Ichiro> Rose

Austin said:

Exactly what I was going to write.

Remember Matt Murton? He had more hits in one season in Japan than Ichiro ever did in Ichiro's 7 seasons in Japan.

American Leron Lee (who?) is Japan's all-time career batting average leader (.320) among players who played at least ten seasons. (1977-1987).

American Randy Bass (who?) has the season record for batting average, .389 in 1985, and hit 54 homers the previous season.

American Robert Rose (who?) had the second most rbi ever in a season, 155 in 1999.

Imagine if Harper, Pujols, Bautista, Cabrera, Davis, Ortiz or any great slugger played in Japan at their peak. They'd hit .400 with 70-80 homers a season.

On the flip side, it shows how incredible Ichiro is that he could be such a great hitter against MLB pitchers.

Click to expand...

I am glad you put that "flip side" part in. Ichiro is extremely talented and deserves praise for his individual personal milestone. To me it is not a record by any means, but give the man his due, as it is quite an accomplishment.
Also, I remember Randy Bass!

Mighty Bombjack said:

It is a cool story and Ichiro is a unique player in many ways, but Rose's hit record is not in jeopardy now or in the near future (probably ever).

Click to expand...

I think Jose Altuve may have the best chance to break it of any current MLBer (assuming health and a long career).

What I hope everyone takes into consideration here is Ichiro has been in the MLB for 15 years, started at age 27
He played 9 years in Japan before coming over stateside
Ichiro amassed 1250ish hits in Japan in 9 years
Ichiro amassed 3000ish hits in the US in 15 years (avg of 200 per year)
Ichiro holds the single season MLB hits record
I know one cannot and will not combine Japan and USA totals, or will no one assume "what if" Ichiro played those extra 9 years in the US, what would his MLB hit total be, but one cannot shrug aside what he did over the last 15 years, hes a great player that will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame, rightfully so. I for one would have loved it if he was chasing the all-time hit record this year or any other year for that matter, what a great thing it would have been for baseball, as records are meant to be broken.

Pretty sure that IF Ichiro started at age 19, he'd have about 4600+ hits by now...

gt2590 said:

Pretty sure that IF Ichiro started at age 19, he'd have about 4600+ hits by now...

Click to expand...

I believe he started when he was 18 and he doesn't have that many hits (US & Japan stats combined).

death2redemptions said:

I believe he started when he was 18 and he doesn't have that many hits (US & Japan stats combined).

Click to expand...

I figured 210 hits from 19-41 and IF he played til 43, add a couple hundred more? Maybe even 4800. Some more, some less but despite his slim frame, which I originally thought would hurt him long-term, he's never had significant time lost to injury.

Plus, the Japanese leagues play less games, so he'd gain around 120 games in the MLB to get more ABs and then hits.

gt2590 said:

Plus, the Japanese leagues play less games, so he'd gain around 120 games in the MLB to get more ABs and then hits.

Click to expand...

That is something I hadn't considered

gt2590 said:

I figured 210 hits from 19-41 and IF he played til 43, add a couple hundred more? Maybe even 4800. Some more, some less but despite his slim frame, which I originally thought would hurt him long-term, he's never had significant time lost to injury.

Plus, the Japanese leagues play less games, so he'd gain around 120 games in the MLB to get more ABs and then hits.

Click to expand...

I figure he'd have less hits if he played in the majors from the start for the same reasons mentioned earlier in this thread. The Japanese league is compared to playing in double A but you never know, it's always possible.

The extra games is also a factor.

Another thing to look at, Ichiro hit 118 HRs in 9 seasons in Japan and hit 113 HRs in 16 MLB seasons. MLB has more higher quality pitchers than Japan. Still, Ichiro is just a hit machine and with him getting 3000 MLB hits is a huge accomplishment for any MLB player.

KLARNOLD said:

Another thing to look at, Ichiro hit 118 HRs in 9 seasons in Japan and hit 113 HRs in 16 MLB seasons. MLB has more higher quality pitchers than Japan. Still, Ichiro is just a hit machine and with him getting 3000 MLB hits is a huge accomplishment for any MLB player.

Click to expand...

Pinella always said Ichiro could hit many more HRs but it might mess up his swing...

Regardless of how many hits he may or may not of had if he begun his career in the majors, once he reaches 3k hits he'll be a first ballot HOF player IMO.