To be clear, Ichiro Suzuki is a future Hall of Famer. A first ballot, no-argument selection for Cooperstown. And Suzuki is a great hitter. But the math does not add up to Pete Rose.
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As much as some may try to add the 2979 hits Ichiro has collected in the Major Leagues to with his 1278 from playing in Japan to create a “new” hit record of 4257 hits, the math isn’t the same.
Pete Rose doesn’t have to add anything to his total. All of his 4256 hits came in the Major Leagues.
Until this debate began, most were probably unaware that Rose also had 427 hits during his three seasons in the minors. Why? Because they aren’t the same as what he accomplished in the big leagues.
With all due respect to the likes of Kevin Bass and Alex Cabrerra, the top stars of the Major Leagues aren’t jumping ship to go play in Japan–for the challenge of facing the best or financial reward. However, how many of the players in Japan would welcome the chance to play in the United States?
It’s not apples to apples.
And this isn’t to put down the Japanese League or suggest that certain players couldn’t have been just as successful if they had spent part or all of their career in MLB. Ichiro is a prime example, it’s more than reasonable to believe he would have been able to amass more than 1200 hits in the earlier years of his career here too.
But he didn’t.
Pete Rose did.
St. Louis Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh pitched in both the Korean and Japanese leagues before joining the team this season. And while smart enough to suggest there were others more qualified to judge between Ichiro and Rose, he did acknowledge some difference between the two situations.
“He knows that and understands that Ichiro has been great over there, overseas, and also has been super awesome over here–he respects that,” translated Eugene Koo for Oh. “It’s a different league and different environment that we’re in. He feels like that’s all in the past for him and he just wants to continue and build on what he’s been doing. Right now is an important time for him.”
And right now should be an important time for baseball to recognize one of their greatest hitters–without taking away from the legacy of one of their other ones.
photo credit: Jake Roth, David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
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