4,256 is the total number of career hits that Pete Rose had for his career. It is a number that will most likely never be approached. That is until Ichiro Suzuki did in 2016.

That first paragraph is obviously a rouse. Ichiro is 21 hits shy of getting 3,000 in the majors. 1,278 of his hits have been achieved in Japan.

The only reason I wrote that first paragraph is to tick off Pete Rose. Sure, he can and will always be known as ‘The Hit King’, but I don’t have to call him that.

Pete broke a cardinal rule and bet on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds. He denied it all day and everyday until it came time to write a book titled, “My Prison Without Bars” back in 2003 in which he admitted to betting on baseball games.

The only reason to write that was to make a profit. I don’t think he really cares about getting into the Hall of Fame or else he would have come clean a lot sooner.

To my point about Ichiro, he is a world class hitter and you could argue changed the way baseball is played in America for the next 100 years.

No one had seen someone with his blazing speed, combined with his patience to take a walk or the way he swings as he’s running out of the batters box. Not to mention his cannon arm in right.

Even if Ichiro had not come close to getting 3,000 hits in the majors, he’s a Hall of Famer in my book. Well before Pete Rose.

I know Pete Rose’s recent comments about Ichiro passing him were tongue and cheek. We all know this record will most likely never be broken.

What we do know is that if it does happen, it will be by the likes of someone similar to Ichiro Suzuki.