Palmeiro leads the hit parade; Ichiro marches on

Sporting News, The, July 1, 2005

Ichiro Suzuki is more than a third of the way to 3,000 hits after getting No. 1,000 last week. Suzuki, 31, averaged 231 hits in his first four big-league seasons and needs to average 200 a year for 10 more years to get to 3,000.

Rafael Palmeiro is a lot closer; he began the week needing just 21 hits to become the 26th player to reach 3,000. Palmeiro might be the last player to reach the milestone in the next few years as today's older stars struggle to match his durability and consistency. These 10 active players have the best chance to reach 3,000 hits, based on hits per season and years played:

Player              Hits

Barry Bonds         2,730   Who knows whether he'll get even one more
                            hit?
Craig Biggio        2,703   Has the best chance among this group if he
                            continues to produce and Bonds doesn't come
                            back strong.
Ken Griffey         2,224   Last time he had more than 175 hits in a
                            season was 1998.
Garret Anderson     1,846   Has had seven 180-plus hit seasons; needs
                            seven more.
Manny Ramirez       1,821   Would reach 3,000 in seven years at his
                            current pace of 146 per season.
Derek Jeter         1,812   Should reach the milestone around 2012.
Alex Rodriguez      1,788   Is capable, but will he play long enough?
Edgar Renteria      1,491   Would need to stay healthy and play until
                            he's 40.
Vladimir Guerrero   1,481   May have the best wrists since Hank Aaron.
Todd Helton         1,431   Coors Field or not, he has a .334 lifetime
                            average.--C.N.