Chris Tobin yesterday became just the third player in WPK history to collect as many as 3,000 hits during his big league career.
Tobin turned 39 a few weeks ago and remains one of the best players in the WPK and even before reaching the 3,000 hit mark was a sure first ballot Hall of Famer. This season he has a slash line of .299/.369/.523, has hit 32 home runs and 22 doubles, has 84 RBI- a number that would be considerably higher if he wasn't in the middle of a very mediocre lineup in Columbus- has scored 98 runs, and has put up 6.4 WAR. And while he won't be winning any Gold Gloves, at his advanced age he remains a capable third baseman (he played shortstop for much of his career) with a 0.0 ZR and only 8 errors committed.
In addition to his 3,000 career hits, Tobin has also hit 331 home runs while stealing 339 bases.
He is under contract through 1987, and given that he has not had a season in which he put up less than 5 WAR in now five straight seasons, and he has now accumulated at least 6 WAR in 3 of the past 4 seasons, the real question is how much more he will add on to his already sterling Hall of Fame credentials.
The two hitters who are ahead of him in career hits are both now retired. Felix Lopez leads the way with 3,148 and Lazaro Lowndes is next at 3,118. Considering that Tobin has averaged a bit over 170 hits the past six seasons, it is quite likely that he retires as the hit king in the WPK. And while he won't catch either of those two in the stolen base category (Lopez' 656 SB's being the most ever, Lowndes' 568 is third), he has hit a ton more home runs (Lopez-50, Lowndes- 40).