Ichiro Reaches 4,000 hits?

Pete Rose is the all time leader in hits with 4,256. Arguably one of the best hitters of all time. Well Ichiro has just reached the plateau of 4,000 hit but not all of them were in the Majors. He did play 9 seasons in the Nipon League in Japan. No one is saying he has more hits than Rose who has become very vocal about Ichiro's hits not counting. First of all the game is much different today then it was when he played. No one is saying Ichiro should go down in the Hall of Fame (he's a first ballot) as having 4,000 hits unless he actually reaches that feat playing the MLB. The only thing they are saying is that this is still a great accomplishment and after all the bad marks that have recently plagued baseball (yes Pete Rose is responsible for that too) it is good to bring some good news to the game. I feel Pete Rose is just looking for attention. He is one of the most prolific hitters of all time, is he the best? Not in my eyes, but he is up there. I feel Pete is bitter with baseball and who can blame him a lifetime ban for betting? I'd be upset too but he had a chance to cooperate and essentially stood the commissioner up. If everyone took into consideration what some of the greats had to say about every hitter Mickey Mantle has one of the best quotes regarding Pete Rose of all time. "If I had played my career hitting singles like Pete Rose I'd wear a dress." So in conclusion Pete no one is saying he has 4,000 MLB hits which had he played his career here he may very well have. I mean in Japan he only had one season with over 200 hits and in the Majors he had 10 seasons of 200+ hits. One can only speculate where he would be. 4,000 hits is impressive no matter how you look at it. Congrats Ichiro you are a class act and one hell of a ball player.   

PED's Destroying Baseball

Wow! What a sad day for baseball. Nine years ago this man Alex Rodriguez was considered the Lebron James of baseball. He hit for average, power, played unbelievable defense and was an undeniable presence in any lineup. As a die hard member of Red Sox Nation I was excited at the thought of getting him to don the anti pinstripe attire, but am I glad that he didn't. But this isn't a post to talk about the first place sox but to take a look at how far this man has fallen. He isn't the only one to be using and it is very sad they are using him as a Martyr but it comes with the territory Mr. Rodriguez. You want to cheat the game and the thousands of athletes who try and do things the right way but get denied because you are using. You have destroyed your legacy and I was one of your biggest fans, I still use your swing as an example of a great bat path. I just wonder what was going through your head when you decided to use for the first time. I couldn't imagine the kind of pressure you were under but to turn to PED's had to have been in the back of your mind. Everyone homerun you hit, every RBI you knocked in had to have had you thinking "Was that my ability or the substance I was using?" I want to sit here and bash all the men involved in this scandal and taking money from the pockets of athletes that actually deserve to be there but they are going to have to deal with this the rest of their lives and that is a lot worse than any critic or blogger could ever write. Hope they clean up the game and make it a zero tolerance. One positive test and you are banned from baseball for life.