Most Hits: 1st 13 MLB Seasons

Some say Ichiro has been only an average player because his OPS is so low. Good stuff. I always liked Ichiro as well. I love his quotes…always respectful. Seems like the 4000 hit thing stirred up a bunch of haters. There was a link on Ichiro's Baseball Reference page to a Radical Baseball post. The guy actually lives and dies by one stat: On Base Average. He does not even mention WAR. Seems like he is judging every player by the same criteria, when players can be great for different reasons. By his OBA measure Greg Maddux and Warren Spahn are not Hall of Famers. His link: http://radicalbaseball.blogspot.com/2013/08/ichiro-suzuki-is-he-great-hitter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RadicalBaseball+%28Radical+Baseball%29

Not every agrees with him: http://www.mlbinjurynews.com/2013/08/is-ichiro-suzuki-hall-of-fame-material.html 

This week's Sports Illustrated noted he is the all-time leader in hits in the first 13 seasons in the majors. That tidbit got me thinking, who has he beaten? There might be others, but here are several notables, including three active players. I even gave other players the benefit of the doubt, excluding September call-up hits. Ichiro is still over 50 hits ahead of the next closest competitor.

First column: Hits in first 13 MLB seasons.
Second column: Total hits.
Player (all-time rank)

2726 2726 Ichiro Suzuki (57)
2577 3630 Stan Musial (4) excl 20 call-up hits
2547 4256 Pete Rose (1)
2530 2721 Lou Gehrig (60) excl 17 call-up hits
2523 3311 Derek Jeter (11) excl 12 call-up hits
2474 2812 George Sisler (48)
2434 3771 Hank Aaron (3)
2397 3420 Honus Wagner (7) excl 81 call-up hits
2392 3010 Wade Boggs (26)
2386 3514 Tris Speaker (5) excl 29 call-up hits
2360 2923 Alex Rodriquez (37) excl 44 call-up hits
2352 2352 Michael Young (128)
2351 4189 Ty Cobb (2)
2351 3283 Willie Mays (12) excl 30 hit military yr
2347 2347 Albert Pujols (131)
2304 2304 Kirby Puckett (146) in 12 seasons
2244 2590 Vladimir Guerrero (82) excl 5 call-up hits
2238 3000 Roberto Clemente (28)
2222 3184 Cal Ripken (15) excl 5 call-up hits
2214 2214 Joe DiMaggio (174) spent 3 yrs in military
2204 3141 Tony Gwynn (19)
2196 2724 Roberto Alomar (59)
2173 3243 Nap Lajole (14) excl 57 call-up hits
2148 2654 Ted Williams (73) excl 2 yrs w/ 41 hits
2115 2726 Chipper Jones (57) excl 2 call-up hits
2112 3419 Carl Yastrzemski (8)
2076 3319 Paul Molitor (9) excl 10 hits in 1984

Cap Anson, currently sixth on the career hit list. He retired in 1897 after 27 seasons with a then record 3,435 hits. He did not play 100 games until his 14th season. The most games he ever played in any one season was 146.

DiMaggio averaged 193 hits his first seven seasons, then served in the military for three years. He averaged 168 hits his first three seasons back. Joe retired after only 13 MLB seasons.