The Pittsburgh Pirates all-time top ten list for hits has something you won’t see everyday.
1. Roberto Clemente 3000
2. Honus Wagner 2967
3. Paul Waner 2868
4t. Max Carey 2416
4t. Pie Traynor 2416
6. Lloyd Waner 2317
7. Willie Stargell 2232
8. Bill Mazeroski 2016
9. Arky Vaughan 1709
10. Fred Clarke 1638
If you’re counting at home, that makes ten Hall of Famers in their top ten.
So the question is just how many other teams can claim that feat? The answer is none
Of the other 15 franchises that have been around for over 100 years, their charts break down as follows just below. If they have an active or retired player that seems to be a Hall of Fame possibility, I included their name.
Atlanta Braves- 4 plus Chipper Jones
Baltimore Orioles- 4
Boston Red Sox- 6
Chicago Cubs- 4
Chicago White Sox- 5 plus Frank Thomas and Minnie Minoso(who will eventually make it from the Veteran’s Committee)
Cincinnati Reds- 6 plus Pete Rose(maybe someday)
Cleveland Indians- 5 plus Omar Vizquel(if he ever retires)
Detroit Tigers- 5
Los Angeles Dodgers- 3 plus Gil Hodges,Maury Wills(see Minoso)
Minnesota Twins- 4 plus Tony Oliva(see Minoso)
New York Yankees- 7 plus Derek Jeter
Oakland A’s- 4
Philadelphia Phillies- 4
St Louis Cardinals- 7 plus Albert Pujols
San Francisco Giants- 5 plus Barry Bonds(possibly) and George Van Haltren(19th century possibility)
What you see is that no one else really is close to having ten Hall of Famers in their all-time top ten in hits. The Cardinals and Yankees both have seven now and one sure candidate sometime in the future but the other players on their top ten’s don’t have much of a shot of getting in anytime soon. Also with Pujols new contract he isn’t going in the HOF anytime soon either.
The flip side, as of right now, is that the Pirates haven’t had an at bat from any member on their top ten list in the last 30 years. You have to go to the 13th spot to find someone that just barely played within the last 30 years with Dave Parker and to the 16th spot to get to someone who played within the last ten years, Jason Kendall.
The next likely player to come close to the top ten would be Andrew McCutchen because of his six(potential seven) year deal. He has just 435 hits now though so he would have to average 172 hits per year over the life of that contract(with the option being picked up) to pass Fred Clarke for that tenth spot. Just for the record, McCutchen’s brief career high in hits is 163 set in 2010.
