Fast 1000

Jose Altuve sits three hits away from 1000, 2/3 through his sixth season in the majors. It’s an impressive feat given the number of games he played:

Altuve isn’t just one of the fastest to 1,000 among active players, or among Astros players. He has a lot of Hall of Famers beat, too. Of the top 10 all-time hits leaders, Altuve has more hits through 785 games than six of them: Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Carl Yastrzemski, Paul Molitor and Eddie Collins.

The other four — Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Derek Jeter and Honus Wagner — had passed 1,000 hits before game No. 785.

One of the impressive things about Pete Rose beating Ty Cobb for the all-time hit lead is that Rose got a late start. Cobb started playing in the majors at seasonal age 18. Rose started at seasonal age 22. Alutve, playing a partial season at seasonal age 21, has a bit of a head-start on Rose. His progress toward that record will be worth examining in another five years, but it’s tough for a second baseman to stay healthy enough to keep banging out 200 hits a year.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2aYV8XA