On Wednesday, Ichiro Suzuki authored the 4,257th hit of a distinguished career spanning both hemispheres. His first 1,278 hits came when playing for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. The only thing that made No. 4,257 interesting was that, if you added the Orix number to his MLB total, it gave Ichiro one more knock than Pete Rose.
Had Rose not opened his mouth, Ichiro’s achievement would have been little noted. I follow sports for a living, and I was only vaguely aware that he was nearing No. 4,257 until Rose spoke to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Only then did headlines ensue.