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On June 15, 2016, Ichiro Suzuki tallied two hits against the San Diego Padres to reach 2,979 for his MLB career; coupled with his 1,278 hits in Japan, that gave him 4,257 total professional hits, thus surpassing Pete Rose’s total of 4,256 professional hits (all accumulated in MLB). Though most baseball fans and pundits still consider Rose the all-time hits king due to the differences between American and Japanese professional baseball, this milestone nevertheless highlighted the incredible hitting prowess and consistency and longevity of two of baseball’s legendary hitters. Despite the differences in era, ethnicity, and personality, the two men are bonded by their shared affinity for gathering hits and tenacious, unrelenting style of play, leading to the natural comparisons and thus, the question:
Who was better – Pete Rose or Ichiro Suzuki?
The Beginning
Though Rose and Ichiro were both dedicated baseball players from a young age, Rose did not have to go far from home to break into the majors, whereas Ichiro would hone his craft in Japan before making the jump to MLB at the turn of the 21st century.
Rose grew up in the Cincinnati area and played baseball throughout childhood and high school, including at the Class AA level as a senior in high school. Through the help of his uncle, who was a scout for the local Cincinnati Reds, the Reds took a chance and signed Rose to a contract after he graduated from high school. After toiling in the minor leagues for a few seasons, an injury to Cincinnati’s slated starting second baseman during spring training in 1963 gave Rose his chance – he made his major league debut on Opening Day in 1963 and would go on to hit .273 with 101 runs scored, a .334 on-base percentage, and a .371 slugging percentage (good for a 101 OPS+, which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average that is set at 100), earning NL Rookie of the Year honors.
As for Ichiro, he spent his childhood in Japan training for a professional baseball career and was drafted out of high school in the last round of the 1991 Japanese baseball draft. He would make his debut in the Japanese Pacific League with the Orix Blue Wave as an 18-year-old in 1992 and over the course of the next nine years, established himself as one of the preeminent stars in Japan. During that time, he became the first player to reach 200 hits in a season, won seven straight batting titles, and also garnered three MVP awards. In 2000, the Seattle Mariners won the rights to negotiate with Ichiro via MLB’s posting system and signed him to a three-year, $14 million contract, thus bringing the star hitter to America. Overall, during his time in Japan, Ichiro batted .353 and accumulated 1,278 hits, while also winning seven Gold Gloves.
Career Comparison
Over the course of two decades, Rose and Ichiro were unique in their abilities to put the ball into play (rather than the home run-or-bust trend baseball has been moving more and more towards) and during their peaks, were consistently among the league leaders in hits on the way to reaching some of baseball’s most hallowed batting milestones.
Known as “Charlie Hustle” for his competitiveness and tenacity, Rose’s first of 17 All-Star appearances came in 1965, when he racked up a league-high 209 hits on a .312 batting average with 117 runs scored, a .382 on-base percentage, and a .446 slugging percentage (127 OPS+) to finish sixth in the NL MVP race; this would also be the first of 10 200-hit seasons and nine straight years of batting .300. His first of three batting titles would follow in 1968, when he hit .335 with a league-best 210 hits, 94 runs scored, a league-high .391 on-base percentage, and a .470 slugging percentage (good for an OPS+ of 152) to once again finish second for MVP. The next season, in 1969, Rose would repeat as batting champion with arguably his finest overall offensive season – a career-high .348 batting average with 218 hits, a league-leading 120 runs scored, career-highs in home runs (16) and runs batted in (82), as well as career-best marks for on-base percentage (.428), slugging percentage (.512), and OPS+ (158). In many ways, the third time was the charm for Rose – in 1973, he won his third and final batting title by hitting .338 with a career-high 230 hits, 115 runs scored, a .401 on-base percentage, and a .437 slugging percentage (138 OPS+); moreover, after a number of top-10 finishes, he edged out slugger Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates to take home his one and only NL MVP award.
