With a slap single off Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey, Ichiro Suzuki joined one of baseballs most exclusive groups: the 4,000 hit club. Ichiro joined only Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,189) as the only men in the history of professional baseball to reach the plateau, reaching the milestone in his 2,981st professional game. TSN.ca Baseball Editor Shane McNeil presents five reasons why Ichiros achievement deserves the recognition it has received. 1. Its the numbers that matter, not the details. While some might argue an asterisk for those Ichiro accrued in the Japanese Professional League, those arguments must also be tempered by a couple facts. Ichiro has registered more hits in Major League Baseball than any player in the first 13 years of his MLB career (2,722), eclipsing Paul Waners 2,648. The fact that he did not start his MLB career cannot and should not be held against him, since he was born and trained in Japan and naturally started his career. Ichiro has more hits from the age of 27 onward than the two men ahead of him which makes this achievement all the more astounding. Most players best years are prior to their 30th birthday. Ichiro did the majority of his work as a pro after that milestone. Moreover, Ichiro was actually registering fewer at-bats per season in Japan than he would have in North America. His highest single-season AB total with Orix was his 546 in 1994. His lowest single-season total with Seattle was 647 in 2002. While Ichiros Japanese averages were substantially higher than most of his MLB single-season totals (a .353 career mark vs. .320 in MLB), the greater number of at-bats means that had Ichiro been even a .300 hitter in the MLB he would have registered 200 hits per season, as opposed to the 180 or so he averaged in Japan. Call the Nippon Professional Baseball League inferior all you like, it only masks the reality that had Ichiro started in North America in 1995 – three years after his Japanese career began – he would still be at 4,000 today, health permitting. 2. Baseball needs something to be proud of. Whenever the “Steroid Era” is mentioned in connection to baseball, a few faces spring to mind. Perhaps its Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Perhaps its Jose Canseco or a younger Alex Rodriguez with the Texas Rangers. Maybe its Ryan Braun. The steroid problem in the Majors did not end with the Mitchell Report, nor is it likely to end with Biogenesis. However, what the Steroid Era has achieved is calling into question virtually every major landmark and achievement over the past 25 or so years, give or take a Cal Ripken. With Ichiros 4,000th hit – many of which never even left the infield – baseball has something to be proud of and its primarily based around one of the most elementary skills: Legging one out to first. 3. It allows MLB to celebrate one of its underappreciated greats. Ichiro has never been a spotlight hog, nor has he been a particularly flashy player. A wise man once wrote, “This... is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” Ichiro did all three better than just about any player of his generation. While his 110 home runs wont win him any MVP votes, he managed a decade of achievement that is almost unparalleled in the most basic of baseball skills. Between 2001 and 2010, Ichiro never finished lower than seventh in the American League batting race, hitting .310 or better every single season. Over that same span he finished in the top 10 in stolen bases every season, winning 10 Gold Gloves over that span and was selected to 10 All-Star Games. Ichiro has played baseball in its purest sense better than the majority of his opposition as a Major Leaguer and – apart from his rookie season – drew surprisingly little attention to himself in the process. If he plays another two or three seasons in North America, there may well be a celebration for his passage of Rose and Cobb on the hit list. But he may not, so why not take the opportunity to celebrate the man and his achievement? 4. Its rare nowadays to see a true trailblazer at work. Ichiro was not the first Japanese player to hit North America, nor will he be the last. That said, he will undoubtedly be the first to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and will likely do so on the first ballot. Ichiro was not faced with the obstacles of being the first, like Jackie Robinson, but he is the first Japanese player and certainly the first Japanese hitter to have such a career. It is time to start thinking of Ichiro in the same vein as Roberto Clemente, his humanitarianism and martyrdom notwithstanding? Clemente was not the first Latin American ballplayer to hit MLB, but he was the first to become a true force in the game and has since carried the flag for the majority of the subsequent ballplayers to flood the Majors from the Caribbean. Will Ichiro open a similar floodgate for Japanese and Asian players to gain better prominence in MLB? Maybe not to the same extent as the close Caribbean cultures, but its not a stretch to think that Yu Darvish has Ichiro to thank at least in part for his current success and celebrity. 5. He may not be done yet. Ichiro may well be in his final act in the Majors, but there is no way to know for certain. A quiet man by nature, Ichiro has made no allusions toward retirement any time soon, nor has he hinted about a possible return to Japan. At 39, Ichiro is two years younger than Cobb was at the time of his retirement and a full six years younger than Rose in his final season as a player. Its not out of the realm of possibility to play two more seasons and should he do so he still has both men to pass, as well as the incredible milestone of possibly reaching 3,000 hits in the majors – an asterisk-less achievement if ever there was one. He is also still yet to play a World Series game, so a competitor of his stature could also be holding out to win a Championship before calling it a career. Either way, the man still has plenty to play for. Soldes Chaussures Pas Cher .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. Vente Chaussure Pas Cher . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. http://www.chaussuresfrancepascher.fr/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Site De Chaussure Pas Cher . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Grossiste Chaussure Pas Cher .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. AMHERST, N.Y. -- Tyree Jackson passed for 178 yards and a touchdown and ran for 34 yards and two more touchdowns to lead Buffalo in a 23-20 comeback win over Army on overtime on Saturday night.Adam Mitcheson secured the win with a 33-yard field goal in overtime as Buffalo (1-2) won its first game of the season. Armys Blake Wilson had missed a 43-yard field goal attempt in OT and also missed a 34-yarder in the final three seconds of regulation.Buffalo scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to tie the game at 20-20 with 2:26 remaining. Army had not allowed an opponent to score in the fourth quarter in its first three wins.Im really proud of our team, Buffalo coach Lance Leipold said. I think a lot of people might have counted this group out. We had our backs to the wall.Army (3-1) rushed for 396 yards on 67 carries. The Black Knights had the nations No. 2 rushing attack, averaging 367 yards in its first three games.Yards dont matter, Army coach Jeff Monken said. When you get it down in the red zone, you score.The Black Knights scored two touchdowns and one field goal in four trips to the red zone. The fourth trip to the red zone resulted in Wilsons first missed field goal.Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for a season-high 126 yards on 22 carries had a 5-yard touchdown run that put Army up 20-6 late in the third quarter. Fullback Andy Davidson rushed for 80 yards on 18 carries after going over 100 yards in each of the first three games.Wilson madde field goals from 21 and 38 yards out in the first half.dddddddddddd Armys starting placekicker, Mitchell Howard, injured his left leg making a tackle on the opening kickoff.Kamari Holsey caught a 5-yard touchdown from Jackson to cut Armys lead to 20-13 with 8:85 remaining.Army led 10-0 at halftime, but Bradshaws fumble on the first drive of the second half gave Buffalo the ball at the Army 23. That led to Jacksons first touchdown, but Mitcheson missed the extra point.Football is a game of momentum and when the defense makes a big play like that, especially coming off the half, were excited, theyre going, our energy is high and we know we have to return the favor, Jackson said.THE TAKEAWAYBuffalo: The Bulls avoided going 0-3 for the first time since 2005 and snapped a five-game losing streak dating to last season.Army: The Black Knights triple-option attack dominated for most of the game but fizzled in the fourth quarter. Turnovers also proved costly. Army did not give the ball away in any of its first three games, but had two turnovers in this game, including one that led to a Buffalo touchdown.You play that bad, were going to have trouble winning another game, Monken said.UP NEXTArmy: Following their bye week, the Black Knights will travel to Duke on Oct. 8.Buffalo: The Bulls play at Boston College on Saturday. ' ' '