Another Milestone for Ichiro

On August 21 2013, Ichiro singled against R.A Dickey. The hit itself was nothing special but the significance of it was historic. The single marked Ichiro's 4,000 professional career hit. He joined Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Julio Franco, Jigger Statz, Stan Musial, and Hank Aaron as the only known players with 4,000 hits. This milestone joins the many other milestones Ichiro has claimed. Throughout his 13 year career, Ichiro Suzuki has been a hitting machine. For example, he join Fred Lynn as the only players to win MVP their rookie seasons. Also, he is tied with Pete Rose for the most 200-hit seasons with 10. Furthermore, he is the only player to start a career with 5 consecutive 200-hit seasons. What makes the achievements so astounding is that only six other players had 5 consecutive 200-hit seasons at any point of their career. Moreover, Ichiro owns the most hits and second most hits in a 4-year span. Ichiro has had an amazing career but there is still one milestones Ichiro can get to solidify his legacy: 3,000 major league hits. Reaching this plateau would not only solidify his legacy but make him a lock for the Hall of Fame. Every member of the 3,000 hit club that is eligible to be in Hall of Fame is in with the exception of Rafael Palmeiro, who is unlikely to make it because he is linked to steroids, and Craig Biggio, who received 68% of the votes this year which was his first year on the ballot. Ichiro needs only 279 hits to get 3,000 major league hits. Even if he can't reach 3,000 major league hits, Ichiro will always be remembered as one of the greatest hitters of not only his generation but of all-time.