As an encore, at age 33 in 1974, Rose “only” hit .284 to dip below .300 for the first time since 1964, but quickly rebounded with five straight .300 seasons thereafter. From 1974 to 1976, he led the league in runs scored each season (including a career-high 130 in 1976), while also pacing the senior circuit in doubles; in fact, between 1974 and 1980, Rose led the NL in doubles 5x in a seven-year span, punctuated by a career-high 51 two-baggers in 1978. 1978 would be his last season with Cincinnati and was highlighted by two notable achievements:
- On May 5, 1978, Rose collected his 3,000th career hit
- During the season, he also hit safely in 44 straight games, well short of Joe DiMaggio’s MLB record of 56 straight games, but tied with Willie Keeler’s NL record from 1897
In 1979, Rose signed with the Philadelphia Phillies to become the highest-paid athlete in American team sports at the time; after playing second base, outfield, and third base with the Reds, he moved to first base to accommodate Phillies future Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt. While he had a strong first season with Philadelphia (.331 batting average with 208 hits, a league-best .418 on-base percentage, and a .430 slugging percentage, good for a 130 OPS+), his skills would erode and by his last season with the Phillies in 1983, Rose would hit a career-worst .245 at age 42. Rose spent the first half of the 1984 season with the Montreal Expos (where he reached 4,000 career hits) before returning to Cincinnati for a couple of forgettable seasons as a player-manager. On September 11, 1985, he broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record with his 4,192nd career hit and would eventually reach 4,256 hits before retiring as a player after the 1986 season at age 45; upon retirement, in addition to hits, Rose was the all-time MLB leader in games played, plate appearances, and at-bats. However, as a manager, he came under suspicion of gambling on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, and as a result, was permanently banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Nearly 40 years after Rose’s MLB debut, Ichiro would arrive in the majors with a bang at age 27. Wearing #51 for the Mariners (which had previously been donned by Randy Johnson), Ichiro hit a league-high .350 with a league-best and rookie record 242 hits, scored a career-high 127 runs, and led the league with 56 stolen bases (also a career-high), along with a .381 on-base percentage and a .457 slugging percentage, which equated to a 126 OPS+. As a result, Ichiro not only claimed Rookie of the Year honors and the batting title, but also won the first of three Silver Sluggers, was an All-Star for the first of 10 straight years, won the first of 10 straight Gold Gloves, and to top it all off, edged out Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics and Seattle teammate Bret Boone for AL MVP; he is only the second player ever after Fred Lynn to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, and the only player ever with Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger, All-Star, Gold Glove, and MVP honors in the same year.
Ichiro’s incredible first season was a sign of times to come – he would hit .300 and reach 200 hits for 10 straight years, along with 12 straight years of 25+ stolen bases and eight straight seasons of 100+ runs scored. In 2004, he hit a career-high .372 with 262 hits, 101 runs scored, a career-high .414 on-base percentage, and a .455 slugging percentage (career-best 130 OPS+); not only did Ichiro lead the league in hits for a second time, but he also broke George Sisler’s 1920 record of 257 hits in a season, a mark that had stood for 84 years! From 2006 to 2010, Ichiro led the league in hits for five straight seasons (224, 238, 213, 225, and 214, respectively), including two seasons of hitting above .350:
- 2007: .351 with 111 runs scored, a .396 on-base percentage, and a .431 slugging percentage (122 OPS+); won his second Silver Slugger
- 2009: .352 with 88 runs scored (first time under 100 in his career), a .386 on-base percentage, and a career-high .465 slugging percentage (129 OPS+); won his third and final Silver Slugger
At age 36, 2010 was Ichiro’s last All-Star season and his final year batting above .300 (.315 season average). In his final full season with Seattle in 2011, he hit “only” .272 with 184 hits and halfway through the 2012 season, Ichiro was traded to the New York Yankees for two minor leaguers and was briefly rejuvenated, hitting .322 in the second half. After spending all of 2013 and 2014 with the Yankees, Ichiro signed with the Miami Marlins in 2015 and though he was a part-time role player, there were a number of memorable moments in his two years there, including the aforementioned 4,257th career professional hit, as well as his 3,000th career hit on August 7, 2016; for a brief period, Ichiro held the record for most MLB hits by a foreign-born player, though he has since been surpassed by Adrian Beltre in that regard. Ichiro would rejoin the Mariners in 2018, though only played in 15 games before moving to the front office as a special assistant. Nevertheless, at the start of the 2019 season, he joined Seattle’s active roster for its opening two-game series vs. the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Ichiro started both games, but did not record a hit before coming out in the eighth inning of the second game to a rousing applause in front of his countrymen; later that day, he would announce his retirement at age 45.
Given Rose’s all-time longevity (as mentioned, he is baseball’s career leader in games played, plate appearances, and at-bats), he naturally has the edge in just about every counting category vs. Ichiro. Additionally, though Ichiro has the higher career batting average and both men have 10 200+ hit seasons to their name, Rose holds the upper hand in terms of hits per 162 games (194 to 189), seasons batting above .300 (15 to 10), and 100+ run scored years (10 to 8), as well as on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS+. Both players were Rookie of the Year and 1x MVP, and while Rose has far more All-Star selections (17 to 10) and an edge in batting titles (3 to 2), Ichiro won more Silver Sluggers (3 to 1) and most notably in his favor, was the superior defensive player (10 Gold Gloves vs. 2, though Rose was a highly versatile player and played a number of defensive positions throughout his career). Again, due in part to his much longer career, Rose has the higher career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 79.7 to 59.4. With his retirement two games into the 2019 MLB season, Ichiro is a lock for Cooperstown one day; as is well-known, Rose certainly has worthy career achievements, but will likely be forever on the outside looking in due to his ban for gambling.
