MLB: Top 30 leadoff hitters of all-time
player. 61. . 1963-1986. Reds, Phillies, Expos. Pete Rose. 2
Pete Rose wasn’t a speed demon by any means – he stole only 198 career basses and was caught stealing 149 times – but the all-time hit king got on base better than anyone in Major League Baseball history.
In 20 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, plus five with the Philadelphia Phillies and 95 games with the Montreal Expos, Rose collected a record 4,256 hits. He got on base 5,929 times in 14,053 at bats and 15,890 plate appearances across 3,562 games, 3,215 with a single, all of which are Major League records.
A 17-time All-Star (in which he started at second base, left field, right field, third base and first base), the NL MVP in 1972 and the 1963 Rookie of the Year, Charlie Hustle also ranks second all-time with 746 doubles and sixth in runs scored (2,165). He helped his team reach the World Series six times, winning two rings with the Big Red Machine in 1975 (when he was named the series MVP) and 1976, plus again in 1980 with the Phillies.
Rose made 10,170 plate appearances as his team’s leadoff hitter and had 2,924 hits in the role. He was a career .308/.379/.419 hitter at the top of the order (.303/.375/.409 overall), with only Ichiro and Wade Boggs hitting for a higher average among those that made more than 3,000 plate appearances as a leadoff man.
Next: Rickey Henderson