The greatest hitters in baseball history

As we continue to wait for the return of baseball season, let’s reflect on some of the great all-time talents in the MLB. Here is our list of the top five greatest hitters in baseball history.

5. Tony Gwynn

Our list begins with the man they named the National League batting title after, Padres legend Tony Gwynn. The San Diego right fielder led the NL in batting average eight times, including a four-year streak from 1994 to 1997. He was the MLB batting champ five times (1984, 1987, 1994, 1995, and 1997).

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Gwynn's career was his extremely low strikeout rate. “Mr. Padre” averaged just 29 strikeouts per 162-game season over a 20-year career.

4. Ted Williams

Ted Williams never led the American League in hits and is just 77th in total hits, at 2,654. But pitchers were petrified to put offerings over the plate against Williams, and it shows in his base-on-balls statistics.

Williams led the majors in walks seven times during his 19-year career. “The Splendid Splinter” also sacrificed five prime seasons to fight in World War II and the Korean War as a pilot, which limited the Red Sox left fielder to only 7,706 at-bats in his big-league career. For comparison, Pete Rose had 14,053 at-bats.

Williams, who led the American League in average six times, was the last player to bat .400 or better in a season, when he hit .406 in 1941.

3. Stan Musial

The legendary Cardinals outfielder was a seven-time NL batting champ and led the big leagues in hits five times over his 22-year career. His 3,630 hits put him at fourth on the all-time hits list, behind only Rose, Ty Cobb, and Hank Aaron. “Stan the Man” retired in 1963 with a .331 lifetime batting average.

2. Pete Rose

The longtime Cincinnati Red won three NL batting titles in the Queen City and led the majors in hits six times before he took his talents to the Phillies. He led the majors in hits during the strike-shortened 1981 season, but Father Time clearly caught up to Rose after his 40-year-old season.

Reunited with the Reds in 1985 as a player-manager, Rose eclipsed Cobb’s all-time hits record (4,191) on Sept. 8, 1985, at age 44. He retired after the 1986 season, with 4,256 hits to his name.

1. Ty Cobb

Our pick for greatest pure hitter in MLB history is “The Georgia Peach,” Ty Cobb. The AL’s most dominant “dead-ball era” batter, Cobb won 11 of 12 batting titles from 1907 to 1919 and led the majors in hits seven times in that span.

When the legendary Tigers outfielder retired following the 1928 season, his 24th in an MLB uniform, he held the all-time record for career batting average at .367, a number unlikely to be surpassed. 

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