It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics.
Last week, we took a look at the members of the 3,000+-Hit Club, with a wide range of Tidbit(s) regarding its members (like the only player with 3,000+ hits to play 500 or more MLB games at four different positions or the only members of the 3,000+-Hit Club to never lead their league in hits or batting average and much more). For that post, click here:
This week. We’re looking at a players who racked up 700 or more plate appearances in a season. This, by the way, is one of those posts that illustrate how, with Baseball Roundtable, “one thing always seems to lead to another.” The initial inspiration was Kyle Schwarber’s “unicorn” season for the 2023 Phillies. That season, Schwarber hit just .197 in 160 games. In the process, among the records he set were:
- Most home runs by a hitter in a sub-.200 average season (47, the only qualifier to reach 40);
- Most runs batted by a hitter in a sub-.200 season (104, the only qualifier to reach 100);
- Most runs scored by a player in a sub-.200 season (108, the only qualifier to reach 100);
- Most walks in a season by a sub-.200 hitter (126);
- Most total bases in a season by a sub-.200 hitter (277);
- The most strikeouts in a sub-.200 season (215); and
- Most games played in a sub-.200 MLB season (160, tied with Carlos Pena’s 2012, .197 season for the Rays).
I also noticed that Schwarber was the only player with a sub-.200 average and 700 or more plate appearances in a season (720). That “one thing led to another,” sending me to the record books for a look at players with seasons of 700 or more plate appearances. To date, there have been 849 such seasons (842 since 1900). As you might expect, they were a bit rarer before the adoption of the 162-game schedule (versus the old 154). From 1900 to 1961, there were 236 player-seasons of 700 or more plate appearances (an average of 3.8 per season). Since 1961 (the first year both the AL and NL had 162-game schedules), there have been 606 such seasons (9.47 per season). Eleven batters made 700 or more plate appearances in 2025.
To The Roundtable, there seemed to be plenty to explore.
First, the real career workhorses, players with the most seasons of 700 or more plate appearances.
Pete Rose … 15 Seasons of 700+ Plate Appearances
Pete Rose, the MLB all-time leader in games (3,562), plate appearances (15,890), at bats (14,053) and hits (4,256) had a record 15 seasons with 700 or more plate appearances; including 12 consecutive (1969-1980). He, in fact, has more consecutive 700+ plate appearance seasons than any other player has 700+ plate appearance seasons. The 17-time All Star led the league in plate appearances seven times and in games played five times.
Rose played 24 MLB seasons (1963-86 … Reds, Phillies, Expos), going .303-160-1,314, with 2,165 runs scored and 198 stolen bases. He won three batting titles, was the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1973 NL Most Valuable Player. He played 150 or more games in 17 of his 24 MLB seasons. He played in 160 or more games in ten campaigns.
Cal Ripken, Jr. … Ten Seasons of 700+ Plate Appearances
Lots of games equal lots of GIDP.
Cal Ripken, Jr., of course, holds the MLB record for consecutive games played (2,632). Ripken played in 21 MLB seasons and topped 700 plate appearances in ten of them; including five consecutive (1983-87). Surprisingly, despite leading or tying for the lead in games played nine times, he only led the league in plate appearances once. That was in his 1983 MVP season, when he led the AL: in games (162); plate appearances (726); at bats (663); runs (121); hits (211); and doubles (47). Ripken was a 19-time All Star, the 1982 AL Rookie of the Year and the AL Most Valuable Player in 1983 and 1991. Ripken played 21 MLB seasons (1981-2001 … Orioles), going .276-431-1,695, with 1,647 runs and 36 steals. He played 150 or more games in 15 of his 21 MLB seasons – and 12 of his first 13. Notably, in all 15 of his 150+ game seasons, Ripken played at least 160 games.
Derek Jeter … 10 Seasons of 700+ Plate Appearances
Photo by chris.ptacek 
Derek Jeter played in 20 MLB seasons (1995-2014 … Yankees) and had 700 or more plate appearances in half of them (leading the league in plate appearances five times). Jeter was a 14-time All Star and the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year. Over his 20 MLB seasons (1995-2014), he hit .310-260-1,311, with 1,923 runs scored and 358 stolen bases. His last season with 700+ plate appearances was 2012 (his age-38 season). He played 150 or more games in 13 of his 20 MLB seasons.
