Ichiro should hit Cooperstown first, but about the record …
The only thing that truly factors into the Ichiro vs. Rose debate is that the 42-year-old Japanese outfielder sits 21 hits shy of 3,000 in the majors.
That, in itself, should be enough to kick-start any discussion regarding Ichiro Suzuki’s worthiness for entry to Cooperstown.
The further argument about whether Ichiro should be considered the all-time leader — passing Pete Rose — when you combine Japanese pro hits with MLB is simply predictable entertainment, with inevitable and amusing reaction from the ostracized hit king.
Suzuki now has 4,257 hits in two different major leagues, one clear of Rose.
“It sounds like in Japan, they’re trying to make me the hit queen,” Rose sarcastically told USA Today Sports reporter Bob Nightengale, who should have then wandered over to his local general store to shoot fish in a barrel.
“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.”
Rose has forever been defensive, protective of his hits record, an amazing accumulation of 4,256 over 24 major-league seasons. That record should always stand, despite those who say Ichiro’s hits in Japan should count.
There can be no serious argument for inclusion.
Parallels would be that Wayne Gretzky’s 46 WHA goals, along with Bobby Hull’s 303 and Gordie Howe’s 174 tallies should count when ranking NHL legends. Or that in the NFL, Warren Moon’s 21,228 CFL passing yards and 144 touchdowns with the Eskimos should be added to his totals, vaulting him up the all-time list.
I remember discussing Ichiro at the time with Mariners general manager Pat Gillick during the outfielder’s rookie MLB season in 2001. As the first Japanese position player in the majors, the question was whether the decision to sign him to a three-year contract, after being posted by the Orix Blue Wave of the Japan Pacific League, would signal an influx of MLB-ready play- ers from the Far East. Gillick’s belief was that there were only about nine impact players who could compete in the bigs.
Then consider that back in 2000, Suzuki’s final of nine seasons in Japan, he led the league with a .387 average. Second, at .332, was journeyman major-leaguer Sherman Obando, a .239 hitter in 177 games with the O’s and the Expos. Fifth was Tony Fernandez, winding down his pro career for a nice payday. Fernandez, then 38, hit .327 with a 905 OPS. Japan in 2000 was not the majors.
Accepting that Rose’s hit record should, thus, be considered safe, there is still a large segment of experts that, throughout Suzuki’s career, has been ready, willing and able to debate whether Ichiro even- tually deserves to be voted into the hall of fame when eligible, five years after his retirement.
Yes. In fact, he should be a firstballot candidate.
That’s a ridiculous contra-argument based on his relatively low walk total, on-base average and OPS, combining on-base and slugging.
Here’s just a small part of the case for Ichiro. He’s sitting 21 hits shy of 3,000 and there are 29 players in that exclusive club, with just Wade Boggs and Roberto Clemente having played fewer than 20 career seasons. Ichiro is in his 16th year, breaking in as AL rookie of the year and MVP in 2001. Of course, there was also debate over whether he should be eligible for that rookie award because of time in Japan.
At 27 years old, Ichiro arrived as a ready-made rock star. There was pressure, starting with the large contingent of Japanese media assigned to cover him, exclusively, breathlessly waiting for his reaction even to games where he did not factor in the outcome. In fact there was a rumour at the time that a certain Japanese all-sports weekly had a $1-million reward for any photo of his junk, likely emerging from the shower. Through all this circus sideshow he maintained his dignity and excelled.
In each of Suzuki’s first 10 seasons, he exceeded 200 hits, the longest streak of all-time. He led the AL in hits seven times, including breaking George Sisler’s single season mark with 262 safeties in 2004, that had stood since 1920.
In his rookie year, he led the AL in average and stolen bases, the first player to do so since Jackie Robinson in 1949. He has 10 all-star game appearances and has won 10 Gold Gloves. Ichiro has 504 career steals with the M’s, Yankees and Marlins and is quoted as saying if they wanted him to hit .220, he could give his team 40 home runs. Gillick, for one, believed it.
Ichiro’s impact on the game has inspired Japanese position players such as Hideki Matsui, Kenji Johjima, So Taguchi and Kaz Matsui. From a personal standpoint, I have watched 20 of the 29 players with 3,000 hits play live and in person and against that group, Ichiro is a definite hall of fame player.
But don’t worry Pete, feel free to bet on the fact that your hits record will still be your hits record.