Regular Season Statistics
| Pete Rose | Player | Ichiro Suzuki |
| 24 (1963-1986) | Seasons | 19 (2001-2019) |
| 3,562 | Games Played | 2,653 |
| 14,053 | At-Bats | 9,934 |
| 4,256 | Hits | 3,089 |
| 2,165 | Runs | 1,420 |
| 160 | Home Runs | 117 |
| 1,314 | Runs Batted In | 780 |
| 1,566 | Walks | 647 |
| 198 | Stolen Bases | 509 |
| .303 | Batting Average | .311 |
| .375 | On-Base Percentage | .355 |
| .409 | Slugging Percentage | .402 |
| 118 | OPS+ | 107 |
| 79.7 | Wins Above Replacement | 59.4 |
| 17x | All-Star Games | 10x |
| 1x | MVP | 1x |
| 3x | World Series Titles | – |
| 2x Gold Glove, 1x Silver Slugger, 1x World Series MVP, 3x Batting Title, Rookie of the Year | Other Awards | 10x Gold Glove, 3x Silver Slugger, 2x Batting Title, Rookie of the Year |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Both Rose and Ichiro were admirable postseason performers, as their playoff numbers are generally at or above their regular season production. However, the big difference is opportunity – even with fewer teams making the playoffs in the 1970s and 1980s, Rose played in more than 3x as many playoff games and made numerous World Series appearances, whereas Ichiro only had a proverbial cup of coffee in the playoffs.
While Rose did not make his first playoff appearance until age 29 in 1970, he ended up winning three World Series titles. The first two came with Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” teams of the 1970s that also included fellow Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Tony Perez, while the third was with the Phillies. In 1975, after hitting .357 in the NLCS vs. the Pirates, Rose went 10-for-27 (.370 batting average) in the World Series with five walks (.485 on-base percentage) to garner MVP honors as the Reds beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games. A year later, Cincinnati would sweep the New York Yankees to repeat as World Series champions, though Rose only batted .188 in that round after hitting .429 in the NLCS. Later, at age 39 in 1980, he would hit .261 to help Philadelphia defeat the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in six games. Additionally, Rose also played on the losing side in the World Series 3x (1970 – lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games, 1972 – lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games, and 1983 – lost to Baltimore in six games).
In stark contrast, despite all of his regular season accomplishments, Ichiro only played in the postseason twice and never made it to the World Series. As a rookie in 2001, he was part of the Mariners’ historic 116-win season – however, after hitting .600 in the ALDS vs. the Cleveland Indians, Ichiro only batted .222 in the ALCS as the Mariners fell to the New York Yankees. More than a decade later, after being traded to the Yankees, he would help lead New York to the ALCS, though they were swept by the Detroit Tigers.
Playoff Statistics
| Pete Rose | Player | Ichiro Suzuki |
| 67 | Games Played | 19 |
| 268 | At-Bats | 78 |
| 86 | Hits | 27 |
| 30 | Runs | 10 |
| 5 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 22 | Runs Batted In | 8 |
| 28 | Walks | 7 |
| 2 | Stolen Bases | 4 |
| .321 | Batting Average | .346 |
| .388 | On-Base Percentage | .400 |
| .440 | Slugging Percentage | .436 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; despite their hitting brilliance in their 20s and 30s, both Rose and Ichiro ultimately slowed down and were a relative shell of their prior greatness in their 40s. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Pete Rose | Player | Ichiro Suzuki |
| 1965, 1968-1970, 1973, 1975-1979 | Decade of Dominance | 2001-2010 |
| 1,594 | Games Played | 1,588 |
| 6,517 | At-Bats | 6,779 |
| 2,107 | Hits | 2,244 |
| 1,096 | Runs | 1,047 |
| 94 | Home Runs | 90 |
| 640 | Runs Batted In | 558 |
| 749 | Walks | 457 |
| 98 | Stolen Bases | 383 |
| .323 | Batting Average | .331 |
| .397 | On-Base Percentage | .377 |
| .450 | Slugging Percentage | .430 |
| 51.3 | Wins Above Replacement | 54.8 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
When you strip away the advantage of Rose’s longevity and focus on peak brilliance, a slightly different story arises. Ichiro essentially had a decade of prime performance in MLB, and when you hold that against Rose’s 10 best years, you could arguably that during this period, Ichiro was the superior player based on either traditional metrics (hits, batting average, etc.) or advanced metrics (e.g. WAR).
My Thoughts
Imagine if Ichiro had come to America five or six years earlier and had similar production as in his prime (.300+ batting average, 200+ hits, 100+ runs) – would he actually be baseball’s all-time hits leader? While we will never know the answer to this hypothetical question, when looking at the careers of Pete Rose and Ichiro Suzuki, it helps put into context the consistency and longevity needed to reach milestones such as 4,000+ hits. Despite Rose’s personal shortcomings that have kept him out of Cooperstown, I think Rose was the ultimate competitor and a slightly better all-around player who got on base more, scored more runs, and was also better at driving in runs. Moreover, while Ichiro’s decade of dominance compares favorably with Rose’s ten best years and he was the better defensive player; the fact that Rose was able to play at a relatively high level in MLB for 20+ years and accumulate the numbers he did speaks as a testament not only to his talent, but also to the tenacity of Charlie Hustle.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Pete Rose
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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