Major League Baseball has a new hit king, at least to some people. Ichiro Suzuki tied Pete Rose with a leadoff single in the first inning Wednesday against the San Diego Padres for his 4,256th professional hit between Japan and the majors.
#Ichiro with hit 4,256 of his pro career! Watch @Marlins vs @Padres on FOX Sports Florida and FOX Sports Go. #MLBhttps://t.co/9XCU6Ftc9a
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) June 15, 2016
Then, in the ninth inning, the Miami Marlins outfielder notched hit No. 4,257 with a double in the ninth inning, surpassing Rose for the most hits in baseball.
History!
Ichiro just got hit No. 4,257, spanning his time in Japan and America. MLB hit king Pete Rose had 4,256. pic.twitter.com/YWCXcldFsQ
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2016
Suzuki had 1,278 hits in Japan’s Pacific League from 1992-2000 and the rest with Seattle, the New York Yankees and Marlins. Rose told USA Today Sports earlier this week he didn’t consider Suzuki’s totals to be equal to his own.
“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 [a record-tying] 55 home runs [in 2001] over there? It has something to do with the caliber of personnel.”
However, Suzuki’s hit milestone is still worth celebrating, even if the former hit king doesn’t agree.
