The 3 most incredible numbers from Hank Aaron’s career

1. 3,000 Hits Without A Home Run

I owe a hat-tip to our NBA editor Ian Levy for reminding me of this one. Aaron had 3,771 career hits, which sits third all-time. If you take out all 755 of his home runs, he’d still have 3,016 hits and be 30th on the all-time list. The same holds true for removing his 624 career doubles, which would leave him 20th on the all-time hits list (3,147) in that case.

But the “if he’d never hit a home run he’d still would’ve had 3,000 hits” thing is incredibly impressive to consider, and truly remarkable. So much of our acknowledgment of Aaron is as the “true home run king”, not tainted by performance-enhancing drugs (speculation or proof). But he was far more than that as a hitter, rooted partially in longevity. During his career, Aaron led the league in home runs four times. Four times.

Aaron’s run to pass Babe Ruth, and grace amid all that was going on around him, stands as a lesson for today’s pro athletes who get caught up in their modern version of fans expressing themselves.

3,000 hits is a mark that just 32 men in major league history have reached, including one currently active player (Albert Pujols–3,236 hits entering 2021). Next up among active players is Miguel Cabrera with 2,866 hits, and after that it’s a long way to the next active player on the all-time hits list.

By my estimation, only one other player (Stan Musial-3,630 hits; fourth all-time) could have all of his home runs taken out and still have 3,000 career hits. And Musial, who’s perpetually underrated by the way, had 280 fewer home runs that Aaron.