Was browsing the official site the other day, and came across a little snippet that said
Biggio has 599 career doubles and is one away from becoming the only player in Major League history to reach 600 doubles, 2,700 hits, 250 home runs and 400 stolen bases, according to Elias Sports Bureau.Just for kicks, and because I love tables and graphs and colored sections that line up just so, I decided to take a look at the company Craig's keeping doubles-wise, and, marked with red background, show what prevented them from joining the club Biggio is about to start.
| Name | Doubles | Hits | Homers | Stolen Bases | ||
| Tris Speaker | 792 | 3514 | 117 | 432 | ||
| Pete Rose | 746 | 4256 | 160 | 198 | ||
| Stan Musial | 725 | 3630 | 475 | 78 | ||
| Ty Cobb | 724 | 4189 | 117 | 892 | ||
| George Brett | 665 | 3154 | 317 | 201 | ||
| Nap Lajoie | 657 | 3242 | 83 | 380 | ||
| Carl Yastrzemski | 646 | 3419 | 452 | 168 | ||
| Honus Wagner | 640 | 3415 | 101 | 722 | ||
| Hank Aaron | 624 | 3771 | 755 | 240 | ||
| Paul Molitor | 605 | 3319 | 234 | 504 | ||
| Paul Waner | 605 | 3152 | 113 | 104 | ||
| Cal Ripken | 603 | 3184 | 431 | 36 | ||
| Craig Biggio | 599 | 2773 | 254 | 407 | ||
| And the two active, if tainted, players closest to what Biggio is about to accomplish. . . | ||||||
| "Steroids" Palmeiro* | 585 | 3020 | 569 | 97 | ||
| "Flaxseed" Bonds* | 563 | 2730 | 703 | 506 | ||
| ------------ * Stole these nicknames from the Biggio HOF Tracker at Astrosdaily. Mocking these two at every opportunity for their steroid use is a wonderful idea, and one that further emphasizes Biggio's greatness. |
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What you're seeing, of course, once you realize that everyone not active is in Cooperstown, is that your Deadball Hall of Famer didn't have the homers, and that most of your modern era hitters don't have the stolen bases.
Everyone with 600 doubles or more as of right now has 3000 hits, although that will change within the next week when Biggio does the inevitable and hits his 600th two-bagger. In fact, just glancing at the list, Biggio kind of stands out more from this list for not having 3000 hits, than anyone else does for missing the stolen bases or the homers. I guess that's because 3000 hits is the most "natural" milestone of them all.
Worth noting I guess is that Bonds has a shot at reaching 600 doubles without getting 3000 hits, and that Biggio has a better chance of reaching both. . . .
And it is actually Paul Molitor among those not named Craig who comes closest to meeting the criteria. Only 16 homers short, he was. I certainly hadn't realized that Molitor stole 500 bases, had you?
Those within the cottage industry of defending Pete Rose against those players with OPS' 150 and 200 points higher should note that Rose is the only player with over 600 doubles who fails to make the grade in TWO categories. I thought Charlie Hustle hustled more. . . .
The active player not shown here who has the next most doubles after Biggio, Palmeiro and Bonds is John Olerud, possessor now of exactly 500 doubles, and 2230 hits.
Lastly, note some of those we are NOT seeing here, because they failed to get 600 doubles. Ignoring those still active, basically, the Top Nine All-Time in Career OPS are not represented in the chart above. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby, Mark McGwire, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Dimaggio were all apparently too busy hitting homers to accumulate the 600 necessary. Or more favorably, maybe your best sluggers are too slow to hang with Biggio. . . depends on your outlook, huh?
Stan Musial, in 17th place on the Career OPS lists entering 2005, and tenth among those guys whose numbers aren't gonna change, is the first guy with 600 doubles to appear on the OPS charts.