Ichiro got his 2000th Major League Baseball (MLB )hit today against the A's. If you combine this with the hits that he got in 9 years playing professional baseball in Japan (starting as an 18 year old) before joining MLB, it would be enough to place him 12th on the all-time MLB list just 5 behind Willie Mays' 3283 hits.
Pete Rose leads the hit parade with 4256 career hits in his major league career. He got a hit about every 3.3 times at bat. Ichiro in just his MLB career has averaged a hit every 3.0 times at bat. If you add his Japanese baseball stats, then it's one hit every 2.93 at bats.
He's made it to 2000 faster than anyone not named Al Simmons who went on to finish with 2927 hits. He'll be 36 when baseball starts next year, when he should have about 2040 hits. By the time he finishes his first season as a 40 year old five years from now, he should be at about 3140 hits.
At one point, it was thought that Ichiro's stats in Japan would be needed to help him get into the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. This is no longer the case. He's gotten 200 hits in all 10 years in the majors. Pete Rose did not get his 10th 200-hit season until his 17th season. Ichiro also has been a Gold Glove fielder each year in the majors. He's broken the all-time single season hits record. He led the Mariners to their record 116-win season. Now it's just a matter of how many more stats he will amass before he decides to hang up his cleats for good.
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