It’s been said that the hardest thing to do in sports is hit major league pitching. Here are the top 5 best baseball hitters of all time.
Top 5 Best Baseball Hitters of All Time.
The best hitters in baseball history are those who hold the all-time hitting records in Major League Baseball, change the game as we know it, and are amongst the greatest baseball players of all time. These sluggers dominated during their respective eras and captivated audiences at the same time.
If you were to pick a top hitter for your all-time top baseball fantasy team, you’d be silly not to select these best baseball hitters as soon as possible.
Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial all hold the top spots among the MLB all time hits, with Rose leading the pack at 4,256 over his career. Rose finished his career in 1986 and his record has withstood the time since.
But the best hitters cannot be defined by the number of career hits alone. On that stat, Babe Ruth, arguably the best baseball hitter of all time, would rank in the 40s.
Ruth holds top numbers for his home runs, slugging percentage, runs batted in and on-base percentage stats.
Lou Gehrig is another who’d fall into that category with his major league records for the most grand slams – a figure since topped by a great modern slugger, Alex Rodriguez.
Here are the top 5 baseball hitters of all time :
1) Ted Williams
This is a no-brainer selection for me. The “Splendid Splinter” could do it all. The most fantastic stat may be that Williams lost five of his best years to military service and still put up odd numbers.
| MLB statistics | |
|---|---|
| Batting average | .344 |
| Hits | 2,654 |
| Home runs | 521 |
| Runs batted in | 1,839 |
| On-base percentage | .482 |
| Managerial record | 273–364 |
| Winning % | .429 |
Williams hit .344 lifetime, won six American League batting titles and was the last man to beat over 400 for an entire season.
Williams won the triple crown not once but twice in 1942 and 1947. He won his final batting title at the age of 39 when he hit an astounding .388. To me, number one was undoubtedly the “Splendid Splinter”.
2) Ty Cobb
The “Georgia Preach”, as he was known, was one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game. His reputation was unjustly soiled by a drunken sportswriter named Al Stump and later Ken Burns in his PBS Documentary Baseball.
| MLB statistics | |
|---|---|
| Batting average | .366 |
| Hits | 4,189 |
| Home runs | 117 |
| Runs batted in | 1,938 |
| Stolen bases | 892 |
| Managerial record | 479–444 |
| Winning % | .519 |
But the truth about Cobb was he was as good a man as he was a baseball player. Beginning in 1907, Cobb won an unprecedented nine-consecutive AL batting titles.
Then after losing the 1916 race, he won three more in a row, starting in 1917. He is second all-time in base hits at 4,191 and has the highest lifetime batting average in Major League Baseball history at .367.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that he batted over .400 three times, hit above .300 for 23 straight seasons, and won the 1909 triple crown.
3) Stan Musial
Musial was a great hitter, and I have him this high on the list because he also hit with great power, belting 475 Home Runs in his career.
| MLB statistics | |
|---|---|
| Batting average | .331 |
| Hits | 3,630 |
| Home runs | 475 |
| Runs batted in | 1,951 |
Musial stands fourth all-time with 3,630 hits. The most impressive statistic in all of those hits is that he had 1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road.
Musial won seven batting titles and ended his career with a lifetime batting average of .331 and almost 2,000 RBI’s.
4) Rogers Hornsby
Hornsby is a man that is seemingly on every baseball historian’s top 5 hitters list, and yes, he is on mine also.
| MLB statistics | |
|---|---|
| Batting average | .358 |
| Hits | 2,930 |
| Home runs | 301 |
| Runs batted in | 1,584 |
| Managerial record | 701–812 |
| Winning % | .463 |
Hornsby had the highest single-season batting average in baseball history, .424, in 1924. Between 1922 and 1925, Rogers batted .401, 384, .424 and .403.
He won his final batting title with the Boston Braves in 1928 when he hit .387. Hornsby ranks second in history with a .358 lifetime average.
Alsl he won a pair of triple crowns in 1922 and 1925. Hornsby was also the first National Leaguer to notch 300 career Home Runs.
5) Tony Gwynn
Since the retirement of Ted Williams, Gwynn has been the best hitter in baseball.
| MLB statistics | |
|---|---|
| Batting average | .338 |
| Hits | 3,141 |
| Home runs | 135 |
| Runs batted in | 1,138 |
Gwynn owns a record-tying eight NL batting titles. He hit .394 in 1993, the highest average since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941.
That kicked off a string of four-straight batting titles, as Gwynn hit .368, .353 and .372 the next three years, respectively. Gwynn finished with 3,141 hits and a .338 lifetime batting average.
Gwynn was selected to 15 All-Star Games and helped lead the Padres to the World Series in 1984 and 1998. Check out the best new sportsbooks for betting on Baseball.