Alex Rodriguez became the 29th player in major league history to make it to 3,000 hits.
He hit a home run in his first at bat.
It is semi-ironic since A-Rod is going to be remembered throughout history as one of those who used performance enhancing drugs to power his way through the record books.
Many believe that it does not matter. Baseball history is filled with stories of players trying to get an edge, from scuffing the ball to taking uppers. Steroid use will only be a footnote in the Cooperstown history book.
The discussion usually centers upon how hard is it to get 3,000 hits.
From the standpoint of a full time starter, and qualification for a batting title (502 at bats), that means a career .300 hitter would get 150 hits per season. The simple calculation is that a player needs 150 hits per season for 20 years.
Is it harder to get 300 wins?
A starter will have 32 chances each season. Even if he wins half his games (16), he would need 18.75 seasons to get to 300. But pitchers rarely make all 32 starts, or average 16 wins a season for an entire career. Greg Maddux had 15 or more wins in 18 of his 23 seasons as a major league pitcher to total 355 career wins. There are only 24 players with 300 wins.
But now with pitch counts and specialty relievers in the bullpen, starters may not get the chance to gain wins if they are only required to pitch 5 or 6 innings per contest even in tied or close games.
The consensus is that it is harder to get 300 wins than 3,000 hits.
