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So close: the near-misses

Lou Gehrig's 493 home runs, Glenn Anderson's 498 goals, John Stockton's 19,711 points: the players who finished just short of the big milestones, and who's chasing them now.

By Austin · October 16, 2026

Every sport has its magic numbers, the totals that get a player talked about forever. For every player who reached one, someone else finished a few short. We went through every career total in our data to find the players who came closest without getting there, and the ones who are close right now.

Sport	Milestone	Closest miss	Short by
Baseball	500 home runs	Lou Gehrig	7
Baseball	3,000 hits	Sam Rice	13
Baseball	300 wins	Bobby Mathews	3
Baseball	3,000 strikeouts	Zack Greinke	21
Basketball	20,000 points	John Stockton	289
Basketball	10,000 rebounds	Bob Lanier	302
Basketball	7,000 assists	Bob Cousy	45
Hockey	500 goals	Glenn Anderson	2
Hockey	1,000 points	Jason Spezza	5

Baseball

Baseball's milestones are the most famous in sports: 500 home runs and 3,000 hits for hitters, 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts for pitchers. For decades they were close to automatic tickets to the Hall of Fame, which makes the players who stopped just short some of the great what-ifs in the game.

500 home runs

28 players reached it. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Home runs	Short by
Lou Gehrig	1923–1939	493	7
Fred McGriff	1986–2004	493	7
Adrian Beltre	1998–2018	477	23
Stan Musial	1941–1963	475	25
Willie Stargell	1962–1982	475	25
Carlos Delgado	1993–2009	473	27
Chipper Jones	1993–2012	468	32
Dave Winfield	1973–1995	465	35

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Home runs	To go
Giancarlo Stanton	2010	456	44
Mike Trout	2011	426	74
Manny Machado	2012	399	101
Bryce Harper	2012	392	108
Paul Goldschmidt	2011	390	110

3,000 hits

33 players reached it. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Hits	Short by
Sam Rice	1915–1934	2,987	13
Sam Crawford	1899–1917	2,961	39
Frank Robinson	1956–1976	2,943	57
Jake Beckley	1888–1907	2,938	62
Barry Bonds	1986–2007	2,935	65
Willie Keeler	1892–1910	2,932	68
Rogers Hornsby	1915–1937	2,930	70
Al Simmons	1924–1944	2,927	73

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Hits	To go
Freddie Freeman	2010	2,598	402
Jose Altuve	2011	2,519	481
Andrew McCutchen	2009	2,280	720
Paul Goldschmidt	2011	2,277	723
Manny Machado	2012	2,197	803

300 wins

24 players reached it. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Wins	Short by
Bobby Mathews	1871–1887	297	3
Tommy John	1963–1989	288	12
Bert Blyleven	1970–1992	287	13
Robin Roberts	1948–1966	286	14
Fergie Jenkins	1965–1983	284	16
Tony Mullane	1881–1894	284	16
Jim Kaat	1959–1983	283	17
Red Ruffing	1924–1947	273	27

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Wins	To go
Justin Verlander	2005	266	34
Max Scherzer	2008	225	75
Gerrit Cole	2013	163	137
Chris Sale	2010	159	141
Sonny Gray	2013	143	157

3,000 strikeouts

20 players reached it, 2 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Strikeouts	Short by
Zack Greinke	2004–2023	2,979	21
Jim Bunning	1955–1971	2,855	145
Mickey Lolich	1963–1979	2,832	168
Mike Mussina	1991–2008	2,813	187
Cy Young	1890–1911	2,803	197
Frank Tanana	1973–1993	2,773	227
David Cone	1986–2003	2,668	332
Chuck Finley	1986–2002	2,610	390

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Strikeouts	To go
Chris Sale	2010	2,779	221
Gerrit Cole	2013	2,382	618
Kevin Gausman	2013	2,138	862
Sonny Gray	2013	2,074	926
Aaron Nola	2015	2,053	947

Basketball

Basketball's round numbers mark the long, productive careers: 20,000 points takes about 1,000 games at 20 a night.

