Ichiro Suzuki Hits A Single, Oh Yeah It Was Also His 4,000th Career Hit

Ichiro Suzuki hit a single off Toronto Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey during the first inning of Wednesdays matchup. Oh yeah, that single also gave Suzuki his 4,000th career hit. That number of hits has only been achieved by Pete Rose and Ty Cobb.

There is one significant difference between Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and now Suzuki since 1,278 of his hits came by way of the Japanese Pacific League during 7 years of play. The remaining 2,722 major league hits arrived during his time in the MLB.

Pete Rose still leads the all-time standings list with an incredible 4,256 hits. Rose is followed by Ty Cobb with 4,189 hits.

The 39-year-old major leaguer turns 40 in October and still has one year remaining on his $13 million two-year contract.

Ichiro realizes that there is a discussion going on about his 4,000 combined hits but he believes reaching 3,000 in the bigs will lay those questions to rest: “I don’t think anyone will say anything about 3,000 from any fan or media,” Ichiro said through a translator.

When asked about catching Pete Rose he said:

“It’s not a goal that I have. It’s not a number that I’m looking at. I’m just coming to the ballpark every day, seeing if I’m in the lineup, keeping my schedule so that I’m in the lineup so that I can perform and do what I can to contribute to this team.”

While his 4,000 hits might be debated his talent is undeniable. Since entering the MLB in 2001 Ichiro has racked up 375 more hits than any other player. If he achieves 34 more hits this season he will tie Richie Ashburn for second place with his 13th consecutive 150-hit season. If he manages that feat for two more seasons he will beat the 14-season streak achieved by Paul Waner.

Joe Girardi after the game joked that he hasn’t had 4,000 hits over his entire career, even if he counts every hit he has achieved going back to his t-ball days.