Hideki Matsui
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Hideki Matsui [mɑ-tsuː-iː] (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.
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Matsui was born in Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan. He started playing baseball when he was in elementary school, and 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, even though the strategy worked and his team lost. Matsui graduated from Seiryo High School in Ishikawa and 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. Ironically enough, Yomiuri are often referred to by fans and detractors alike as the "New York Yankees of the Japanese Baseball League."
A three-time MVP in the Japanese Central League, Matsui has been nicknamed "Godzilla", and has generated excitement among fans. He even has made a cameo in a Godzilla film, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. His hair style has prompted some of his Yankee teammates to jokingly refer to him as "Shemp". Many reporters and photographers have followed him from his home in Tokyo.
Matsui started every game with the Yankees in the 2004 season, extending his streak of consecutive games played to 325. Before that, he played in 1,573 consecutive games with Yomiuri. An all-star in each of his first two seasons with New York (2003 and 2004), the soft-spoken Matsui is a career .292 hitter with 47 home runs and 214 RBI as of the start of the 2005 regular-season.
In the 2005 regular-season, the Yankees have been forced to deal with keeping his 1500+ game streak alive. In a game against the Milwaukee Brewers when the Yankees left him out of the lineup, Japanese media hounded manager Joe Torre, wondering whether he would let the streak end, forcing him to let Matsui bat as a pinch hitter. Four games later, against the St. Louis Cardinals, Matsui seperated his ankle, but they left him in as a designated hitter, which he handled well, with 5 home runs and an American League Player of the Week honor.
Related links
- Japanese baseball
- 2003 World Series
- List of Japanese baseball players
- History of baseball outside the United States
External links
- Template:Baseball-reference
- ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7042)
- Japanese Baseball (http://japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=163)
- -Legend of Hideki,Matsui- (http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/body/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww001.upp.so-net.ne.jp%2Fn-wave%2Findex.htm&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2)es:Hideki Matsui