Minnesota Sports Forum

The discussion about whether Icharo's hit total should include the hits he had in Japan before coming to the US is an interesting one. A writer called Pete Rose to get his thoughts, and while I generally think Rose is kind of a Neanderthal, I thought his answer had some merit. He said to the writer "So you're suggesting that all professional baseball hits should be considered? OK, then my minor league hits should also be included in my total."

Logical, I think, because typical Japanese pitching is probably not much different than AAA pitching. I think hits total should be MLB only, but I also think it's legitimate to have a secondary category that includes all professional hits...foreign, minors, etc. Rose will be #1 in either list.

No they shouldn't count. I don't know why Ichiro needs anything more on his resume. He was a terrific hitter for years and was a 10x gold Glove winner. Seems like a no brainier HOFer to me.

I really hate how someone brings up a twist to an individual's stats (in this case hits outside of MLB). It's dumb, the leagues are not equal; and the stats are not equal.

Case in point Warren Moon was elected into the NFL Hall of Fame based on his NFL stats. His Canadian League stats were not included. To add his Canadian League stats would only create confusion. For example: Canadian League is 1a, USFL 1b, Indoor Football 2. And Baseball would be crazy between which AAA league (International or Pacific), Japan, or a central American league.