MLB legend Pete Rose once discredited Ichiro Suzuki's NPB career achievments as the Japanese legend closed in on his all-time hits record

Ichiro Suzuki, a Japanese MLB icon, was once shaded by Pete Rose as he was about to break the Cincinnati Reds legend's record of 4,256 hits.

During the 2016 season, Suzuki reached the 4,255-hit mark across the NPB and MLB. However, many felt Suzuki didn't have a claim to the record as many of those hits came in the less competitive NPB.

One of those people was Pete Rose, whose record Ichiro Suzuki was about to break. In a 2016 interview with USA Today, the former Cincinnati Reds player played down Suzuki's numbers:

“It sounds like in Japan, they’re trying to make me the Hit Queen. 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."

Pete Rose as such a fun approach in the batting box. Go through his mind by watching this. Good laugh about facing Bob Gibson https://t.co/yKoBtfzgSB

Ichiro Suzuki did end up surpassing the record set by Pete Rose. The former Marlins player finished his career with 1,278 NPB hits and 3,089 MLB hits for a total of 4,367.

When Pete Rose shaded Nippon Professional Baseball

During the same interview, Pete Rose shaded NPB, claiming that the quality of the product was much poorer than MLB. He also claimed that many players who failed in MLB went on to have success in NPB.

“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."

Rose added:

"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.’’

Happy 49th birthday to the incomparable Ichiro Suzuki!
https://t.co/OV3uKTDY5f

While Rose may look down on Suzuki's achievements, a large section of the baseball community does not and regards him as one of the top players of his time.