MLB: Top 30 leadoff hitters of all-time

View image | gettyimages.com

A member of the newly elected Hall of Fame class of 2015, Craig Biggio is certainly one of the greatest players of all-time and he spent the majority of his 20-year Major League career hitting leadoff for the Houston Astros.

A catcher early in his career, Biggio and Jason Kendall are the only catchers in Major League history to leadoff more than ten games in a season at the position. Of course, he moved to second base and then the outfield later in his career (and was never a great defender at any position), but was one of the best ever when it came to getting on base.

Biggio hit .281/.363/.433 with 3,060 hits (1,800 of which came atop the order) and 1,160 walks (704 hitting leadoff) in his career, but one part of Biggio’s success that often goes unnoticed was his ability to get on base via hit by pitch. Biggio was hit 285 times in his career, which is second all-time. He was hit more than 22 times in six separate seasons, and led the Majors in the category five times.

Overall, that totals 4,505 career times on base, which is 18^th most in baseball history. Biggio also scored 1,844 runs, which ranks 15^th all-time and only four players have hit more doubles than the 668 he collected for the Astros. He also stole 414 bases, which ranks 66^th in MLB history. Biggio hit 291 career home runs, and his 53 leadoff homers rank third on the all-time list.

Next: Pete Rose