Heres a look at the 20 most prolific hitters who arent in the Hall of Fame. He also won five Gold Gloves, had two top-three MVP finishes and ended his career with 200 home runs, when that meant something as a catcher. Bold denotes active player Stats through end of the 2008 season. Ryan was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999. Bartell received MVP votes in six seasons, finishing as high as sixth in 1937. Although his case was one of 10 reviewed by a special committee in 2008, Ferrell's numbers fell short. While he wasn't a home run hitter, Grace was a prolific doubles hitter, topping 500 for his career. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in each of his first four full seasons and six times overall. He was a six-time All-Star and a three-time top-five MVP finisher. His .564 slugging percentage ranks 14th all time. The 1964 NL MVP was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. 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 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. Everyone has their own opinion. At the time of his retirement, Williams was the National League's all-time home run leader with 251. 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 . He was a four-time All-Star and received MVP votes in eight consecutive seasons from 1938 to 1945. However, once Hershiser reached the age of 30, health issues set in and curtailed what could have been a Hall of Fame career. The years he did play, though, he was unquestionably one of the top hitters in the league. Mays hit his 500th blast during a career-best 52-homer campaign for the Giants in 1965. Predictably, he ran into arm trouble after that and his career numbers suffered as a result. 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. He finished fourth in the MVP voting in 1977 and 1978 and received MVP votes in five other seasons. After serving in the military, Boyer made his debut at the age of 24 and instantly became an impact player for the Cardinals. https://thelistwire.usatoday.com/lists/20-mlb-players-with-the-most-hits-not-in-the-hall-of-fame-pete-rose-joey-votto-cooperstown/, These players have a lot of hits, but no plaque, The fastest 40 times in NFL combine history, In memoriam: Celebrities who have died in 2022, 50 largest cities in the United States by population 2022, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He ended with 2,712 hits, 1,493 RBI and a .290 average. He finished with 399 career home runs, 2,333 hits and six top-10 MVP finishes. He had six 200-hit seasons and finished his 19-year career with a .294 lifetime average. Miguel Cabrera leads a group comfortably over .300 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. 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. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame. Thomas was the designated hitter in only 56.42 percent of the games he played in, while Molitor's percentage was even lower at 43.76. 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. He was the 1972 MVP and a seven-time All-Star. Answerbag wants to provide a service to people looking for answers and a good conversation. Murphy was hurt by a severe drop-off in production after the age of 31. 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. Even though he hasn't played a Major League game in 109 years, Van Haltren still holds the National League record for reaching base in 60 straight games, accomplishing the feat in 1893. It is not quite a three-hour drive from Caton to Cooperstown. He ranked fifth in all-time hits when he retired. Before that, O'Doul had some great seasons as a left fielder after being converted from a pitcher at the age of 31. in double plays turned by a first baseman six times in his career (cover photo: Denver Post) Johnson hit for good average on top of his power as well, batting over .290 nine times. He currently ranks 12th and is 18 hits away from tying Paul Molitor, who currently occupies 10th place. He led the National League in hits in both 1961 and 1963. He ranks 22nd with 2,668 career strikeouts. 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. Also of note here, because this is the era in which we live, the steroids issue must be addressed. He is hurt by the fact that he really only played 11 full seasons in the major leagues. Only Johnson won more games in a season since Wood's 34 wins in 1912. He topped 20 wins for the Browns in four consecutive seasons, maxing out at a league-leading 27 wins in 1921. He was a six-time All-Star and won 20 games three times. He batted over .300 seven times and was known for having fantastic range at shortstop. Only four players who are eligible for the Hall of Fame and not enshrined have more hits than Buckner's 2,715. Johnson's career numbers were hurt by a late start, as he didn't make his debut until he was 27 years old. His 1,330 walks ranks 36th all time and his 606 stolen bases ranks fifth. O'Doul actually is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, just not the one in Cooperstown. Incidentally, Hodges finished fourth again in 1980, this time ahead of nine future Hall of Famers. His vote total was better than 12 players who eventually would be enshrined, including legendary players like Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove and Gabby Hartnett. His career total of 1,614 walks ranks 11th all time. Garvey was a durable player who played in 160 or more games nine times and won four Gold Glove awards at first base. There were two main rules in making this slideshow. Bold indicates active player. He won the batting title in 1913 and 1914 while also displaying average power and speed and playing excellent defense. Marty Dobrow | Special to MassLive. Wood led the Red Sox to the 1912 World Series behind a record of 34-5. Along with Hank Greenberg, Bridges is the only other Tiger to appear in four World Series. However, his ability as one of the game's top sluggers cannot be denied. One of the more underrated hitters of the 1970s and 1980s, Oliver batted over .300 11 times, finishing with a career average of .303. His name showed up in the Mitchell Report, but it came without the hard evidence like shipping receipts or direct accusations that others had. He won at least 20 games four straight seasons, finished in the top four of the Cy Young voting for three straight years and placed fifth in the AL MVP voting in 1968. In terms of overall productivity, the sweet spot for the average Hall of Famer is a WAR between 50 and 70. By the time it came to vote for Freehan in 1982, his numbers paled in comparison to those catching at the time. Richardson was a clutch World Series player and still remains the only player from a losing team to win the World Series MVP. Be respectful even if you disagree. At times, Tiant was one of the great clutch pitchers of his generation. He has a .279 average with a .350 OBP, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBIs and 312 steals to go along with nine. He received MVP votes in eight seasons, finishing in the top 10 in six of those years. Colavito was also an excellent outfielder, possessing one of the greatest throwing arms in the game. One of the great clutch hitters of his era, Martinez finished with a .312 career average and topped 500 doubles and 300 homers in his 18-year career. 