20,000 points

52 players reached it, 9 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Points	Short by
John Stockton	1984–2002	19,711	289
Bernard King	1977–1992	19,655	345
Clifford Robinson	1989–2006	19,591	409
Walter Davis	1977–1991	19,521	479
Dwight Howard	2004–2021	19,485	515
Tony Parker	2001–2018	19,473	527
Terry Cummings	1982–1999	19,460	540
Jamal Crawford	2000–2020	19,419	581

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Points	To go
Anthony Davis	2012	19,263	737
Paul George	2010	19,238	762
Kyrie Irving	2011	18,340	1,660
Brook Lopez	2008	18,038	1,962
Devin Booker	2015	18,007	1,993

10,000 rebounds

44 players reached it, 5 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Rebounds	Short by
Bob Lanier	1970–1983	9,698	302
Sam Lacey	1970–1982	9,687	313
Dave DeBusschere	1962–1973	9,618	382
Marcus Camby	1996–2012	9,513	487
A.C. Green	1985–2000	9,473	527
Horace Grant	1987–2003	9,443	557
Bailey Howell	1959–1970	9,383	617
Vlade Divac	1989–2004	9,326	674

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Rebounds	To go
Kevin Love	2008	9,693	307
Al Horford	2007	9,138	862
Jonas Valanciunas	2012	9,010	990
Russell Westbrook	2008	9,007	993
Nikola Jokic	2015	8,912	1,088

7,000 assists

21 players reached it, 5 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Assists	Short by
Bob Cousy	1950–1969	6,955	45
Guy Rodgers	1958–1969	6,917	83
Deron Williams	2005–2016	6,819	181
Muggsy Bogues	1987–2000	6,726	274
Kevin Johnson	1987–1999	6,711	289
Derek Harper	1983–1998	6,577	423
Nate Archibald	1970–1983	6,476	524
Stephon Marbury	1996–2008	6,471	529

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Assists	To go
Mike Conley	2007	6,751	249
Jrue Holiday	2009	6,736	264
Stephen Curry	2009	6,724	276
Nikola Jokic	2015	6,036	964
Damian Lillard	2012	6,031	969

Hockey

In hockey, 500 goals and 1,000 points are the numbers that define a Hall of Fame scorer. Several of the near-misses below lost seasons to injury, lockouts or years in other leagues.

500 goals

50 players reached it, 6 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Goals	Short by
Glenn Anderson	1980–1995	498	2
Jean Ratelle	1960–1980	491	9
Norm Ullman	1955–1974	490	10
Brian Bellows	1982–1998	485	15
Darryl Sittler	1970–1984	484	16
Sergei Fedorov	1990–2008	483	17
Joe Pavelski	2006–2023	476	24
Bernie Nicholls	1981–1998	475	25

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Goals	To go
Corey Perry	2005	465	35
Brad Marchand	2009	452	48
Leon Draisaitl	2014	437	63
Auston Matthews	2016	430	70
Nathan MacKinnon	2013	422	78

1,000 points

103 players reached it, 12 of them still active. These finished closest without getting there:

Player	Career	Points	Short by
Jason Spezza	2002–2021	995	5
Phil Kessel	2006–2022	992	8
Paul Kariya	1994–2009	989	11
Rick Middleton	1974–1987	988	12
Dave Keon	1960–1981	986	14
Andy Bathgate	1952–1970	973	27
Shane Doan	1995–2016	972	28
Maurice Richard	1942–1959	966	34

Still playing, and still short:

Player	Since	Points	To go
Jamie Benn	2009	994	6
Corey Perry	2005	972	28
Artemi Panarin	2015	957	43
Brent Burns	2003	946	54
Erik Karlsson	2009	940	60

Why this matters in Exact Change

Exact Change is the near-miss game: you have to land on a number exactly. Career totals like these are the anchors that make it work, and knowing a few by heart helps. More in the Exact Change strategy guide, and for when careers like these were at their best, when careers peak.

How we counted

“Still playing” means a game in the latest season of our data, or, while that season is under way, in the one before it. Anyone else counts as finished, along with players who have announced their retirement. Totals are regular season only.

About the data

Baseball: career totals from the Lahman Baseball Database, plus MLB's own season stats for recent seasons. Like Lahman and Baseball-Reference, they count the National Association (1871-75) and the other 19th-century major leagues.
Basketball: the NBA's official career totals, regular season only, back to 1946-47. A player whose career predates when a stat was first kept (rebounds began in 1950-51) isn't counted for it.
Hockey: the NHL's own official career totals, regular season only.

Football and soccer aren’t in this article. Our football totals are summed from play-by-play and can be a few yards off the official ones, and soccer’s goal counts differ from source to source, so a list of players “just short” could name someone who actually made it.

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