Ken Griffey Jr. happy for former teammate Ichiro
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Ken Griffey Jr. is unsure if Ichiro Suzuki is MLB’s “hit king,” but he’s happy for his former teammate nonetheless.
In an interview with SI Now’s Maggie Gray, Griffey said it was tough to consider Ichiro as baseball’s all-time hits leader. Ichiro’s career total in hits when combining his time in Japan and America is now greater than MLB all-time leader Pete Rose.
Griffey said he appreciated how the Mariners called it the world record as opposed to the MLB record.
• Pete Rose: Ichiro’s Japan hits should not count toward total
Griffey’s father also weighed in, saying he believed Rose to still be the hit king. Griffey Sr.—who played with Rose in Cincinnati—also said Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
