Before 1948, Ty Cobb got the most hits, with 4,189 hits.

Interpreted as:

most career hits by a player through 1947

	NAME	H	G	AB	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	PA	TB	XBH	SH	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	WRC	WRAA	WOBA	WRC+	BRAA
1	Ty Cobb T. Cobb	4,189	3,034	11,434	2,244	724	295	117	1,933	1,249	94	681	897	13,068	5,854	1,136	291		.366	.433	.512	.945	2534	1,093.6	.445	165	975.1
2	Tristram Speaker T. Speaker	3,514	2,789	10,195	1,882	792	222	117	1,531	1,381	103	394	436	11,988	5,101	1,131	309		.345	.428	.500	.928	2264	921	.436	157	812.3
3	Honus Wagner H. Wagner	3,420	2,794	10,439	1,739	643	252	101	1,732	963	125	735	723	11,748	4,870	996	221		.328	.391	.467	.858	2044	725.8	.408	147	650
4	Eddie Collins E. Collins	3,315	2,826	9,949	1,821	438	187	47	1,300	1,499	77	468	741	12,037	4,268	672	512		.333	.424	.429	.853	2032	693.4	.409	144	619.7
5	Nap Lajoie N. Lajoie	3,243	2,480	9,589	1,504	657	163	82	1,599	516	134	347	380	10,460	4,472	902	221		.338	.380	.466	.847	1787	600.2	.401	144	547
6	Paul Waner P. Waner	3,152	2,549	9,459	1,627	605	191	113	1,309	1,091	38	376	104	10,762	4,478	909	174	45	.333	.404	.473	.878	1868	537	.403	135	487.9
7	Cap Anson C. Anson	3,012	2,277	9,104	1,722	529	124	97	1,306	953	32	146	247	10,123	4,080	750	34		.331	.396	.448	.844	2154	654.1	.397	134	525.3
8	Sam Rice S. Rice	2,987	2,404	9,269	1,514	498	184	34	1,077	708	56	275	351	10,246	3,955	716	213		.322	.374	.427	.801	1487	243	.372	113	169.7
9	Sam Crawford S. Crawford	2,961	2,517	9,570	1,391	458	309	97	1,525	760	23	580	367	10,594	4,328	864	241		.309	.362	.452	.814	1661	510.8	.387	138	446.4
10	Jake Beckley J. Beckley	2,934	2,389	9,538	1,602	473	244	87	1,578	616	183	442	315	10,504	4,156	804	167		.308	.361	.436	.797	1803	356.2	.376	119	288.8
11	Willie Keeler W. Keeler	2,932	2,123	8,591	1,719	241	145	33	810	524	129	136	495	9,610	3,562	419	366		.341	.388	.415	.802	1640	406.6	.383	124	330.8
12	Rogers Hornsby R. Hornsby	2,930	2,259	8,173	1,579	541	169	301	1,584	1,038	48	679	135	9,475	4,712	1,011	216		.358	.434	.577	1.010	2018	899	.459	173	863.2
13	Al Simmons A. Simmons	2,927	2,215	8,759	1,507	539	149	307	1,828	615	30	737	88	9,515	4,685	995	111	23	.334	.380	.535	.915	1714	519.5	.410	130	400.1
14	Zack Wheat Z. Wheat	2,884	2,410	9,106	1,289	476	172	132	1,248	650	77	572	205	9,996	4,100	780	163		.317	.367	.450	.817	1510	381	.384	128	332.3
15	Frankie Frisch F. Frisch	2,880	2,311	9,112	1,532	466	138	105	1,244	728	31	272	419	10,100	3,937	709	229		.316	.369	.432	.801	1469	211	.370	112	164.5
16	Mel Ott M. Ott	2,876	2,730	9,456	1,859	488	72	511	1,860	1,708	64	896	89	11,337	5,041	1,071	109	38	.304	.414	.533	.947	2204	826.4	.430	156	794.2
17	Babe Ruth B. Ruth	2,873	2,503	8,399	2,174	506	136	714	2,214	2,062	43	1,330	123	10,617	5,793	1,356	113		.342	.474	.690	1.164	2727	1,436.8	.513	197	1,369.6
18	Jesse Burkett J. Burkett	2,850	2,067	8,426	1,720	320	182	75	952	1,029	75	561	389	9,620	3,759	577	90		.338	.415	.446	.861	1921	592.9	.411	137	526.7
19	Charlie Gehringer C. Gehringer	2,839	2,323	8,860	1,775	574	146	184	1,427	1,186	50	372	181	10,237	4,257	904	141	27	.320	.404	.480	.884	1797	516.6	.405	124	350
20	George Sisler G. Sisler	2,812	2,055	8,267	1,284	425	164	102	1,178	472	48	327	375	9,013	3,871	691	226		.340	.379	.468	.847	1424	363.9	.393	123	244.2
21	Goose Goslin G. Goslin	2,735	2,287	8,656	1,482	500	173	248	1,612	949	55	585	176	9,822	4,325	921	162		.316	.387	.500	.887	1695	458.2	.402	127	355.4
22	Lou Gehrig L. Gehrig	2,721	2,164	8,001	1,888	534	163	493	1,995	1,508	45	790	102	9,660	5,060	1,190	106	2	.340	.447	.632	1.080	2265	1,046.8	.477	173	980
23	Doc Cramer D. Cramer	2,705	2,235	9,136	1,356	396	109	37	841	569	41	345	62	9,926	3,430	542	180	99	.296	.340	.375	.716	1166	-10	.335	87	-174.3
24	Fred Clarke F. Clarke	2,678	2,246	8,584	1,622	361	220	67	1,015	875	154	511	509	9,838	3,680	648	225		.312	.386	.429	.814	1663	445.8	.390	131	386.2
25	Max Carey M. Carey	2,665	2,476	9,363	1,545	419	159	70	802	1,040	77	695	738	10,770	3,612	648	290		.285	.361	.386	.747	1411	179.3	.357	110	128.3