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MLB new hit king!

Bucky

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Pete Rose had 427 hits in the minors, shouldn't that go towards his "hit king" total if we are going to count Ichiro's Japan hits?
 
Ichiro got more than 200 hits one season in Japan because they play 30 fewer games a year. He got 200+ ten straight seasons in the MLB. The lack of 30 games makes up for the lesser quality of competition for a counting stat like hits. (Not homers with the shorter fences though. Very good reason Sadaharu Oh was never the HR king).

I don't necessarily think we should count Ichiro's Japanese hits, but we should recognize that it if Ichiro came up in the United States, even if he made the majors at 21 instead of 19 in Japan, it is overwhelmingly likely he would have passed Rose's record.
 
This



And this..



does NOT equal this...



Can't tack on 1,200 hits from another whole different LEAGUE then say he's got the Major LEAGUE Baseball record.

You can't. But people can recognize that he probably would have it, if he played his career here. It makes sense to note it.
 
You can't. But people can recognize that he probably would have it, if he played his career here. It makes sense to note it.

Note it? Absolutely agree. I've never been a Pete Rose fan, actually I dislike the guy intensely. The guy will sign his name to ANYTHING for a buck. I've always thought Rose was a pretty slimy individual.

And as a player If I had to pick I'd take Ichiro in his prime over Rose. Everyday.

So yeah we can recognize and discuss if he played his whole career in MLB if he would have broke Rose's record. I think he would, but we can't say he is the 'definite' MLB hit leader when 1,200 of Ichiro's hits came from a different league, a different country, and a much different level of play to his MLB hit total. It's not fair to Rose.
 
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Well then that would mean Warren Moon is the all time professional passing yards leader, since he raked up some 35,000 yards in the CFL before joining the NFL, not to mention 5 Grey Cups.. ;)

Tim-
 
Well then that would mean Warren Moon is the all time professional passing yards leader, since he raked up some 35,000 yards in the CFL before joining the NFL, not to mention 5 Grey Cups.. ;)

Tim-

I still think this is a bit different than the Warren Moon/Sadaharu Oh comps people have been throwing out there with this story in that Ichiro would've almost definitely had more hits per season in the MLB than he did in Japan.
 
I still think this is a bit different than the Warren Moon/Sadaharu Oh comps people have been throwing out there with this story in that Ichiro would've almost definitely had more hits per season in the MLB than he did in Japan.

Or he could have been hit in the face by a pitch his rookie season and never hit over 250 again in his career. Come on. You can't just take numbers from Japan and transfer them to the MLB.

If Jeter was the hit king, no one would even be talking about this. It would be a dead issue. But, since it's Pete Persona Non Grata Rose we are talking about, by all means, transfer those numbers.
 
Or he could have been hit in the face by a pitch his rookie season and never hit over 250 again in his career. Come on. You can't just take numbers from Japan and transfer them to the MLB.

If Jeter was the hit king, no one would even be talking about this. It would be a dead issue. But, since it's Pete Persona Non Grata Rose we are talking about, by all means, transfer those numbers.

No you can't. And I don't think you should. But you can say that it is highly likely Ichiro would have the most hits all time if he played his whole career here. You can't say that about Warren Moon or Sadaharu Oh. Therefore I think it's something that's alright to note and celebrate.
 
No you can't. And I don't think you should. But you can say that it is highly likely Ichiro would have the most hits all time if he played his whole career here. You can't say that about Warren Moon or Sadaharu Oh. Therefore I think it's something that's alright to note and celebrate.
I see your point but I am not sure I'm buying that hits come harder in Japan. Don't washed up Major Leaguers still go there to play out the string? It's an inferior league. Certainly they see a lot fewer dingers and I doubt they throw at hitters like they do in the MLB.
 
I see your point but I am not sure I'm buying that hits come harder in Japan. Don't washed up Major Leaguers still go there to play out the string? It's an inferior league. Certainly they see a lot fewer dingers and I doubt they throw at hitters.

Of course it's an inferior league, but they play 30 fewer games a season which makes up for it with a counting stat like hits. That's why Ichiro got more hits in each of his first 10 years in the Majors than any of his last 6 in Japan.

Obviously a .400 average or a .700 slugging in Japan wouldn't translate at all to the MLB. But hits/season roughly does with Japan actually producing slightly fewer per season because of reduced number of games.
 
Of course it's an inferior league, but they play 30 fewer games a season which makes up for it with a counting stat like hits. That's why Ichiro got more hits in each of his first 10 years in the Majors than any of his last 6 in Japan.

