Ichiro Suzuki collected his 4,000th professional hit earlier tonight. Combining his time in Japan and with Major League Baseball, 4,000 is a great accomplishment. But of course, there has to be an acknowledgment that it’s not on the level as Ty Cobb or Pete Rose. Any smart person knows that Ichiro’s accomplishments are not on their level.

But in this case, some people on Twitter have gotten out of their way to be so angry at Ichiro for still accomplishing a very difficult milestone regardless if some of the hits came from Japan. After all, getting a hit is hard enough. Getting it 4,000 times is pretty special. It’s like his time in Japan getting hits doesn’t mean anything. Nobody is saying that all his hits are from his time in America. But it’s lost somewhere with these people.

Of course, there are people with some perspective on the matter. They know that it’s not on the same level as Rose or Cobb, but they at least have the class to acknowledge still a great accomplishment.

For those whining and complaining, they just completely miss the point. Nobody is saying his hits are all from the MLB. But don’t dismiss that getting 4,000 hits as nothing. Don’t dismiss the talent in Japan. It may not be at the level in the big leagues, but getting hits is no easy task. I’d imagine if Ichiro started his big league career in America, I’d say he’d probably be at least with 3,000 hits. Maybe he would be at 4,000 already. He’s that talented.

Stop whining and complaining like little babies about technicalities and celebrate something special. Ichiro is a once in a lifetime kind of player. If you can’t appreciate that, then you don’t appreciate baseball.