Ichiro 4000 hits!

[dude82]

A great hitter is a great hitter no matter where he plays. Playing in Japan shouldn't diminish Ichiro's accomplishment.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

I have to admit I laughed out loud when I just heard Wladimir Balentein tied the Japanese season home run record.

 

[jeffro151]

Combining MLB and Japan baseball stats is like combining NFL and AFL or CFL stats. It's just not the same.

I do think Ichiro is HOF based solely on his MLB numbers though.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

It's a nice accomplishment and won't be ignored but does he do it with all his pro career in MLB? I don't know. Maybe, who knows for sure. Even if not, I think he would have been at least in the 3600 or so range which is still a great HOF career. It would be nice for him to get to 3000 over here and put a lot of the "yeah but" argument about the guy to rest, at least. He will be a HOF'er no matter what, IMO. That should be enough.

 

[navamind]

the 4000 hits thing is silly, but just going by his MLB numbers, he's a HOFer. Career .319/.361/.415 (111 OPS+) and 58.6 WAR in 9253 PA. For a guy that didn't reach the majors until he was 27, that's remarkable.