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. Coombs, however, didn't have the longevity of his teammates and faded fast. Despite his 119-121 record, Vander Meer consistently received over 20 percent of the votes in Hall of Fame balloting throughout hiseligibility. He ranks higher than pitchers like Catfish Hunter, Don Drysdale and Jim Bunning in that category. The best argument Trammell supporters have in their quest for his enshrinement is that many people feel Trammell was superior to Ozzie Smith, a contemporary of his who waltzed into Cooperstown on the first ballot with 91.7 percent of the vote. "Rowdy Richard" Bartell's career started just as Ty Cobb's was ending, but Bartell carried Cobb's legacy of playing the game with reckless abandon. Nicknamed the "Louisville Slugger," Browning was the inspiration for naming the famous bat after he purchased bats from theHillerich & Bradsby Company. He is also one of the few multiple MVP winners who has been left out of Cooperstown. For James Laurie "Deacon" White, the journey took 123 years. Reynolds got a late start to his MLB career and pitched in only 12 full seasons. The four-time Gold Glove winner finished with a .977 fielding percentage, which ranks 23rd all time at shortstop. Clark was a six time All Star and borderline Hall of Famer. While he never reached those heights again, Guidry had four top-five Cy Young finishes, made four All-Star games and won five straight Gold Gloves in the 1980s. Tony Gwynn is now in the Hall of Fame. Travis played in just 226 games after returning from the war, though, batting just .241 over that time. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame . O'Doul is in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and is credited with helping to popularize the sport in Japan in the 1930s. Starting in 1953, Pierce made the All-Star game seven out of the next nine years and received MVP votes in five seasons. 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. George Kell was a 10-time All-Star and hit more than .300 nine times. He topped 30 home runs eight years in a row, peaking at 50 in 1995. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame. He was a key piece in four World Series titles for the Yankees, delivering numerous clutch hits along the way. Guidry turned in one of the great pitching seasons of all time when he went 25-3 in 1978 with a 1.78 ERA. Torre was a nine-time All-Star and the 1971 NL MVP after batting .363 with 230 hits and 137 RBI. Mattingly made six straight All-Star games, won three Silver Slugger awards and nine Gold Gloves, a record for AL first basemen. Wood received 29 votes in the 1947 Hall of Fame voting, the most of any player who still hasn't been elected. Brown was named in the Mitchell Report as a possible steroid user, but no hard evidence surfaced about his use. He was the starting pitcher in the 1956 All-Star Game on a team featuring Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. When Cone was on his game, there were few pitchers with better stuff during his era. (Photo by JOHN G. MABANGLO/AFP via Getty Images). Vander Meer had a losing record over the course of his career, and that will likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Top 3 Seaons. Oliver accumulated 2,743 hits in his career. He ended his career with a .293 average and 1,977 hits. Teixeira was a gifted defensive first baseman and is one of the best switch-hitters of all time. Ferrell pitched 85 complete games over a three-year span in the mid-1930s. 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. He finished his 14-year career with 2,089 hits and a .298 career average. His Hall of Fame candidacy peaked in 1995, his third year on the ballot. Cone didn't compile big career numbers since he battled injuries for many years, but he matches up with the best in some of his individual years. His best season on the Hall of Fame ballot came in 1960, when he received 45 Hall of Fame votes, a total higher than 27 future Hall of Famers. Pinson's career is somewhat overshadowed by the contemporaries he played against as an outfielder in the 1960s and 1970s. A young and promising Derringer was traded from the Cardinals to the Reds in 1932 for Hall of Famer Leo Durocher, and he would go on to become one of the great Reds pitchers of all time. 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. At the time of his retirement, only Harmon Killebrew and Jimmie Foxx had more home runs in the American League by a right-handed hitter. This is the first story in a three-part series about . Although he was never a serious threat to make the Hall of Fame, it's surprising that he lasted just one year on the ballot before being removed after getting a mere 19 votes in 1991. Bagwell led the NL in home runs in 1996, scored 100 runs nine times and drove in 100 runs eight times. Oliva finished third in Hall of Fame voting in 1988, receiving 47.3 percent of vote. Evans played tremendous defense at third base and belted 414 career home runs, but received just eight votes the only year he appeared on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot. When Smith retired, he was the game's all-time saves leader and topped the list in games finished. Mays was a sidearming spitball pitcher who pitched for four teams in the early 20th century. Kuenn won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1953, then led all shortstops in putouts and assists the following year. Dave Orr-hit .342 but only played 8 seasons, so he isn't eligible for the Hall. His best representation on the Hall of Fame ballot came in 1981 when he received 62 votes, which was more than Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski and just shy of Orlando Cepeda's total. Schilling should be in the Hall, but he. Look for your favorite MLB slugger in this impressive list of baseball's top 500 career batting leaders. His 137 career OPS+ ranks behind only Mantle, Berkman and Jones among modern switch-hitters. He finished fourth in the MVP voting that year behind Hall of Famers Paul Waner, Frankie Frisch and Rogers Hornsby. Hodges' case for the Hall of Fame is interesting because he is a player whose value went beyond the numbers he put up. Despite being just a part-time player over his final five seasons, Staub amassed 2,716 career hits, falling 184 short of 3,000 and a probable place in Cooperstown. That is clear from his numbers: a .312 batting average and a .418 on . The two-time World Series champion finished with 2,326 career hits. He made eight straight All-Star games and 10 overall, was the 1974 NL MVP and had four other top-six finishes and had 200 hits six times. In five years, he will enter the Hall of Fame as one of the . (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images). 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