Hideki Matsui

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Hideki Matsui

New York Yankees — No. 55
Left field
Born: June 12, 1974 (1974-06-12) (age 33)
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
March 31, 2003 for the New York Yankees
Selected MLB statistics (through June 9, 2007)
AVG	.296
HR	84
RBI	390
Teams
Yomiuri Giants (1993-2002) New York Yankees (2003-present)

Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui (松井 秀喜, Matsui Hideki^?, born June 12, 1974) is a Japanese Major League Baseball left fielder who plays for the New York Yankees. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.

Contents 1 Youth 2 Career in Japan 3 Career in the United States 4 Playing Streak 5 Career statistics 6 References 7 Related links 8 External links

Youth

Matsui was born in Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan (later merged into Nomi, Ishikawa). He started playing baseball when he was in elementary school. According to an interview on YES Network's "CenterStage," Matsui originally batted right-handed as a child. However, when he started playing with his older brother and his friends, Matsui was such a good batter that his embarrassed brother insisted that he bat left-handed or stop playing with them. Matsui soon enough became an overpowering left-handed batter, and stayed on that side of the plate from then on. Matsui's stance is somewhat eccentric because he does not move his bat.

Matsui participated in four National High School Baseball Tournaments at Koshien Stadium, once in the spring and three times in summer, during his high school years. In 1992, he drew five consecutive intentional walks in a game at Koshien and became a nationwide topic in Japan at that time (partly because intentionally walking batters was very uncommon in Japan at that time), even though the strategy worked and his team lost. Matsui graduated from Seiryo High School in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.

Career in Japan

Following high school Matsui was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in the first round. Based in Tokyo, the Giants are Japan's most famous and, by far, most successful baseball franchise. Coincidentally, Yomiuri is often referred to by fans and detractors alike as the "New York Yankees of Japan."

A three-time MVP in the Japanese Central League (1996, 2000, and 2002), Matsui led his team into four Japan Series and winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002). He also made nine consecutive all-star games and led the league in home runs and RBIs three times (1998, 2000, and 2002). His single season mark for home runs was 50 in 2002, his final season in Japan. In the ten seasons he played in Japan, Matsui totalled 1268 games played, 4572 AB, 1390 hits, 901 runs, 332 home runs, 889 RBIs, a .304 batting average, and a .582 slugging percentage.

His first trip to the Japan Series became well-known. Because of the MLBPA Players' Strike in 1994, Matsui became known to the American media, as media outlets (including those in Minnesota, who was there covering two players with Minnesota ties, Philadelphia, and Washington) were covering the Series, which was referred in Sports Illustrated as "the" Fall Classic.

In Japan, Matsui earned the popular nickname "Godzilla". The origin of the name, however, is unflattering, as it is in reference as much to his coarse and pockmarked facial complexion as it is in his hitting power^[1]. He even made a cameo in the film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.

Career in the United States

Matsui signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees on January 14, 2003. A parade was held for him in Tokyo to celebrate his signing with the Yankees and many reporters and photographers followed him to MLB from his home in Tokyo. In his first ML at bat he hit an RBI single. His first game at Yankee Stadium was also very memorable. In the 2003 Yankee home opener, Matsui became the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. Matsui went on to hit .287 with 16 home runs and 106 RBI. Matsui narrowly missed the Rookie of the Year Award to Angel Berroa. Some writers admitted they voted Berroa first because Matsui had previous experience in Japan. Also in his first game, Matsui did not understand what was happening when the Bleacher Creatures were chanting his name. He therefore did not acknowledge them and the chanting went on for almost two minutes. (The fans in the Yankee Stadium bleachers are referred to as "Bleacher Creatures." At the beginning of each Yankee home game, they do a "roll call" in which they rhythmically chant the name of each starting player, except the pitcher and catcher, until the player acknowledges the call.)

In his second season, Matsui finished 2004 with a .298 average with 31 home runs and 108 RBIs. In 2005, Matsui hit a career high .305 and 116 RBIs. In 2006, Matsui finished his fourth season with a .302 average with 8 home runs and 29 RBIs after missing most of the season due to a wrist injury.

Matsui signed a four-year deal for $52 million, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki as the highest paid Japanese player in baseball, and securing his place with the Yankees through 2009.

Through 2006, his career batting average against lefties and righties was the same (.297).

On May 6, 2007 Matsui recorded his 2,000th hit in combined hits in Japan and the United States during a game vs. the Mariners, which earned him a place in Japan's Golden Players Club, reserved for players who have hit 2000 hits, 200 wins or 250 saves professionally. It was originally ruled an error on Raul Ibanez, who lost track of the ball due to the strong sun, but a scoring change gave Matsui the hit. Matsui went 2 for 4 that day; the second hit (#2001) was a clean single to right.

Playing Streak

Matsui did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, putting together a streak of 518 games played. Before that, he played in 1,250 consecutive games with Yomiuri, for a total professional baseball streak of 1,768. Matsui holds the consecutive games played streak to start a Major League Baseball career.

On May 11, 2006, in his 519th game with the Yankees, Matsui fractured his left wrist on an unsuccessful sliding catch in the top of the first inning against the Boston Red Sox. Matsui, despite the injury threw the ball back to the infield before gripping his wounded wrist in obvious pain. The game did not count toward Matsui's streak, as a player must field for at least half an inning or take an at-bat to be credited with a game played (MLB rule 10.24). Matsui underwent surgery on May 12, 2006. He returned to the Yankees starting lineup on September 12 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and had an RBI single in his first AB back, and proceeded to go 4 for 4 with a walk, with 2 runs scored as well.

SABR also recognizes the streak as being 518. ^[2]

In the first year of his playing streak, Matsui also set the Major League record for rookies (and all-time record for the Yankees) with 163 games played in a season. Although only 162 full games were played, the September 18 game against the Baltimore Orioles was called after five innings due to Hurricane Isabel. The game was tied at that point, and was replayed at a later date. Player stats from both games were counted.

Career statistics

Hideki Matsui (Updated as of May 04, 2007) ^[3]

	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA
Career	552	2053	343	609	134	6	80	370	9	.297

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ Hideki Matsui. ESPN.com (2007-02-24). Retrieved on 2007-02-24.

Related links

• Nippon Professional Baseball
• 2003 World Series
• List of Japanese baseball players
• History of baseball outside the United States

External links

• baseball-reference.com - Major league career statistics and analysis
• Hideki Matsui at ESPN.com
• An Inside Look At Hideki Matsui
• (Japanese) Hideki Matsui Baseball Museum (This museum was built by his older brother who is the authorized architect and builder.)
• (Japanese) -Legend of Hideki,Matsui-