Ichiro. Hall of Famer, yes. 4,000 Hit club, no.

[Matt700wlw]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...92648&c_id=nyy

[Tom Servo]

4,000 hit club, yes.

[kaldaniels]

Wladimir Balentin 100 career HR club, yes?

[joshua]

Ichiro can join the 4,000 hit club when Cooperstown acknowledges Sadaharu is the all time HR leader...which will never happen.

[Red in Chicago]

japanese baseball < american baseball

[oneupper]

It's an interesting tidbit, a sign of the globalization of our sport and world.
Ichiro should celebrate his 4,000th hit. I don't think anyone is suggesting it should be in the official MLB record books.

[cumberlandreds]

If you combined the minor league stats, I wonder how many, if any, MLB players had 4,000 hits? Ichiro should feel proud of his accomplishments. He's been a great hitter. I think if he had played his entire career in MLB he would have had good shot at Rose's hit record.

[redsmetz]

It's an interesting tidbit, a sign of the globalization of our sport and world.
Ichiro should celebrate his 4,000th hit. I don't think anyone is suggesting it should be in the official MLB record books.

I agree. Then again, I've long suggested that Oh should be placed in the HOF, although I fully understand that he is not eligible given the rules for the Hall. Still, I'd love to see a special exception to acknowledge his career.

[oneupper]

Pete Rose had 427 minor league hits. Maybe he'll come back to total 5,000!
(as a ghost, I'd presume).

[Red in Chicago]

Pete Rose had 427 minor league hits. Maybe he'll come back to total 5,000!
(as a ghost, I'd presume).

and another 86 in the post-season

[klw]

Rank	Player                MLB        MiLB    Total	
1.	Pete Rose 	     4256	 427     4683
2.	Ty Cobb+ 	     4189	 166     4355
3.	Hank Aaron +	     3771	 324     4095
4.	Stan Musial+	     3630	 371     4001
5.	Tris Speaker+ 	     3514	 451     3965
6.	Cap Anson+ 	     3435	 no data
7.	Honus Wagner+ 	     3420	 262+    3702+ 
8.	Carl Yastrzemski+    3419	 363     3782
9.	Paul Molitor+ 	     3319	  86     3405
10.	Eddie Collins+ 	     3315	  22     3337
11.	Derek Jeter 	     3308	 551     3809
12.	Willie Mays+ 	     3283	 195     3478
13.	Eddie Murray+ 	     3255	 451     3706

I got the numbers from Baseball Reference
http://www.baseball-reference.com/le...H_career.shtml

Collins' and Mays's data includes some Negro League results, Anson had no known stats in the minors and Wagner was shown playing in one additional season in MiLB for which there were no stats shown.


Another number to consider is postseason hits, Jeter has 200 which would bring his total to 4009.

                                MiLB/MLB          Post        Total
1.	Pete Rose 	          4683            86          4769
2.	Ty Cobb+ 	          4355            17          4372
3.	Hank Aaron +	          4095            25          4120
4.	Stan Musial+	          4001            22          4023
5.	Tris Speaker+ 	          3965            22          3987
6.	Cap Anson+ 	          3435	          16          3451
7.	Honus Wagner+ 	          3702+           14          3716+
8.	Carl Yastrzemski+         3782            24          3806
9.	Paul Molitor+ 	          3405            43          3448
10.	Eddie Collins+ 	          3337            42          3379
11.	Derek Jeter 	          3809           200          4009
12.	Willie Mays+ 	          3478            22          3500
13.	Eddie Murray+ 	          3706            41          3747

[cumberlandreds]

Rank	Player                MLB        MiLB    Total	
1.	Pete Rose 	     4256	 427     4683
2.	Ty Cobb+ 	     4189	 166     4355
3.	Hank Aaron +	     3771	 324   4095
4.	Stan Musial+	     3630	 371   4001
5.	Tris Speaker+ 	     3514	 451    3965
6.	Cap Anson+ 	     3435	 no data
7.	Honus Wagner+ 	     3420	 262+   3702+ 
8.	Carl Yastrzemski+    3419	 363  3782
9.	Paul Molitor+ 	     3319	  86   3405
10.	Eddie Collins+ 	     3315	  22    3337
11.	Derek Jeter 	     3308	 551  3809.
12.	Willie Mays+ 	     3283	 195   3478

I got the numbers from Baseball Reference
http://www.baseball-reference.com/le...H_career.shtml

Collins' and Mays's data includes some Negro League results, anson had no stats in the minors and Wagner was shown playing in one additional season in MiLB for which there were no stats shown.

Thanks for doing that. So in all probability Aaron and Musial would be the only others to get 4,000 combining MLB and MILB stats. That's pretty good company for Ichiro to keep.

[mdccclxix]

Ichiro should be 1st ballot, though, I think.

[oneupper]

Ichiro should be 1st ballot, though, I think.

He's been good and good for the game. And if he used PEDs, they were labeled in Japanese, so it doesn't count.

[jojo]

Ichiro should be 1st ballot, though, I think.

I agree. I have never understood why some combine his numbers though. Truthfully, it's just mlb marketing.