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| Photo: Star Tribune |
Peter Solari Follow @4PeteSakeNY
Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will enter Tuesday night's game in San Diego with 4,255 career hits to his name, one shy of Pete Rose's all time record. The only problem is that 1,278 of them came during his nine seasons playing Japanese baseball, and other than beating him to Cooperstown, Ichiro won't be surpassing Rose any time soon.
Ichiro is a future Hall-of-Famer and one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. He has 2,977 hits since coming to the Majors, and will likely surpass 3,000 this season. Those are amazing accomplishments, but Rose is the standard-bearer in this area, and the mere thought of taking that away from him by compiling every hit Ichiro has ever recorded, regardless of where he did it, is a little unfair, to say the least.
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| Ichiro accumulated 1,278 hits with the Orix Blue Wave of Japan's Pacific League between 1992 and 2000. |
Professional baseball in Japan is played at a very high level, but it's not the Major Leagues. It's really not even close. Rose himself put it best, saying,
Sadly, all of the hoopla surrounding Ichiro amounts to nothing more than a publicity stunt, and a poorly planned one, at that. Never before have we seen a Japanese implant get this kind of treatment, so why now, all of a sudden?
Hideki Matsui was never admitted into the 500-home run club, and doesn't currently sit at #28 on the all-time home run list, even though he hit 502 dingers in Japan and the Majors combined. Furthermore, Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan, yet we don't regard him as the "Home Run King." Had he come to America and hit another 250 home runs in the Majors, we still wouldn't consider him the all time leader. We don't even consider the actual leader as such, in this country.
Barry Bonds hit 762 Major League home runs, more than anybody ever, but due to his use of performance enhancing drugs, many consider Hank Aaron (755 home runs) as the rightful Home Run King, because he did it on a level playing field, against the best competition.
Not everyone agrees with me on this. Former Major Leaguer Mark Grace, who has over 2,400 hits himself, told USA Today,
Ironically, Ichiro has proven that had he played his whole career in America, he probably would've challenged Rose's record regardless, but he didn't, and we don't speculate when it comes to records.
Former quarterback Kurt Warner was 28-years-old when he first achieved stardom in the NFL. He had a tough time getting his foot in the door, and played the early part of his career in the Arena Football League. After he was finally given a chance, Warner turned out to be an MVP and a Super Bowl champion. I could argue that had he played his entire career in the NFL, Warner would be up there with the all time greats like Unitas, Montana, Marino, Brady, and Manning. But he didn't, and he isn't, so I don't. It's important for these records to remain grounded in reality, and not based on what "could have" happened.
I will applaud as loudly as anyone when Ichiro reaches 3,000 hits, and I'll salute him when the Hall of Fame inevitably comes calling. However, at 42, Ichiro is nearly 1,300 hits shy of Rose, and time isn't on his side.
Outside of getting to Cooperstown first, Ichiro won't be surpassing Rose anytime soon.
“I don’t think you’re going to find anybody with credibility say that Japanese baseball is equivalent to major-league baseball. There are too many guys that fail here, and then become household names there, like Tuffy Rhodes. How can he not do anything here, and hit 55 home runs over there?"Rose is correct, of course. And even though a number of Japanese players have found success in America over the last two decades or so, a number of them have failed to make the transition as well, and the fact remains that the vast majority of Major Leaguers could, at any given time, go to Japan and find more success than they have in America. The best baseball players in the world, play in the Major Leagues, period.
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| Ichiro found his greatest success with the Seattle Mariners from 2001-2012, where he amassed 2,533 hits. |
Hideki Matsui was never admitted into the 500-home run club, and doesn't currently sit at #28 on the all-time home run list, even though he hit 502 dingers in Japan and the Majors combined. Furthermore, Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan, yet we don't regard him as the "Home Run King." Had he come to America and hit another 250 home runs in the Majors, we still wouldn't consider him the all time leader. We don't even consider the actual leader as such, in this country.
Barry Bonds hit 762 Major League home runs, more than anybody ever, but due to his use of performance enhancing drugs, many consider Hank Aaron (755 home runs) as the rightful Home Run King, because he did it on a level playing field, against the best competition.
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| In 2 and a half seasons with the Yankees, Ichiro added an additional 311 hits to his totals from 2012-2014. |
“I cannot believe it’s not a bigger deal in Major League Baseball. Shame on us for not making a bigger deal out of it."Sorry, Mark, but these records are scored at the highest level, and nowhere else. Major League Baseball is that level. No matter how competitive the Japanese leagues may be, and they're good, don't get me wrong, one can't make a coherent argument that they're on the same level as MLB.
Ironically, Ichiro has proven that had he played his whole career in America, he probably would've challenged Rose's record regardless, but he didn't, and we don't speculate when it comes to records.
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| Ichiro currently has 133 hits as a member of the Marlins. He joined Miami prior to the 2015 season. |
I will applaud as loudly as anyone when Ichiro reaches 3,000 hits, and I'll salute him when the Hall of Fame inevitably comes calling. However, at 42, Ichiro is nearly 1,300 hits shy of Rose, and time isn't on his side.
Outside of getting to Cooperstown first, Ichiro won't be surpassing Rose anytime soon.
