[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

And yes, he mostly was a singles hitter. But he's #6 all-time, and in fewer years (20) than anyone in front of him. In fact, you have to go all the way down to #15 on the all-time hit list to find anyone with fewer years (some guy named Pujols with 19).

Forgot to answer this. You shouldn't be thinking in terms of years, because not all years are alike. First of all, the seasons now are 162 games. They used to be 154, right? I seem to remember a lot of discussion about Roger Maris and an asterisk because he didn't break Ruth's record in 154 games. That's 8 games a season more that Jeter played than many of the guys on this list. So, when you say Jeter played in fewer seasons, well, 8 games more played a season, after a few decades....it adds up.

Additionally, depending on where a guy hits in the lineup, they could see significantly more plate appearances, right? Jeter had 12,602 career PAs. 4,649 of those came from the #1 spot in the batting order. 6,753 more came from the #2 position. 11,402 of his career PAs came from the first or second position in the lineup. Many of the guys you referenced as having played more years...they're power hitters, and will be batting in the #4 or 4 slot in the lineup. Fewer PAs per season.

Of the 32 guys in the 3,000 hit club, Jeter had the most PAs per 162 games played:

Jeter 743 PA
Molitor 734
Anson 727
Rose 722
Boggs 713
Biggio 710
Pujols 701

Except for Pujols, all singles hitters, for the most part. Not a lot of real power.

Yastrzemski 685 PA
Aaron 685 PA
Musial 680 PA
Mays 676 PA
Kaline 662 PA

Jeter came to the plate a lot more than the guys behind him. That he achieved his hit total in "fewer seasons" is really a misnomer.