Pete Rose doesn't think Ichiro Suzuki should be considered the all-time hits leader

Pete Rose doesn’t think Ichiro Suzuki should be considered the all-time hits leader

Pete Rose, left, shown in 2015, had 4,256 all-time hits; Ichiro Suzuki is closing in on that mark when his hits as a pro in Japan are counted.

By Chuck Schilken

June 14, 2016 8:43 AM PT

Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has 2,977 hits as a Major League Baseball player. Before that he accumulated 1,278 in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan.

That’s a total of 4,255 hits as a pro – or one hit shy of Pete Rose’s MLB record.

According to USA Today, this is a big deal in Japan, with around a dozen reporters covering every outing and Japan’s national public broadcasting network showing all Marlins games as Ichiro closes in on the hallowed mark.

Also according to USA Today, Rose isn’t too happy about all of this.

“It sounds like in Japan, they’re trying to make me the Hit Queen,” Rose said. “I’m not trying to take anything away from Ichiro, he’s had a Hall of Fame career, but the next thing you know, they’ll be counting his high school hits.

“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?

“It has something to do with the caliber of personnel.’’

The National Baseball Hall of Fame will recognize Ichiro as the all-time hits leader when that happens, president Jeff Idelson told USA Today.

The next thing you know, they’ll be counting his high school hits.

— Pete Rose on Ichiro Suzuki

“Absolutely we will,’’ Idelson said. “Four thousand, two-hundred and fifty-six hits in any league is out of this galaxy in terms of difficulty. It’s a ridiculous amount of hits, and the fact that he did it in Japan and the major leagues has its own set of challenges different from the ones that Pete faces. Acclimating to this culture is a challenge of itself.

“The fact that Ichiro has been so good and sustainable for so many years, it’s an interesting comparison to Rose.’’

Ichiro is fairly nonchalant about the milestone he could reach the next time he steps to the plate.

“I would be happy if people covered it or wrote about it, but I really would not care if it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “To be quite honest, I’m just going out and doing what I do.

“What I care about is my teammates and people close to me celebrating it together, that’s what’s most important to me.’’