He finished fourth in the MVP voting in 1977 and 1978 and received MVP votes in five other seasons. He made a fool of himself in front of Congress, was named in the Mitchell Report and Jose Canseco's book Juiced, and was implicated in Jason Grimsley's affidavit about amphetamine use in the major leagues. Clark was a six time All Star and borderline Hall of Famer. Brown was a six-time All-Star and finished in the top six in Cy Young voting five times. Pete Browning-.341 average. From 1988 to 1993, he batted .234 and averaged just 15 homers a season. 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. He finished with just 275 career homers and a .260 batting average. . Schuerholz also scored . From 1946 to 1950, he won 20 games four times, leading the league with 24 wins and 28 complete games in 1948. Belle may have been a jerk and got caught with a corked bat, but the fact that he had just two meek representations on the Hall of Fame ballot before being dropped is a crime. When Smith retired, he was the game's all-time saves leader and topped the list in games finished. 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. He was a key member of the Yankees during the Mickey Mantle era. In the nine years prior to World War II, Travis had compiled a .327 average, topping .300 in eight of the nine seasons he played. Glasscock got his start during baseball's infancy in 1879 as a shortstop for the Cleveland Blues. Strikeouts thrown by a pitcher in a career, 5,714, Nolan Ryan, 1966-93 . He currently ranks 12th and is 18 hits away from tying Paul Molitor, who currently occupies 10th place. 01, 2023, 6:00 a.m. 9. Pinson was a very good all-around player, though, even if he wasn't in the class of those immortals. When Bill Veeck brought him back to the White Sox for a two-game stint in 1980, he became the first player to appear in five different decades and also became the last active former Negro League baseball player. Another 10 hit .299, but the average rounded up to .300. He was the 1978 NL MVP, won two World Series titles and received MVP votes in nine seasons, finishing in the top five of the voting five times. DiMaggio played just 11 years for the Red Sox, but had a big impact as the team's everyday center fielder playing next to Ted Williams. He made seven straight All-Star games in the 1980s and has three top-seven MVP finishes. The Hall of Fame case for Keith Hernandez starts with his brilliant glove-work at first base. Arguably the second-best leadoff hitter of all time, Raines' stats have gained morecredenceas on-base percentage becomes a more valued statistic. For the kind of player Raines was, that should not keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Bullying, racism, personal attacks, harassment, or discrimination is prohibited. But not many . Blue never did reach those heights again, but he still made six All-Star games and received Cy Young votes in five seasons. Here are the 25 best hitters in Major League Baseball history. Mays hit his 500th blast during a career-best 52-homer campaign for the Giants in 1965. McGwire was a 12-time All-Star, finished in the top seven in MVP voting seven times and was the 1987 Rookie of the Year after belting 49 home runs, an MLB-record for rookies. Ask away and we will do our best to answer or find someone who can.We try to vet our answers to get you the most acurate answers. McInnis was a fine defender who set numerous fielding records as a first baseman. From the time he broke into the league in 1986, Clark was one of the top hitters in the National League. Sure, it was a different era, but those are some incredible numbers. Reynolds made five All-Star games and had two top-three MVP finishes. Only Johnson won more games in a season since Wood's 34 wins in 1912. He finished with 2,210 career hits and played excellent defense. 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 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. He grades well in baseball-reference.com's Hall of Fame Career Standards. He batted over .300 10 times and finished with a career average of .308. For eight straight years he made the AL All-Star team and finished in the top 20 for AL MVP voting. He led the AL in doubles three times, RBI once, hits twice and OPS once. Be respectful even if you disagree. Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA, 500 games (fielding, 500 IP for Ps), 200 stolen base attempts (catchers) or 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images). Only five hitters have a higher career batting average with at least 10,000 PA since 1945: Tony Gwynn (.338), Wade Boggs (.328), Rod Crew (.328), Stan Musial (.328), and Roberto Clemente (.317). He was the 1972 MVP and a seven-time All-Star. But it also just underscored the difficulty of racking up big hit totals, particularly in the age of the three true outcomes (homer, strikeout, walk). For all of his accomplishments, though, he only made four All-Star games and had just three top-10 MVP finishes. NEW! He finished in the top 10 in the National League in batting eight times. The two-time AL batting champ made seven All-Star games and won five Silver Slugger awards. Parrish was one of the keys to the Tigers' 1984 World Series team, finishing third in the AL with 33 home runs that year. The 1969 Cy Young award winner, Cuellar won 20 games four times and finished his