List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
Updated: Wikipedia source
In baseball, a hit is credited to a batter when he reaches first base – or any subsequent base – safely after hitting a fair ball, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice. One hundred nineteen different players have recorded at least six hits in a single nine-inning Major League Baseball game. Five players have accomplished the feat more than once in their career; no player has ever recorded more than seven hits in a nine-inning game. Davy Force was the first player to collect six hits in a single game, doing so for the Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago White Stockings on June 27, 1876. These games have resulted in other single-game MLB records being set in connection with the prodigious offensive performance. Shawn Green, for example, established a new major league record with 19 total bases and finished with a total of five extra-base hits, tying a National League record that was also achieved by Larry Twitchell during the latter's six-hit game. Four of Green's six hits were home runs, equaling the record for most home runs in one game. Jim Bottomley, Walker Cooper, Anthony Rendon, and Wilbert Robinson hit 10 or more runs batted in (RBI) to complement their six hits. Robinson proceeded to collect a seventh hit and an eleventh RBI to set single-game records in both categories. Although his record of 11 RBIs has since been broken, Robinson's seven hits in a nine-inning game has been matched only by Rennie Stennett. Guy Hecker, the only pitcher to have accomplished the feat, also broke the single-game major league record for runs scored with seven. Cal McVey is the sole player to collect six hits in each of two consecutive games. Seven players hit for the cycle during their six-hit game. Zaza Harvey has the fewest career hits among players who have six hits in one game with 86, while Ty Cobb – with 4,189 – had more hits than any other player in this group and amassed the second most in major league history. Cobb, Cal Ripken Jr., and Paul Waner are also members of the 3,000 hit club. Of the 75 players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame who have recorded six hits in a nine-inning game, eighteen have been elected, three on the first ballot. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 MLB seasons, and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months. These requirements leave six players ineligible who are active, six players ineligible who are living and have played in the past five seasons, and twenty-six players ineligible who did not play in 10 seasons.