"I know what kind of competitor he is" - When Ken Griffey Jr.'s dad went against his son's pick in Ichiro Suzuki vs. Pete Rose hit king debate

The debate over who baseball's undisputed hit king is between Ichiro Suzuki and Pete Rose continues to this day. Fortunately for Ken Griffey and his father, they had front row seats, as Ken Sr. was teammates with Rose in the 1970s with the Cincinnati Reds, while Junior spent time as Ichiro's teammate in Seattle in the 2010s.

Eight years ago, in June 2016, the Griffeys, Ken Sr. and Jr., gave their insights on who they think should be crowned as baseball's best hitter in a conversation with Sports Illustrated. While the Hall of Fame son lauded the Japanese star, the elder Griffey picked Pete Rose as the all-time hit king.

"I know what kind of competitor he is," said Griffey Sr. about Rose. (1:36-1:38)

The three-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion and Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer doubled down on his claim and said his teammate deserved to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions on the field.

"I still think he should be in the [National Baseball] Hall of Fame for what he did out on the field," Griffey Sr. said. (1:28-1:32)

The elder Griffey further solidified Rose's case as the all-time hit king by recalling that the state of the Japanese leagues was lagging during Rose's time in the MLB.

The Reds legend shared the sentiment, as Ichiro's base hits accomplishment is always intertwined with his time in Japan's NPB. Ken Sr. went as far as saying that NPB icon Sadaharu Oh struggled against MLB pitchers during their tour of the East.

"We went to Japan in 1978 and the comparison between now and then is totally different in terms of how they hit and all over there," Ken Sr. said. "We were just overpowering when we went to Japan and went 17-0-1. Sadaharu Oh couldn't [even] hit a sinker because he had never seen one." (1:42-2:05)

Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. praises Ichiro Suzuki's hitting accomplishments

In the same interview, Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. lauded former teammate Ichiro Suzuki's hitting prowess in both NPB and MLB.

"He's a phenomenal athlete. When you throw out 262 hits in a year and most of the guys are doing 130 [to] 150, and you're almost doubling it. He works hard, and you know you just [have] to take your hat off to him," said Griffey Jr. (0:42-1:11)

Ichiro Suzuki tallied a total of 4,367 hits in his professional career. He recorded 1,278 hits in NPB during his time with the Orix Blue Wave and 3,089 in Major League Baseball. Pete Rose, meanwhile, recorded 4,256 hits in 24 years in the majors.