3,000 Hits

3,000 hits just isn't what it use to be. Look at the list of players with 3,000 hits and you will see some of the best baseball players in history. Rose, Cobb, Aaron, Wagner, Ripken, and so on. Currently, their are 26 members of this elite group of hitters. Craig Biggio should, by the end of the season, join the 3,000 hits club. That will put the list at 27.

In the 2007 Bill James Handbook, James examines players chances to reach such career milestones such as, 600 and 700 home runs and the all-time RBI record. The list for 3,000 hitters has 45 (that includes Biggio). Although some of those 45 have less then 1% chance but the point remains, they have a chance. While the old list was full with the cream of the crop, this list is full of average players with no shot of the Hall of Fame. Kotsay, Castillo, Green, Beltre, and Pierre don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of pitchers.

I know that most of these people will never each this milestone, but it does shed light on the problem with MLB. The pitching is the worst it has ever been. With expansion comes dilution and with dilution comes inflation. These stats are losing all its meaning. When Adrien Beltre has a 23% chance of reaching 3,000 hits, we need to reevaluate the meanings of many things. Many 4,000 should be the new milestone. Or maybe we should look into contraction. Whatever the coarse of action is, people need to look deeper into these players and what their accomplishments truly are.