Ichiro 'ties' Ty Cobb with 4,191st hit between NPB, MLB
Adding up his time at the highest level in Japan and USA, Ichiro Suzuki has reached 4,191 hits. That's how many Ty Cobb had in MLB.
Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki collected a hit in St. Louis in the fifth inning Friday night that marked his 4,191st career hit -- if we add up his Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan's top league) total with his Major League Baseball total.
Here it is:
As noted, the number 4,191 is significant because that's how many hits Ty Cobb (second-most all-time behind Pete Rose) collected in his storied career, according to the official MLB count. Several other outlets have Cobb with 4,189 hits, it must be noted.
The breakdown for Ichiro is 1,278 in NBP and now 2,913 in MLB.
It also must be noted that it's probably unfair to Cobb to say the Ichiro has "tied" him. NPB is a very good league, but it's not MLB. Cobb did collect 166 hits in the minors that we can't count.
Still, it's a great feat by Ichiro and he's headed to the Hall of Fame, likely five years after he retires.
I'll be more interested if Ichiro can rack up 87 more hits, getting him to 3,000 in America despite not beginning his career here until his age-27 season. That would be remarkable. He'll need another season in order to do so, though, as he has just 69 hits this season.