career with 185 wins. Hodges' 370 homers might not stand as too impressive today, but when he retired it marked the league's fourth-best career total. He batted over .300 seven times and was known for having fantastic range at shortstop. He finished with 2,210 career hits and played excellent defense. Dunn finished his career with a lowly .234 batting average. He has a .279 average with a .350 OBP, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBIs and 312 steals to go along with nine. Kuenn won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1953, then led all shortstops in putouts and assists the following year. The big draw for Maris' Hall of Fame case is obviously his 61 home runs in 1961. One of Wood's most incredible stats is that in 1,434 career innings pitched, he allowed just 10 home runs. NL in hits in 1999 with 206. He batted .398 that season and led the league with a .465 on-base percentage. In 1985, at the age of 38, he enjoyed a revival when he hit 40 home runs. Joe Morgan, Frankie Frisch, Eddie Collins, Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio have led the way. Root was allegedly the pitcher who gave up Babe Ruth's "called shot," which often overshadows an excellent career. His 466 complete games ranks 11th all time. Even for people who think Smith was better than Trammell, it wasn't as much as their Hall of Fame ballot gaps suggest. However, Smith does have a case that puts him in the Hall of Fame discussion. Allen is a divisive figure when it comes to the Hall of Fame debate. Bold denotes active player Stats through end of the 2008 season. Predictably, he ran into arm trouble after that and his career numbers suffered as a result. He ended with 2,712 hits, 1,493 RBI and a .290 average. Those players attract a lot of attention and discussion, which takes away from the examination of a career like Teixeira's. However, the numbers speak for themselves. A. His peak came in 1967 when he finished with 29 percent of the vote, ahead of 10 future Hall of Famers, including pitchers Hal Newhouser and Bob Lemon. That's no small task when his staffmates were Hall of Famers Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski. Yet while Rice and Dawson were elected to the Hall of Fame, Parker only received 24.5 percent of the vote in his second year on the ballot and went down from there. His name showed up in the Mitchell Report, but it came without the hard evidence like shipping receipts or direct accusations that others had. If McGriff's totals continue to trend upward, he could gain a groundswell of support, especially without the specter of steroid abuse holding him back. However, once he got to the Yankees in 1947 his career took off. Gooden's career .634 winning percentage is higher than Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn and a host of other Hall of Famers. Hodges consistently finished in the top five in Hall of Fame balloting throughout his career. Brown was named in the Mitchell Report as a possible steroid user, but no hard evidence surfaced about his use. Magee was one of 10 pre-1943 players who came under consideration for enshrinement in 2008, but he fell short. During his eight seasons in pinstripes, he went 131-60 with a 3.30 ERA. As a player, Palmeiro should have received automatic first-ballot induction into Cooperstown after compiling over 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in his 20-year career. How does a world-class base stealer with 3,023 career hits not qualify for the Hall of Fame? Garvey will likely be a strong Veterans Committee candidate years down the line. The 1978 AL Rookie of the Year played all 19 years of his career with the Tigers. In the World Series, he hit .529 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Reds. 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. Like many others,. Buckner won the 1980 NL batting title as a member of the Chicago Cubs and had two seasons of 200+ hits. Hodges lost three years early in his career to World War II, causing his breakout as a player to be delayed until he was 25 years old. career 300 hitters not in hall of fame. He ranks 22nd with 2,668 career strikeouts. Oliva finished third in Hall of Fame voting in 1988, receiving 47.3 percent of vote. When Cone was on his game, there were few pitchers with better stuff during his era. Palmeiros steroid use led to everyone discounting his monstrous numbers. He won eight Gold Gloves and had four MVP top-10 finishes. His 39-game hitting streak in 1987 is the longest . In fact, his highest single-season average was just .267, and he once hit .159 in nearly 500 plate appearances. "Indian Bob" is one of the great underrated players of the 1930s and 1940s, lost in the shuffle of playing at the same time as Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg. First, here are the ten current members of the 500 HR club ranked according to their career WAR through 2008: Name. He finished with 283 wins, the second-highest total of any modern pitcher not elected to the Hall of Fame who is eligible. 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. His .564 slugging percentage ranks 14th all time. He was the starting pitcher in the 1956 All-Star Game on a team featuring Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. His support waned from there, though. 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