Despite starting his MLB career in 2001 at age 27, after playing nine seasons in his native Japan, Ichiro Suzuki was only six hits away, through Sunday, from joining the 3,000-hit club. The 42-year-old's 9,532 career at bats compare favorably to the number needed to reach 3,000 hits by the 22 players who have gotten to that milestone since the end of World War II. Here are the top seven.
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
AT BATS TO REACH 3,OOO HITS
8,774
STAN MUSIAL
8,874
TONY GWYNN
9,138
ROD CAREW
9,151
WADE BOGGS
9,454
ROBERTO CLEMENTE
9,566
HANK AARON
9,604
DEREK JETER
