Ichiro finds a clever way to put Pete Rose in his place

After a pinch-hit double Thursday night, Ichiro Suzuki sits at 2,998 MLB hits. That puts him well within striking distance of the magic 3,000-mark Friday night when the Miami Marlins say he’ll be in the starting lineup.

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With 3,000 in sight — he’ll be the 30^th player to join the prestigious club — ESPN’s Marly Rivera published an exclusive interview with Ichiro that touches on a number of topics ranging from retirement (he says he wants to play until he’s 50) to the attention that comes with his 3,000-hit pursuit (he says outsiders care more than he does). The entire thing is worth your time.

Ichiro is closing in on 3,000 hits in the U.S. (Getty Images)

The most interesting point, though, is when Rivera asks Ichiro about Pete Rose and Ichiro connects with a sneaky-good jab. As you might remember, Rose recently downplayed Ichiro getting to 4,256 career hits between MLB and his pro career in Japan. It’s not a real record, but it at least ties Rose’s MLB mark. At the time, this is what Rose said:

“It sounds like in Japan,’’ Rose told USA TODAY Sports, “they’re trying to make me the Hit Queen. I’m not trying to take anything away from Ichiro, he’s had a Hall of Fame career, but the next thing you know, they’ll be counting his high-school hits.

Rose has a valid point. Pro hits in Japan don’t count the same as MLB hits, so he is indeed still the The Hit King. Nonetheless, Ichiro found an aspect of this peculiar and called Rose out for it:

I was actually happy to see the Hit King get defensive. I kind of felt I was accepted. I heard that about five years ago Pete Rose did an interview, and he said that he wished that I could break that record. Obviously, this time around it was a different vibe. In the 16 years that I have been here, what I’ve noticed is that in America, when people feel like a person is below them, not just in numbers but in general, they will kind of talk you up. But then when you get up to the same level or maybe even higher, they get in attack mode; they are maybe not as supportive. I kind of felt that this time.

Ichiro isn’t exactly one to publicly throw shade at other players, nor is he one to say something without thinking it through, so that makes his take on the situation even more intriguing.

Like everything he does, Ichiro handled this with style and grace. It’s enough of a retort to sting Rose but not enough to start a full-on beef.

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