Hits : 1943 American League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1943 Hits Leaders

Top 25 in the American League

Dick Wakefield 200 Detroit Tigers 1
Luke Appling 192 Chicago White Sox 2
Doc Cramer 182 Detroit Tigers 3
George Case 180 Washington Senators 4
Oris Hockett 166 Cleveland Indians 5
Billy Johnson 166 New York Yankees  
Bobby Doerr 163 Boston Red Sox 7
Nick Etten 158 New York Yankees 8
Tony Lupien 155 Boston Red Sox 9
Rudy York 155 Detroit Tigers  
Lou Boudreau 154 Cleveland Indians 11
Jerry Priddy 152 Washington Senators 12
Stan Spence 152 Washington Senators  
Vern Stephens 148 St. Louis Browns 14
Mickey Vernon 148 Washington Senators  
Don Gutteridge 147 St. Louis Browns 16
Wally Moses 147 Chicago White Sox  
Pinky Higgins 145 Detroit Tigers 18
Chet Laabs 145 St. Louis Browns  
Guy Curtright 142 Chicago White Sox 20
Roy Cullenbine 141 Cleveland Indians 21
Pete Fox 141 Boston Red Sox  
Joe Hoover 140 Detroit Tigers 23
Dick Siebert 140 Philadelphia Athletics  
Irv Hall 139 Philadelphia Athletics 25



The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?

The first player from the Angels franchise (they were the California Angels at the time) to wear the number twenty-five was Bob Perry.

Jose Cruz of the Houston Astros had his number twenty-five retired on October 3, 1992, and became the first Major League player with that particular retired number.