There is a lot of debate among baseball fans whether or not to make a big deal about Ichiro reaching 4000 hits last night.  The debate centers around the fact that over 1000 of those hits came in Japan before Ichiro entered MLB.  I think people need to relax and just appreciate the accomplishment.  The main reason I feel that we should celebrate it is because the 2,722 hits that Ichiro has had in 13 years of MLB service is the MOST EVER by any player in a 13 year span.  More than Pete Rose.  More than Ty Cobb.  More than Ted Williams.  More than Stan Musial.  More than Cap Anson.  More than Derek Jeter.

How many hits do you think Ichiro would have if he played his entire career in MLB instead of spending so long in Japan first?  Japan has much shorter seasons than MLB.  So Ichiro would have played in several more games.  You can argue that he may have struggled at first since he wouldn’t have been as mature as when he did finally come to the US.  But I think he would have gotten at least as many hits in full MLB seasons as he did those first several years in Japan.  Even if you want to be a pain in the ass and refuse to accept that, he’d still be at 3500 hits IMO in a worst case scenario barring injuries.  So instead of being a pain in the ass and complaining that it doesn’t count, sit back and enjoy the fact that you got to see a man reach 4000 hits.  Put a damn asterisk by it if you want.  It’s a legitimate as Barry Bonds HR record.

Behold Ichiro’s 4000 hit.  Congrats to a sure fire future Hall of Famer: