Ichiro Suzuki has 2,977 Major League Baseball hits to go along with his 1,278 hits in nine seasons in Japan.

If you add them up, the Miami Marlins outfielder is one hit shy of tying Pete Rose's major league record of 4,256 hits.

"It sounds like in Japan, they're trying to make me the Hit Queen," Rose told USA Today Sports. "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. There are too many guys that fail here and then become household names there, like Tuffy Rhodes. How can he not do anything here and hit [a record-tying] 55 home runs [in 2001] over there? It has something to do with the caliber of personnel."