Via 2channel news navigator. (Note: 2channel news don’t own this newspaper, they found a link of this, outlining the fans opinion and of course, his/her… thus made a story out of it.)

(Shown posted image in one of JP’s media newspaper…)

「ローズ 黙れ!!」 in other words “Shut up, Pete Rose!”

Okay, first off, let it be known that this isn’t what it is supposed to be… it’s not, and doesn’t mean “Hey ya old timer! Shut yer yap! Don’t be salty cause we have someone that broke your record!” No, it’s definitely NOT like that at all.

It’s leaning more to, that it’s like saying, Major leaguer all-time hits king Pete Rose is trying to ruin this monumental achievement Ichiro has done throughout his NPB and MLB career record hits, with Pete Rose stating “Hey, my minor league hits are from the pros too, why not add it?” and the “No, those NPB hits do not count because they suck, and they are weak, nothing but just highschool pitching”, laying down the good ol’ “looking down upon” thing when what they’re just trying to do, media fans and supporters combined in the country, are just trying to celebrate Ichiro’s milestone which was the 4,257th International hits he’s made in those top level careers, resulting for them telling Rose to shut up. Nobody is saying Ichiro broke Pete Rose’s Major league hits record.

Those remarks made by Pete Rose has sparked some sort of enragement to those fans and former players (and other teammates from the 2006 and 2009 WBC) who followed Ichiro Suzuki and his achievements closely… They find Rose’s remarks/statements as offensive and unnecessary, in more ways than one knowing Ichiro is widely loved and respected.

Some former Major leaguers now in Japan are also in support of Ichiro Suzuki and are believers… one of those players is former Major league player for the Phillies, Scott Mathieson, a pitcher for the NPB Central league team Yomiuri Giants… stated by the media outlet link up top when asked about Ichiro’s accomplisment:

「彼は歴史上で最も優れたバッターだよ. メジャーの記録には残らないかもしれないけれど、オールタイムでベストプレーヤーだ」と大絶賛.」

“There is just but one great hitter in Baseball history, Ichiro Suzuki. I know many of us may know that it is not a Major league record because the other hits happened here, but let’s just appreciate and celebrate the accomplishment of the best hitter and soon to be hall of famer in the planet still playing today.”

There’s also statement in other outlets that he (Scott Mathieson) added, “What can you say about Pete Rose? Who’s done nothing but gambled his chances”.

Garrett Jones, also a teammate of Mathieson in Japan with Yomiuri, and also a teammate of Ichiro Suzuki during his time with the Yankees… stated that if Ichiro came to the US to play early instead of age 27, he said Ichiro would tie, or probably break Rose’s Major league hits record easily…

One thing to also point out here is that, the author and fellow supporters (the author in the link is not the owner of the paper outlet shown, I say again) acknowledges the difference in both leagues. Like all, he also respects Pete Rose as a ballplayer and on how the NPB is probably nothing more but just a “second tier” to MLB. But still, like I said up top, this thread was most likely just made because Pete Rose is saying that it is a record of “unworthy”, and shouldn’t be made and to be celebrated because it’s not Major league hits, in which, is a huge blow to the gut to Japanese fans supporting Ichiro Suzuki because, as all, they should have the right to celebrate… regardless of differences in both leagues.

Sometimes I think it’s better to appreciate ones other accomplishment rather than saying unnecessary things like that.