Cobb played 24 seasons in the league (from 18 to 41 years old), collected 4,189 hits (second all time), hit .400 or better three times including a .420 season in 1911, and topped 200 hits nine times in his career, but not in a row. In fact, the most times Cobb ever topped 200 hits consecutively was three seasons.
The all time hit king Pete Rose played 24 seasons himself and collected 4,256 hits for a record many feel will never be broken. In other areas though Rose and Cobb are incomparable. His .303 batting average pales in comparison to Cobb's .366 mark and the closest Rose ever came to hitting .400 was in 1969 when he posted a league best .348 mark. In his career, Rose actually reached at least 200 hits 10 times (most all time, and one more than Cobb and Ichiro) but the most he achieved the mark consecutively was three (equal to Cobb, although Ty did it twice).
In Ichiro's nine seasons in the big leagues he has been essentially a hybrid of Rose and Cobb. His .333 batting average falls directly between the two but Ichiro has come much closer to reaching the .400 mark than Rose, batting .350 his first season in the league and on the continent (2001), .372 (2004), and .351 (2007). Currently, Ichiro is second in the AL with a .353 mark, which means he will further raise his .333 career average, barring an unlikely late season slump.
With another 200-hit season Ichiro is in Cobb-like territory. He has topped 220 hits four of his nine seasons in the league (with this season obviously still in progress). In comparison, Pete Rose bested the mark once in his entire career and Cobb passed the mark thrice. While his career total stands at only 2,005 hits, it must be noted that Ichiro didn't enter the league until the age of 27. His career totals may always fall short of defining his prowess but his volume is more than representative.
Assuming Ichiro would have hit an average of 200 hits every fictitious season in the league after had broken in at the standard age for a ballplayer (allowing for dips and raises above the 200 hit-mark, similar to those Cobb and Rose displayed), his projected hit totals fully illustrate the extent of Ichiro's greatness. Had Suzuki debuted at age 19 (the age Cobb was in his first full season) Ichiro's total would stand at "roughly" 3,605 hits (fifth all time). Had he broken in at 22 (as Rose did) he would be at 3,005.
Article comments
1 - Glenn Contrarian
Yeah, I'm a fan of Ichiro, too. I really do consider him the best baseball player to date in history - because it's not just his batting, but also his incredible baserunning and his fielding.
I read a few days ago that Ichiro plans to play till he's 50. Let's say he plays till he's 'only' 45 - that means he would have to knock out another ten straight years of 200-hit seasons in order to reach the 4K-hit plateau...and he'd need to play at least two more seasons to beat Rose's record.
Many of his hits are infield hits thanks to his speed - but age will start affecting him soon (if it isn't already), which means his hit production will go down.
I don't think he'll ever break Rose's record - at least not if we only count his career in American MLB - but I still think he's the best pure baseball player ever.
2 - Tony
Yeah, his career numbers will never be there because he started so late but thats why records like this are important in understanding Ichiro's greatness.