Ichiro Suzuki … Ten Seasons of 700+ Plate Appearances
Ichiro Suzuki played in 19 MLB seasons and had 700 or more plate appearances in ten of them. Notably, he didn’t have his first 700+ PA season until age 27 (when he made the move from Japanese Baseball to the Seattle Mariners). He then ran off eight consecutive seasons of 700+ plate appearances and ten consecutive seasons of 200 or more hits (including his 2004 season, when he set a new record for base hits in a single season at 262). Suzuki led the league in games played four times, plate appearances four times, at bats eight times and hits seven times. He won two batting titles and was a ten-time All Star, the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player and a ten-time Gold Glover. In his 19 MLB seasons (2001-19 … Mariners, Marlins, Yankees), he hit .311-117-780, with 1,420 runs scored and 509 stolen bases. He played 150 or more games in 13 of his 19 MLB seasons – and 12 of his first 13. He played in at least 160 games in eight seasons.
A few Other 700+ Plate Appearances Tidbits:
- The Most Plate appearances in an MLB season … Jimmy Rollins, 2007 Phillies, 778 (Rollins had seven 700+ plate appearance seasons);
- Oldest Player with a 700+ plate appearance seasons … Pete Rose, 1982 Phillies, 41-years-old;
Putting The Old Horsehide In Play
Tommy Holmes had the fewest strikeouts of any player with 700 or more plate appearances in a season. In 1945, the Braves’ outfielder came to the plate 714 times and only struck out nine times. His final line was .352-28-117 – with 125 runs scored and 15 steals. He walked 70 times (a 7.77 BB-to-K ratio) and led the NL in hits (224), home runs, doubles (47), slugging percentage (.577) and total bases (367).
- Youngest player with a 700+ plate appearance season … Ken Hubbs, age 20, 1962 Cubs (It was Hubbs only 700+ PA season). The 1962 NL Rookie of the Year (and Gold Glove winner) died tragically – at age 22 – in a plane crash); .
- Fewest Games played in a 700+ plate appearance season: Billy Hamilton, 1894 Phillies, 132 (Modern Era: Woody English, 1929 Cubs, 144;
Going Deep – Or Not
The Cubs’ Sammy Sosa had the most home runs in a season of 700 or more plate appearances – 66 in 1998. There have, in fact, been four seasons in which a player with 700 or more plate appearances hit 60 or more home runs. Three of them belong to Sosa: 1998 (66); 1999 (63); and 64 ( 2001). The other belongs to the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (60 homers in 2025).
There have been 28 700+ PA seasons (by 25 different players) in which a player has hit zero home runs in 700 or more plate appearances. The only players to do it twice are Sparky Adams (1927 & 1928 Cubs); Doc Cramer (1936 & 1938 Red Sox); and Ozzie Smith (1980 Padres & 1987 Cardinals). Those were also Smith’s only 700+ plate appearance seasons. Nice bar trivia: “Who is the only player to have completed seasons of 700 or more plate appearances with zero home runs for two different teams?) For those who like to know such things, the most recent player to “achieve” this feat was Juan Pierre of the 2007 Dodgers (.293-0- 41 in 729 plate appearances). Pierre, by the way, had seven seasons of 700+ PA, five consecutively (2003-2007), when he also played 162 games each season. From 2005 through 2007, he reached 162 games played and 700+ PA for three different teams (2005 Marlins, 2006 Cubs, 2007 Dodgers).
- Fewest hits in a 700+ plate appearance season: Kyle Schwarber, 2023 Phillies, 115;
- Highest Average in a 700+ plate appearance season; Billy Hamilton, 1894 Phillies .403. (Modern Era: Rogers Hornsby 1922 Cardinals, .40128 and Bill Terry, 1930 Giants, .40126.);
- Most walks in a 700+ plate appearance seasons: Ted Williams, 1949 REd Sox, 162;
- Fewest walks in a 700+ plate appearance season: Woody Jensen, 1936 Pirates, 16;
- Most strikeout in a 700+ plate appearance season: And, we back to where this all started. It’s Kyle Schwarber with 215 for the 2023 Phillies.
Primary Resource: Stathead.com.
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