Pete Rose: Ichiro's Japan hits should not count toward his total

Ichiro is one hit away from tying Pete Rose' major league record of 4,256 hits, if you count his total from Japan.

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Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is just one hit shy of breaking Pete Rose's record of 4,256 career hits, but the Hit King does not believe the totals from Japan should count toward Ichiro's total, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Ichiro has 2,977 hits in the MLB after collecting 1,278 hits over nine seasons in Japan. 

“It sounds like in Japan,” Rose said, “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. I don’t think you’re going to find anybody with credibility say that Japanese baseball is equivalent to major-league baseball.”

Suzuki, 42, holds the major-league record for single-season hits with 262 in 2004. He also won seven batting titles in Japan. He has refused to comment on whether he believes his hits should count toward the record.

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Suzuki sits at No. 31 on the all-time MLB hits list. Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez is the only active player with more hits.