I feel like I say it once a week; one of the hardest things to do in professional sports, if not the hardest thing to do, is to hit a pitched ball. What’s amazing is that MLB hitters fail seven out of ten times and they’re considered an All-Star; if only all jobs and professions were like that.

That is why Ty Cobb has, in my opinion, one of the most admirable MLB records of all time. In his 24 seasons in professional baseball, he only hit under .300 once. That came in his rookie season, when he hit .240 in 150 at-bats for the Detroit Tigers in 1905. He then proceeded to win the batting title 11 times, while hitting over .400 three times, and hitting over .350 an astounding sixteen times! Below is the top ten list of highest career batting averages:

1. Ty Cobb: .366
2. Rogers Hornsby: .359
3. Shoeless Joe Jackson: .356
4. Lefty O’Doul: .349
5. Ed Delahanty: .346
6. Tris Speaker: .345
7. Billy Hamilton: .344
Ted Williams: .344
9. Dan Brouthers: .342
Babe Ruth: .342

Who is the highest-ranked modern-day player, you ask? Well, it’s Tony Gwynn, sitting in 18th place with a .338 career average. Albert Pujols is the highest ranked active player, coming into this year with a .328 BA and sitting in 33rd place. Seeing a list like this really puts it into perspective when you talk about “pure hitters.” What constitutes a pure hitter? Just point to this list, no explanation needed.

This is another record that I feel will never be broken. Do you think someone has a chance to challenge this record? If so, then who?