3000 hit club: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

In Major League Baseball, the 3000 hit club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have made 3000 or more career base hits. As of 2004, there are 25 players who have accomplished this.

In general, the 3000th hit is not a surprise, as the player has been approaching the mark for some time. However, teams will often interrupt the game in which the player reaches the mark in order to honor him on reaching a historically significant milestone in what has been an excellent baseball career. The club's "founding member" was Cap Anson in 1897, even before what is known as the modern era of baseball, making the 3000 hit club one of the oldest markers of greatness in the sport.

Rarely mentioned is the 4000 hit club, which only has two members.

After a slump in the 80s, the 1990s saw 7 players reaching 3000 hits, the most of any decade.

The members

† still active