Twelve Active Career .300 Hitters and Whether They Can Make the Hall of Fame

The list of active career .300 hitters in Major League Baseball that have had at least 3,000 plate appearances now numbers twenty-two batters, many of whom are destined for the Hall of Fame. Stars such as Manny Ramirez, Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, and Vladimir Guerrero are certainly bound for upstate New York and Cooperstown when they hang up their spikes, and they are four of the top ten active hitters for average. The next dozen batters on that roster after these greats include some equally accomplished players, three of whom can already begin to contemplate which team's ball cap they want their likeness wearing on their Hall of Fame plaque. However, as you will see, there is more to making the Hall of Fame than hitting .300. Following are the dozen players that have the 11th through 22nd best lifetime averages that are currently active, and their chances of making the Hall of Fame on a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being a sure bet and 1 meaning forget about it.

.306 lifetime- Alex Rodriguez- New York Yankees
A-Rod eclipsed 500 homers this past summer and when he is done the shortstop turned third baseman may very well hold the all-time record as well have reached the 3,000 hit plateau. He currently stands at 11th among active players in career average, and is having the year of his life at the age of 31 as he strives for a third Most Valuable Player Award. Alex has won an AL batting crown, four home run titles, two RBI crowns, and has been an All-Star every full season he has played. HOF chances-10

.305 Placido Polanco- Detroit Tigers
Polanco is up there to swing the bat, and he makes contact. He has struck out just 297 times in 4,222 official at-bats, and walked even less with 238 bases on balls. The former Cardinal and Phillie is on pace for career highs in runs scored, average, and RBI, however, he is not going to be awaiting a call during the winters from Major League Baseball concerning his entering the Hall. Polanco has just 439 lifetime ribbies and although he hits for average, he is a Punch and Judy hitter with no batting titles. HOF chances-1

.303 Frank Thomas- Oakland Athletics
Thomas has everything he needs to be inducted to Cooperstown, what with back-to-back AL MVP Awards, a batting title, over 500 home runs, and 1,600 runs batted in. His best year for average was the strike-shortened 1994 season when he went at a .353 clip, and his career standard would be much higher if not for the fact that in the past six campaigns he has not hit better than .270. HOF chances- 8

.302 Ivan Rodriguez- Detroit Tigers
Probably the most amazing thing about this twelve time Gold Glove catcher is that despite his great average over 17 years in MLB, he has just once knocked in more than 100 runs in a single season. Still, Pudge, one of the greatest defensive back-stops ever, averages 89 a year and he was the American League's MVP as a Ranger in 1999. HOF chances- 9

.302 Moises Alou- New York Mets
A professional hitter, Alou is playing for his seventh club. He has never led the senior circuit in any batting category, but he did have five 100 RBI seasons, the most recent with the Cubbies in 2004. Alou is injury prone, as one might expect from a forty-year-old baseball player, but he is hitting .328 this year in 64 games. HOF chances-2

.302 Jose Vidro- Seattle Mariners
Vidro is almost a duplicate of Polanco, except with much more power. A second baseman as well, but now relegated mostly to being a designated hitter, Vidro has attained double-digit homers on six occasions and almost had 100 runs batted in twice, in 2000 and 2002. By no means is he a Gold Glover in the field, and he has stolen just 21 bases in his career. HOF chances- 1

.301 Juan Pierre- Los Angeles Dodgers
Pierre has hit 12 lifetime homers as a speedy centerfielder, one who has stolen 379 bases in his eight years in MLB. Juan has led the league in single five of those eight, and has scored an average of 97 runs a year, but his numbers are still far from Hall of Fame worthy. HOF chances-1

.301 Michael Young- Texas Rangers
This 31 year old shortstop has come on in recent seasons after hitting .249 and .262 in his initial pair of campaigns in the sport at its highest level. Since then Young has been a steady .300 batter, one who won a batting title in 2005, which has been able to produce runs. His power stats are down this year, as he has hammered just 7 home runs. HOF chances- 3

.301 Bobby Abreu- New York Yankees
A fine combination of power and speed, Abreu has the ability to drive the ball into the gaps and is a base stealing threat. However, he does neither at a pace that will ensure a spot among baseball's immortals. If he does stay with New York, in that lineup, he has the chance to compile numbers that may sway voters when the time comes, but he will have to do so for another five seasons. HOF chances- 5

.301 Lance Berkman- Houston Astros
Berkman is a tough call because he plays on a team that has had such trouble scoring runs, making his numbers more impressive. Lance has produced four 100 plus runs batted in seasons and won an RBI title, but he has no room for a fall-off in his run production if he is to prepare an induction speech down the road. HOF chances- 6

.300 Sean Casey- Detroit Tigers
Zero 100 RBI years and no campaigns that saw him clobber over 25 home runs dooms Casey as far as the Hall of Fame is concerned since he plays a power position, first base. The lead-footed Sean has earned the vast majority of his almost 1,500 base hits, as he stolen just 17 bases in eleven years. HOF chances- 1

.300 Mike Sweeney- Kansas City Royals
The last on this list has been bugged for the last few seasons with one injury after another. Mike hasn't played in more than 140 games since way back in 2001, one year after his monster season of 2000 that saw him bat .333 with 144 home runs. HOF chances- 1