Castro Set to Join Illustrious 200 Hit, 21-and-Under Club
Unless Starlin Castro goes 0 for the rest of the season, he'll get his 200th hit sometime over the next 6 games and when he does, he'll be the 10th such major league to do it before their age 22 season.
Rk | Player | H | Year | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | Pos | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lloyd Waner | 223 | 1927 | 21 | PIT | 150 | 683 | 629 | 133 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 27 | 37 | 23 | 14 | 0 | .355 | .396 | .410 | .806 | *87/4 |
2 | Alex Rodriguez | 215 | 1996 | 20 | SEA | 146 | 677 | 601 | 141 | 54 | 1 | 36 | 123 | 59 | 104 | 15 | 4 | .358 | .414 | .631 | 1.045 | *6 |
3 | Ty Cobb | 212 | 1907 | 20 | DET | 150 | 642 | 605 | 97 | 28 | 14 | 5 | 119 | 24 | 57 | 53 | 0 | .350 | .380 | .468 | .848 | *9 |
4 | Buddy Lewis | 210 | 1937 | 20 | WSH | 156 | 733 | 668 | 107 | 32 | 6 | 10 | 79 | 52 | 44 | 11 | 5 | .314 | .367 | .425 | .792 | *5 |
5 | Joe DiMaggio | 206 | 1936 | 21 | NYY | 138 | 668 | 637 | 132 | 44 | 15 | 29 | 125 | 24 | 39 | 4 | 0 | .323 | .352 | .576 | .928 | 789 |
6 | Hal Trosky | 206 | 1934 | 21 | CLE | 154 | 685 | 625 | 117 | 45 | 9 | 35 | 142 | 58 | 49 | 2 | 2 | .330 | .388 | .598 | .987 | *3 |
7 | Vada Pinson | 205 | 1959 | 20 | CIN | 154 | 706 | 648 | 131 | 47 | 9 | 20 | 84 | 55 | 98 | 21 | 6 | .316 | .371 | .509 | .880 | *8 |
8 | Garry Templeton | 200 | 1977 | 21 | STL | 153 | 644 | 621 | 94 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 79 | 15 | 70 | 28 | 24 | .322 | .336 | .449 | .786 | *6 |
9 | Al Kaline | 200 | 1955 | 20 | DET | 152 | 681 | 588 | 121 | 24 | 8 | 27 | 102 | 82 | 57 | 6 | 8 | .340 | .421 | .546 | .967 | *9 |
That's 4 Hall-of-Famers, 1 if-they-ignore-the-steroids-Hall-of-Famer, 2 guys whose careers were deflated by World War II (Trosky and Lewis), and 2 guys with very solid and long major league careers (Pinson and Templeton). The only shortstops of the group are A-Rod and Templeton and well, no one is comparing Castro to A-Rod. And I don't think too many people are comparing him to Templeton either, whom I remember as more of a slap-hitting switch-htter whose bad knees got the better of him. Nonetheless, it wouldn't be a terrible career for Castro if he ended up north of 2000 hits and a few All-Star selections, although we are all certainly expecting more.
For what it's worth, if you expand it to age 22 and younger, another 15 instances are added. They include repeats by Pinson, A-Rod, Waner, Cobb and Dimaggio. Then add 6 more Hall of Famers (Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., Freddie Lindstrom, former Cub Billy Herman, Frankie Frisch and Hank Aaron). Two more guys with very solid careers (Harvey Kuenn and Dick Allen), yet another great career interrupted by WWII (Johnny Pesky) and then one guy who took advantage of all the good players serving during the War (Dick Wakefield). So I think it's pretty safe to say that even better days are ahead for the Cubs occasionally absent-minded shortstop.
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