Ichiro

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

I know that hits in Japan are not hits in MLB but Rose should at least acknowledge that those hits in Japan came in their professional league.

Sure he should - right after Barry Bonds and/or Hank Aaron acknowledge Sadaharu Oh's 868 home runs.

[packs]

I think you're missing the point. Rose was trying to diminish Ichiro's professional hits by equating Japanese professional baseball to high school baseball. No one said they count the same as an MLB hit, I said he should acknowledge it's the highest level of play in Japan, which has nothing to do with high school baseball. Also, Oh never played in the MLB and I highly doubt anyone is critical of his accomplishments.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

Rose was trying to diminish Ichiro's professional hits by equating Japanese professional baseball to high school baseball.

Rose wasn't trying to do anything. A reporter asked him for his comment and he gave his opinion.

Edited to add: In other words, it wasn't Rose that brought it up.

Edited to further add: It shouldn't even be a topic for discussion. If we're going to even possibly consider Ichiro's hits from Japan, then let's consider all Japanese players statistics for all categories.

[packs]

No one is suggesting his total hits from both leagues mean he is the all time MLB hit leader.

[jhs5120]

Originally Posted by packs

No one is suggesting his total hits from both leagues mean he is the all time MLB hit leader.

Ichiro doesn't have the MLB record, but the pro baseball record.

[chaddurbin]

ok ichiro is great. starting your mlb rookie year at age 27 and still get to 3000 hits is an incredible achievement....but japan baseball is equivalent to AAA baseball here. if a guy like wladimir balentien who can't hack it in the major can jack 60 dongs over there, i have a hard time being impressed by any milestone being achieved over there.

ichiro--i wish you would've started your mlb career at age 21...what could've been.

[bn2cardz]

Ichiro has the Single Season Hits record with 262 in 2004
He is in the top 20 two other seasons (242 in 2001 and 238 in 2007).

Rose's top year is 230, enough to put him only tied for 36 on that list.

On the other hand when comparing the age 27-41 stats for both players Rose has 2970 hits and Ichiro has 2935. This is because Ichiro started trailing off last year. If you don't include their 41 year old stats then Ichiro is ahead 2844 to Rose's 2798. It is hard to say what would have been prior to Ichiro's age 27 season, but I believe there are arguments on both sides that are convincing.

For me there is no clear answer who should be considered better, but Ichiro is certainly Rose's closest counterpart.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

ok ichiro is great. starting your mlb rookie year at age 27 and still get to 3000 hits is an incredible achievement....but japan baseball is equivalent to AAA baseball here. if a guy like wladimir balentien who can't hack it in the major can jack 60 dongs over there, i have a hard time being impressed by any milestone being achieved over there.

Exactly.

Tuffy Rhodes. Nuff said...if you don't know, Google his stats in MLB versus Japan. On the flip side, compare Kaz Matsui's stats in Japan to what he did once he came over here.

I don't even know if Triple-A is a fair comparison. While there are some great talents in Japanese baseball, the league in the overall is significantly weaker than MLB. You don't see star players going from the US to Japan, you see guys trying to hang onto a job. And with few exceptions, the players coming over from Japan do not have nearly the same success. Ichiro being the obvious exception.