Yes, I think he does it easily.

 

Me too

 

I would not bet against him, but I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't. Once you get to 40, anything can happen.

Ichiro has been pretty durable throughout his career. He has the speed to get some hits that others can't. He'll get 3,000 and then after that season I believe he retires. I think he loves the game and is really chasing 3,000 before he calls it quits.

 

He's been great for baseball and expanding internationally. HOF no doubt.

Best pure "get a base hit" hitter in the history of baseball IMO.

As far as his stats in Japanese baseball. If Tuffy Rhodes is top 10 in all-time home runs...your stats don't count.

 

Not to diminish how talented Ichiro is. Like I said before, I truly believe he would've challenged 4,256.

 

Japanese baseball is somewhere above "AAA" and below the Majors.

 

To discount his hits over there is misguided......considering his 13 year hit total here is better than ANYONE ever.

Japanese baseball is somewhere above "AAA" and below the Majors.

 

To discount his hits over there is misguided......considering his 13 year hit total here is better than ANYONE ever.

 

I haven't discounted them. However, it's not MLB so it doesn't count. That's my point.

 

However, you can't act like those count toward the all-time hit record. Tuffy Rhodes hit 13 HR's in MLB.

If you include any combination of Majors, minors, or Japan there are 4 guys in the history of the game to get 4,000 hits.

So I guess Warren Moon has a case to have his numbers from his career in the Canadien League added to his NFL stats, might as well throw in all of the stats guys rang up in the USFL as well. Saying he had 4000 major league hits is a travesty.

Another sound bite that lets us know just how good baseball is in Japan. Former Red Wladimir Balentien (anyone remember him) Just hit his 55th homer of the season. He is now tied with Sadaharu Oh and Tuffy Rhodes as the single season record. He has 21 games left to play.

He had 3 homers in 40 games and 125 plate appearances for the Reds.

How about Sudaraha Oh who hit over 850 home runs in Japan? Is he considered the greatest power hitter of all time?

First of all, Ichiro should be a no-brainer HOF...even if his career ended today. Especially when you consider the fact that he didn't start playing MLB until he was 27. (Pete Rose already had nearly 900 hits by the time he was that age.) The guy belongs in Cooperstown for what he's done here, pure and simple.

 

However, that being said...like Crash, I don't put a whole lot into the numbers he achieved while in Japan. The single season record for hits over there is 214 by Matt Murton...who had all of 272 hits for his MLB career (nearly 350 games). I'm not saying there can't be stars come from that league over there and have success here...but, let's not get carried away and say that the two leagues are comparable.

First ballot Hall of Famer, solely for his achievements on the field. The cultural impact and so forth is only icing on the cake.

First ballot HOF for sure.

Counting hits in Japan is a joke.

 

Nuff said

Ichiro is 102 hits away from being baseball's all-time hits leader.

 

He's also 123 hits away from hitting the 3,000 mark in MLB.

I love me some Ichiro. Wish the Reds would have pursued him in the offseason. He was more of what they needed than Byrd was.

 

HOF'er for sure.