Obviously a .400 average or a .700 slugging in Japan wouldn't translate at all to the MLB. But hits/season roughly does with Japan actually producing slightly fewer per season because of reduced number of games.

I'm a tough sell because I'm not even a big fan of comparing AL stats to someone who played his whole career in the NL, since the former has one extra big bat in the lineup which forces the pitcher to throw better pitches to everyone else. So, I'm definitely never going to accept Japanese numbers in the Bigs.
 
I'm a tough sell because I'm not even a big fan of comparing AL stats to someone who played his whole career in the NL, since the former has one extra big bat in the lineup which forces the pitcher to throw better pitches to everyone else. So, I'm definitely never going to accept Japanese numbers in the Bigs.

Don't. Just recognize that in Ichiro's case he probably would be the hit king. They shouldn't be counted as official stats, and Ichiro shouldn't officially hold the MLB record. But it's ok to recognize that when it comes to turning plate appearances into hits over a 20+ year career, Ichiro is as good as or better than Pete Rose.
 
Don't. Just recognize that in Ichiro's case he probably would be the hit king. They shouldn't be counted as official stats, and Ichiro shouldn't officially hold the MLB record. But it's ok to recognize that when it comes to turning plate appearances into hits over a 20+ year career, Ichiro is as good as or better than Pete Rose.

Oh oh...Pete played in a much harder era, with fewer teams and far better starting rotations than we see today. Hell, these days, most 4 and 5 pitchers are minor leaguers and middle relievers are almost all sandlot level, compared to the guys hurling in the 70's.
 
Pete Rose doesn't think Ichiro Suzuki will be hit leader - ABC News

Congrats to Ichiro. An amazing accomplishment for the soon-to-be new hit king of MLB.

Of course, you know your OP is false since Japan has never had a MLB team and likely never will. No matter what some may want, Pete Rose will always be the MLB hits leader and one of the very best players to ever play. The selective outrage that some towards Rose, including the leadership of MLB, says more about them than it ever will about Rose's contributions to the game.
 
Oh oh...Pete played in a much harder era, with fewer teams and far better starting rotations than we see today. Hell, these days, most 4 and 5 pitchers are minor leaguers and middle relievers are almost all sandlot level, compared to the guys hurling in the 70's.

Not really. Rose's years were a bit on the lower offensive side especially in '68, but hits per team per game are about the same through Ichiro and Rose's careers. And fastball speed is higher now. I don't really see anything to substantially differentiate between their eras
 
Of course, you know your OP is false since Japan has never had a MLB team and likely never will. No matter what some may want, Pete Rose will always be the MLB hits leader and one of the very best players to ever play. The selective outrage that some towards Rose, including the leadership of MLB, says more about them than it ever will about Rose's contributions to the game.

Probably not always. Ichiro would've if he played his whole career here. Someone in the next 100 years probably will break it here. It's not like DiMaggio or Ripken's records.
 
Probably not always. Ichiro would've if he played his whole career here. Someone in the next 100 years probably will break it here. It's not like DiMaggio or Ripken's records.

No one has come close to Rose's hits record, but forever is a long time, so your point is a fair one.
 
No one has come close to Rose's hits record, but forever is a long time, so your point is a fair one.

It'll just take the right set of circumstances and the willingness to keep playing even when you're hurting the team. (Rose was putting up negative value with his 450ish hits after his age 41 season.) Not that I fault him for it. If I played sports for a living I'd play until no one wanted me. Jeter probably could've come close if he played til he was 44.
 
Oh oh...Pete played in a much harder era, with fewer teams and far better starting rotations than we see today.

I'm just nit picking here, but the starting rotations and the closers nowadays are pretty damn good. There's ALWAYS been great starters and great starting rotations. But what we are seeing now with the Kershaw's, and Arrieta's, Greinke, Syndergaard, Sale, Scherzer, Bumgarners, etc. Not counting the 100 mph's closers now are very good.
 
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Ichiro has a ton of hits...so does Rose.

I am leaving it at that.
 
I think Ichiro was undoubtedly a better hitter than Pete Rose; however, his Japan hits shouldn't count.

That said, Ichiro was very much like Rose as a batter -- a terrific singles hitter, but virtually no power. Ichiro was a plus defender while Rose was so bad the Reds constantly had to shift him around once they got somebody who could actually play his previous position. Ichiro is by all accounts an awesome dude, while Rose is by all accounts an absolute low-life.
 
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