Rod Carew 1,018 Cap Anson 983 Robin Yount 966 Honus Wagner 963 Tony Gwynn 790 Lou Brock 761 Ichiro Suzuki 626 Roberto Clemente 621 Nap Lajoie 516 The top-to-bottom spread in this category is 1,574! Leader Rickey Henderson has more than four times as many walks as the anchor man, Nap Lajoie, who was notorious for swinging at pitches out of the strike zone – even when being granted an intentional pass. Clearly, this helped Lajoie reach 3,000 hits quickly (2,224 games, just 89 more than Cobb at the top of the list). Lajoie’s .338 lifetime batting average puts him in third place among the 3,000-hit club members, but his paucity of walks drops him close to the middle of the pack of the on-base percentage list. 200+ HIT SEASONS Player 200+ Hit Seasons Pete Rose 10 Ichiro Suzuki 10 Ty Cobb 9 Paul Waner 8 Derek Jeter 8 Wade Boggs 7 Stan Musial 6 Tony Gwynn 5 Tris Speaker 4 Paul Molitor 4 Rod Carew 4 Lou Brock 4 Roberto Clemente 4 Nap Lajoie 4 Hank Aaron 3 Alex Rodriguez 3 Cal Ripken 2 George Brett 2 Honus Wagner 2 Eddie Collins 1 Willie Mays 1 Rafael Palmeiro 1 Al Kaline 1 Craig Biggio 1 Robin Yount 1 Rickey Henderson 0 Carl Yastrzemski 0 Eddie Murray 0 Dave Winfield 0 Cap Anson 0 The bottom of the list is more intriguing than the top. It is hard to believe that a batter could amass 3,000 hits without at least one 200-hit season. Yet five batters (one out of six) did just that. As noted above, Anson was handicapped by playing a short season. That was not the case with Carl Yastrzemski, whose rookie year of 1961 coincided with the inception of the 162-game schedule in the American League. Rickey Henderson, Eddie Murray and Dave Winfield all played during the 162-game schedule. Henderson, a famed leadoff hitter, should have been a candidate for a 200-hit season, but it never happened. In fact, he never got close. His best year was his 1980 sophomore season when he got 179 hits. You might think Yastrzemski came close to 200 in his Triple-Crown year of 1967, but his best year in terms of hits (191) was his sophomore year of 1962. If you’re curious about the others, Eddie Murray’s best showing was 186 (1980), and Dave Winfield topped out at 193 (1984). So there we have 13 perspectives on the 30 hitters who achieved 3,000 hits. Outstanding hitters all, their achievement can be analyzed from a number of perspectives, depending on what you value in a batter aside from sheer number of hits. The 31st member of the club will likely be Adrian Beltre, who made his debut in 1998. He should reach 3,000 in 2017, his 20th season, as he needs just 58 more hits. If Albert Pujols can stay healthy, he is also a pretty good bet, as he will begin the 2017 season with 2,825 hits at age 37. Miguel Cabrera, with 2,519 hits at age 33, is also a strong possibility. When and if Pujols and Cabrera reach 3,000, Ichiro will no longer be the only member of the club whose major league career began in the 21st century. Given the statistical spread regarding power, on-base percentage, and other offensive categories, we can say that members of the elite 3,000-hit club are not created equal. As with crying, there is no egalitarianism in baseball.