In the eyes of some, that makes him the all-time hit king, passing the mark set by Pete Rose.
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Ichiro arrived in the USA in 2001 at 27 years old, and immediately won over fans with his unique, elegant batting style and blinding speed.
That THE GREAT ICHIRO had 1,278 hits of his “record” number come in Japan, where he played from 1992 to 2000. well so what?
Ichiro didn’t start his career in the major leagues until he was 27 and had already played nine seasons in Japan.
The further argument about whether Ichiro should be considered the all-time leader – passing Pete Rose – when you combine Japanese pro hits with Major League Baseball is simply predictable entertainment, with inevitable and amusing reaction from the ostracized hit king.
The 42-year-old Suzuki is 31st on the majors’ career hit list with 2,979.
He ended the season with an NPB-record 210 hits, won the batting title and earned the Pacific League MVP honor.
Rose aside, what Ichiro, the global Hit King, if you will, has accomplished is a testament to his greatness at the simple act of putting the ball in play and making it to first base.
Ichiro saw little playing time before Doi was replaced by Akira Ogi after the 1993 season.
Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported that Suzuki “broke the record for most hits ever by a Major League ballplayer” while acknowledging the record is unofficial because it spans two professional leagues.
Ichiro Suzuki’s latest milestone has been a really big hit in Japan. In a lot of cases, I would be the person to make the claim that we have to consider context here.
“I don’t think you’re going to find anybody with credibility say that Japanese baseball is equivalent to Major League Baseball”, Rose said.
The debate over Suzuki’s mark is reminiscent of when Japanese slugger Sadaharu Oh passed Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs in 1977. There are too many guys that fail here, and then become household names there, like Tuffy Rhodes.
A fourth-round pick in Nippon Professional Baseball’s 1991 draft out of high school, Suzuki proved to be a prodigious hitter in the minors, but was largely ignored by Orix’s first-team manager at the time, Shozo Doi.
An achievement that is quickly approaching for Ichiro is the 3,000-hit plateau.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly wouldn’t take sides, but he disputed part of Rose’s argument.
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In his rookie year, he led the AL in average and stolen bases, the first player to do so since Jackie Robinson in 1949. So while we simply cannot crown him the all-time Major League Baseball hits king we can certainly crown him baseball’s global hits king and have a pretty good idea that, had geography been a little different, the American Big Leagues would have a guy on top the all-time hits list that is actually eligible to have a place in Cooperstown. “A couple of those pitches were in pretty good locations but they hit them hard”.
