Wally Moses and the 2,000 career hits club
2,000 career hits is a lot
Whenever I see a stat attached to a baseball player’s name that I don’t recognize my antennae goes up. Last week I saw that Wally Moses had 2,138 career hits. In MLB history there are 297 players who’ve amassed 2,000 or more base hits. You’ve heard of the 33 that had 3,000 or more. This leaves 264 players that had between 2,000 and 3,000 career hits. You probably don’t know a few of them at all. I’ve already written about the 2,500-3,000 career hits club and while I didn’t intend to write about the 2,000+ hit club, Wally Moses’s career brought that into play.
The list with the most career hits
According to Baseball-Reference.com as of June 2025 there have been 23,500+ players who’ve played MLB. 264 with between 2,000 and 3,000 career hits represents 1.1% of all players. It’s an exclusive club when you position it that nearly 99% of all MLB players did not attain 2,000 career hits. When I saw Wally Moses’ name and his hit total I wondered how many of those 264 players I’d know. By know I mean knowing if they were an infielder or outfielder, and at least one of the teams for which they played. I knew Wally Moses was an outfielder, was a pretty good player, and played for the A’s (was pretty sure) but that’s all.
I was happy that I recognized just about all the names on the list of 264 between 2,000 and 3,000 career hits. The surprises were some of the names that appeared that I hadn’t realized were good enough player and played long enough to accrue 2,000 career hits. Nick Markakis? B.J. Surhoff? Aramis Ramirez? I watched all play but would’ve lost a bet had someone asked if they had more or less than 2,000 career hits. I really liked Jason Kendall, (mostly a Pirate) but didn’t realize he had 2,195 career knocks.
The closer you get to 2,000 the more the names might surprise you, but you still recognize the names. Although Mark Grudzielanek with 2,040 was an eye-popper. I just loved his last name. And Bobby Bonilla had 2,010 career hits? That might not be as cool as his July 1 annual payment from the Mets courtesy of former GM Steve Phillips, but it’s still cool.
Not many with 2,000 career hits are playing now
Padres third baseman Manny Machado will pass 2,000 likely before the All-Star break this season. Cardinals Nolan Arenado needs a bit more than 100 so that quest for 2,000 will take him into next season. Guardians Carlos Santana needs 150+ as of the last week in June.
About Wally Moses
Wally was short for Wallace, not Walter. Is anyone called Wally anymore? We used to have Wally Backman, and Wally Whitehurst, but there hasn’t been a Wally in MLB since Wally Joyner (a fine player) who retired in 2001. Connie Mack, Moses’ manager in Philadelphia (A’s), called him Wallace. Connie Mack's real name was Cornelius McGillicuddy, and he wore a suit and tie in the dugout, so that makes sense.
In his 17-year playing career Wally Moses once hit 25 home runs (1937) and that season’s total represented 28% of his career homers. Moses had only had 89 for his entire career. In 1943 he stole 56 bases while only swiping 20 one other time in his career (21 in 1943). The 56 steals represented 32% of his career steals. For the first 11 seasons of his career, he had 112 hits or more through his age-35 season in 1945. He made one All-Star team and received MVP votes four times.
Wally Moses’s resume
A great on base percentage (OBP) which he needed since he was not a power guy. A career OPS+ of 109 (9% above average) playing in lineups in which he was often the best hitter while being relatively unprotected in the lineup, is the mark of a consistent performer at the plate. He was an average fielder playing primarily as a right fielder and batted and threw left-handed.
According to Doug Skipper’s SABR bio, Wally Moses spent 41 years in Major League Baseball including 16 as a coach, three as a scout, and five more as a hitting instructor. He did not receive a Lifetime Achievement Award because MLB does not have such an award. But he’d have been a candidate! Moses hit .300 or better for the first seven years of his career. He’s not a Hall-of-Famer and he is quite comparable to another more recent and excellent but also not HOF ballplayer, Willie McGee.
Pretty similar right? Plus, I didn’t remember that Willie McGee had more than 2,000 hits either.
Wally Moses almost always played for losing teams
Playing his first seven years for the then-awful Philadelphia A’s during the prime of his career did little to help Wally Moses be known to MLB outside of Philadelphia. After leaving the A’s in 1941 he spent five years with the also awful Chicago White Sox. It wasn’t until he joined the Red Sox for the end of the 1946 season helping them reach the World Series, which they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals, that he played for a winner. Moses was terrific in the WS playing four games, batting .417 with an .878 OPS. Unfortunately, that was the entirety of his postseason career. Playing on a team with HOFer Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Rudy York, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio, it’s easy to understand how a fading 35-year-old Wally Moses was just another guy on the team. Moses hit .206 in 191 PA during the season.
2,000 career hits is a sign of longevity and consistency
2,000 hits is not necessarily an indication of overall career greatness. But it also highlights some of the best who’ve ever played the game. Marlin and Cardinal Edgar Renteria had 2,327 hits in his 16-year career and that blows my mind. Renteria also only played 5 games in the field that weren’t at shortstop where he played 2,114 games over his career which is in the top 10 for games played at shortstop.
Edgar Renteria’s World Series winning hit in 1997 is the reason he’s remembered while Wally Moses is forgotten. He should not be!
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and now Substack.com.