Mister 4000


Congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki, who, on the 21st, became just the third player ever to reach 4000 career hits. Combining his years in Japanese and American baseball, he crosses the milestone previously passed only by Pete Rose and Ty Cobb.

How difficult is it to amass 4000? A 200-hit season is great -- now imagine having 20 of them. Or, more accurately, averaging 200 a season over a 20 year span. Besides talent, you'd need longevity and consistently good health.

That 4000 number is incredibly elusive. Combining his major and minor league totals, Derek Jeter has 3,859 hits. But those minor league numbers don't have the same impact.

Ichiro has done it against the best competition in the top levels of baseball both in Japan and here.

He was already a lock, but this is one more reason why he'll eventually be the first Japanese player to be inducted into America's Baseball Hall of Fame.

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