Ichiro closes in on Rose; Marlins trounce Padres 13-4

42 and still going strong? A testament to his Hall of Fame level baseball skills and titanic work ethic.

Ichiro setting the pro baseball hits world record is absolutely one of the most inspiring stories this year.

It is significant that a legend like the Marlins hitting instructor Barry Bonds, the all time MLB home run king, has been saving and marking the balls every time Ichiro passes another player in the record books. The MLB hall of fame has said it is going to acknowledge Ichiro's world record, according to USA Today, so there is not even much point in arguing Ichiro vs. Rose (who is not recognized in the MLB Hall of Fame).

Torafusu Torasan: "Ichiro setting the pro baseball hits world record is absolutely one of the most inspiring stories this year."

Unfortunately, you can't count his time in Japan baseball towards the record in the Major Leagues, or else you also have to count in Pete Rose's hits in the minors.

42 and still going strong?

Ichiro Oyaji (!)

@smith, the USA Today article implies that Ichiro and the MLB Hall of Fame director have become close, for example Ichiro being virtually the first player to donate all his memorabilia to the hall. The result of that generosity is that they are honoring Ichiro's world record. Quibbling over MLB vs world record doesn't change the fact that Ichiro is going to have a huge display while Rose is persona non grata.

Meaningless. There is NO WAY to look at it to give him the record Either it is Major League records (since 98% of the pitchers Ichiro faced in Japan in the 90s would NEVER have made it to the Majors) or it is PROFESSIONAL hits. And if it is the former, then he doesn't even have 3000 hits. If it is the latter, then Pete Rose has another 400 or so hits for HIS professional career.

Suzuki moved within one hit of equaling Pete Rose’s total of 4,256 — the big league record. The 42-year-old outfielder has 2,977 hits in the majors after compiling 1,278 during his nine seasons in Japan.

To that end, managers from every MLB team have now told their pitchers that they will be fined $50,000 if they don't intentionally hit Ichiro at each at bat for the remainder of the season. Oh wait.... it's America, where excellence is rewarded regardless. I was thinking of Randy Bass and Tuffy Rhodes in Japan.

Ichiro was wonderful to watch in Seattle but including his hits in Japan is not valid.

Pete Rose had 4683 hits including the minors. Ichiro's going to have to stick around a few more years

I believe that Ichiro's Japan tally doesn't include his hits in the Japanese minors (on Orix's 2gun team) so if you want to follow the snotty Pete Rose line of thinking it's only fair to add those to Ichiro's total too. And while we are at it I guess we should give him some additional credit since he had the handicap of playing in shorter seasons in Japan during his prime while Rose got to pad his numbers with all those additional 162 game seasons.

What Ichiro has accomplished is truly remarkable. It might not count as the MLB record, but Rose is just being a jerk in dismissing it like it was nothing.

This is a great topic to sharpen those debate skills. Those backing Rose are assuming that MLB will lift the lifetime ban someday, but new commish Manfred already declined. Imagine using your logic to argue that Lance Armstrong is the greatest bicycle racer ever regardless of later being stripped of his titles. Rose's failure to lobby himself back into MLB's good graces to gain reinstatement suggests either a flawed personality or deeper scandals. Anyway, as I mentioned, visitors at MLB's Hall of Fame will learn that Ichiro is the world hits leader, with scant mention of Rose.

In terms of world records(think Guinness world records) Ichiro's would become number one. Sorry but MLB is not the only professional baseball league in the world. It's the same logic as Oh Sadaharu holding the title in numbers of HRs above Hank Aron.

Besides the way Ichiro is batting away hits this season he would probably gain at least another 200~300 hits before he actually retires which will make him the ultimate No.1

Just to clarify things, This record is referring to career hits--in any professional league. Ichiro's MLB hit number is 2977, currently 31 on the list of all-time MLB hits--Pete Rose is number 1 for MLB hits.

Yeh I think we figured that out the first 50 times it was mentioned.

The closest equivalent to Rose in Japan is Kiyohara. Tough guy personas but consumed by personal addictions that screwed their reputations amidst declining athleticism (seemed like Rose was a dual role player-manager when he got caught). Both still have a small sympathetic fan following but neither considered worthy of honors by their own leagues.

Wonder if there is any way to get Ichiro on the All Star team roster for the summer classic.. Surely will be his last season as he sets two milestones - most hits by any play (though record will not be acknowledged since that record is only for playing in the Major leagues) and 3,000 hits at the Major league level. Those two great accomplishments along with this Gold Gloves, most hits in a season and probably other records should have him playing in the game so fans and players can acknowledge his accomplishments!!

The Baseball Hall of Fame would likely mention Ichiro's total hits but only his MLB hits would count on the hits record at the pinnacle of professional leagues.

Because if they count all professional leagues, then they'd also have to count the hits of failed ex-MLB players who went on to have careers in Japan, Korea, or other leagues. For example, somebody can have only 200 hits in the MLB then loses his spot in the roster and goes to play in Japan where he succeeds and gets another 2800 hits - but in Canton, he's no Roberto Clemente (who has exactly 3000 MLB hits).

rainy day: "It might not count as the MLB record, but Rose is just being a jerk in dismissing it like it was nothing."

Actually, Rose said that Ichiro is a great player and most certainly a Hall of Famer; he most certainly did not dismiss him like it was nothing. But he is also very right in pointing out the Japan is where the MLB washouts go to be considered good, and the MLB is where the best of Japan's national league aspire to go, and for good reason -- the MLB is a higher playing field.

Triring: "Sorry but MLB is not the only professional baseball league in the world."

It's the only one that counts in the MLB. If Ichiro's Japan hits count, so do Rose's minor league hits. That's all there is to it. Ichiro is a fantastic player, but his hits in Japan are not hits in the MLB, and don't count towards hits there.

Of course not, Smith. No one is arguing that. We are talking about total hits in professional leagues. Nobody will add his hits in Japan to his total in America. Let's just take a moment to appreciate what he has done in his career. I remember someone on JT saying he is "washed up" and that he should retire. Well, he is the best hitter on his team this year. At this rate he could play another year or 3.

Smith

Actually, Rose said that Ichiro is a great player and most certainly a Hall of Famer; he most certainly did not dismiss him like it was nothing. But he is also very right in pointing out the Japan is where the MLB washouts go to be considered good, and the MLB is where the best of Japan's national league aspire to go, and for good reason -- the MLB is a higher playing field.

Rose didnt dismiss Ichiro personally as nothing, but he has dismissed this specific accomplishment of Ichiro as if it were nothing. To me that is just a total lack of class on Roses part (not surprising coming from him, but since Roses MLB record is safe it is totally unnecessary of him to speak dismissively of what Ichiro is about to do. Its just incredibly petty and says more about Roses character as a person than it does about Ichiro`s record).

Also, the fact that certain MLB journeymen go on to have big careers in Japan is irrelevant as concerns Ichiro, in part because it is mostly limited to power hitters (which Ichiro isnt), but more because of what Ichiro has done in both leagues. The implication being made is that Ichiro had an unfair advantage because he was facing weaker competition in NPB than he would have had he played in MLB, and thus he got more hits than he would have had he played those years in MLB. For this to be true, you would expect Ichiros numbers to have fallen off sharply when he switched to MLB and had to compete in the higher level of competition. We know, however, that this did not happen - he actually got way more hits (the relevant metric here) in his first 8 seasons in MLB than he had in his 8 seasons in NPB (even though he was older by the time he reached MLB).

This leads us to the exact opposite conclusion: rather than having gotten an unfair advantage by playing in NPB, he was actually unfairly handicapped (in terms of his ability to accumulate career hits) by his years there, mainly due to the shorter seasons. If he had played those years in MLB instead of NPB he probably would have eclipsed Rose`s record a couple of seasons ago.

Its also just unfair to ignore the fact that NPB was, under the rules in force, the highest professional league Ichiro could aspire to play in at the time. This makes it way different from American play in the minor leagues, which is clearly a stepping stone to MLB. NPB has partially degenerated into a quasi-minor league in recent years, but that was not the case at all when Ichiro was playing there.

As I said his total numbers of hit will be counted as No.1 in the world record stage since MLB is not the only professional baseball league in the world. Smithy no the MLB will not count Ichiro's hits he made in Japan but the WORLD's RECORD will certainly will so in the WORLD's RECORD it will be Ichiro that holds the title of most hits made during his career.

By the way Rose made his record at the age of 46, Ichiro still has another 4 years to catch up and the way he plays baseball at the moment I believe it is safe to say he is not going to retire for at least another 2 years.

but in Canton, he's no Roberto Clemente

In Canton he is no Johnny Unitas. In Cooperstown he is no Roberto Clemente.