Saber Answer to 3000 Hits

3000 hits is always a fun topic. Does it mean anything or is it arbitrary? I decided to come up with a new stat to judge hitters by: Plate Appearances times On Base Percentage. This combines longevity with performance. How does this redefine our top hitters? Currently 27 players have 3000 or more hits. If we sort by PA * OBP, we have to show 76 players to see those 27.

Rank	Name	H	Hit Rank	OBP	PA * OBP
1	Pete Rose	4256	1	0.373	5929
2	Barry Bonds	2935	32	0.444	5599
3	Ty Cobb	4189	2	0.423	5532
4	Rickey Henderson	3055	21	0.400	5343
5	Carl Yastrzemski	3419	6	0.379	5304
6	Stan Musial	3630	4	0.415	5282
7	Hank Aaron	3771	3	0.373	5205
8	Tris Speaker	3514	5	0.416	4998
9	Babe Ruth	2873	40	0.468	4978
10	Eddie Collins	3315	10	0.406	4891
11	Willie Mays	3283	11	0.383	4791
12	Ted Williams	2654	71	0.481	4714
13	Mel Ott	2876	39	0.409	4648
14	Eddie Murray	3255	12	0.359	4606
15	Frank Robinson	2943	31	0.388	4561
16	Craig Biggio	3060	20	0.360	4505
17	Honus Wagner	3415	8	0.383	4503
18	Rafael Palmeiro	3020	24	0.370	4460
19	Paul Molitor	3319	9	0.366	4460
20	Wade Boggs	3010	25	0.413	4445
21	Cap Anson	3418	7	0.391	4433
22	Joe Morgan	2517	91	0.390	4422
23	Cal Ripken	3184	14	0.339	4379
24	Dave Winfield	3110	19	0.352	4351
25	Al Kaline	3007	26	0.374	4339
26	Gary Sheffield	2689	63	0.392	4299
27	George Brett	3154	15	0.368	4283
28	Paul Waner	3152	16	0.397	4281
29	Lou Gehrig	2721	57	0.442	4274
30	Frank Thomas	2468	99	0.419	4222
31	Ken Griffey Jr.	2781	48	0.369	4174
32	Mickey Mantle	2415	112	0.419	4161
33	Robin Yount	3142	17	0.339	4156
34	Derek Jeter	2997	28	0.380	4125
35	Jimmie Foxx	2646	72	0.425	4111
36	Rod Carew	3053	22	0.388	4096
37	Charlie Gehringer	2839	45	0.398	4075
38	Alex Rodriguez	2762	50	0.385	4069
39	Luke Appling	2749	52	0.396	4062
40	Reggie Jackson	2584	81	0.355	4055
41	Rusty Staub	2716	58	0.360	4050
42	Chipper Jones	2562	85	0.403	4020
43	Rogers Hornsby	2930	34	0.423	4016
44	Manny Ramirez	2574	83	0.410	4012
45	Jim Thome	2239	160	0.403	4007
46	Tim Raines	2605	75	0.383	3977
47	Tony Gwynn	3141	18	0.386	3955
48	Jesse Burkett	2850	42	0.411	3954
49	Harold Baines	2866	41	0.355	3942
50	Omar Vizquel	2831	46	0.330	3898
51	Nap Lajoie	3242	13	0.372	3892
52	Dwight Evans	2446	108	0.368	3890
53	Darrell Evans	2223	167	0.359	3863
54	Luis Gonzalez	2591	79	0.366	3857
55	Jeff Bagwell	2314	138	0.407	3843
56	Fred McGriff	2490	96	0.376	3834
57	Lou Brock	3023	23	0.341	3833
58	Mike Schmidt	2234	162	0.379	3820
59	Richie Ashburn	2574	83	0.391	3815
60	Roberto Alomar	2724	56	0.365	3806
61	Billy Williams	2711	61	0.361	3799
62	Eddie Mathews	2315	137	0.374	3785
63	Max Carey	2665	66	0.351	3782
64	Bobby Abreu	2342	127	0.399	3771
65	Brooks Robinson	2848	43	0.319	3761
66	Sam Rice	2987	29	0.366	3751
67	Sam Crawford	2961	30	0.353	3744
68	Goose Goslin	2735	54	0.380	3739
69	Jake Beckley	2930	34	0.356	3729
70	Tony Perez	2732	55	0.340	3700
71	Fred Clarke	2672	65	0.376	3699
72	Harmon Killebrew	2086	222	0.375	3693
73	Harry Hooper	2466	101	0.359	3678
74	Johnny Damon	2662	68	0.352	3663
75	Bill Dahlen	2457	105	0.352	3661
76	Roberto Clemente	3000	27	0.358	3656
77	Frankie Frisch	2880	38	0.360	3639
78	Willie McCovey	2211	171	0.374	3625
79	Edgar Martinez	2247	159	0.417	3619
80	Zack Wheat	2884	37	0.361	3611
81	Todd Helton	2318	136	0.422	3605
82	George Davis	2660	69	0.355	3605
83	John Olerud	2239	160	0.397	3602
84	Chili Davis	2380	117	0.359	3589
85	Lou Whitaker	2369	120	0.359	3586
86	Willie Keeler	2932	33	0.373	3585
87	Eddie Yost	1863	332	0.389	3576
88	Al Simmons	2927	36	0.375	3572
89	Ozzie Smith	2460	103	0.330	3565
90	Harry Heilmann	2660	69	0.396	3556
91	Mark Grace	2445	109	0.382	3554
92	Brett Butler	2375	119	0.371	3542
93	Julio Franco	2586	80	0.363	3541
94	Nellie Fox	2663	67	0.340	3524
95	Roger Connor	2467	100	0.396	3507
96	Mickey Vernon	2495	95	0.355	3499
97	Willie Randolph	2210	172	0.368	3491
98	Rabbit Maranville	2605	75	0.309	3483
99	Andre Dawson	2774	49	0.322	3474
100	Dave Parker	2712	60	0.338	3451

So who wins using this system? Well, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams all move up. Not bad at all.

Who loses? Roberto Clemente (twice as many strikeouts as walks), Lou Brock (over 1700 strikeouts)

So using that stat... hitters with a PA*OBP > 4500 would be:

1. Pete Rose
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ty Cobb
4. Rickey Henderson
5. Carl Yastrzemski
6. Stan Musial
7. Hank Aaron
8. Tris Speaker
9. Babe Ruth
10. Eddie Collins
11. Willie Mays
12. Ted Williams
13. Mel Ott
14. Eddie Murray
15. Frank Robinson
16. Craig Biggio
17. Honus Wagner

Not a bad group to be in.