Hideki Matsui

Hello everyone!

Since this post is going to be in English, it will be considerably easier to tell you about Hideki Matsui!!!

As a star player on the New York Yankees for 6 years, Hideki Matsui was both a Japanese and American favorite. After a successful career in Japan, Matsui turned down a whopping $64 million (the largest amount in NPB history) to play for the New York Yankees in December 2002. Tokyo hosted a parade for this honor, and Matsui continued to be the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium.

Matsui is also a consistent player. He didn't miss one game for the first three seasons with the Yankees, putting together a total of 518 straight games. However, a wrist injury ended his career at the New York Yankees, and spent a year so far with the Anaheim Angels.

As for his personal life, Matsui donated $500,000 dollars to charity relief for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He was also discreetly married to an unnamed woman, whom he met in Japan during the 2006 off-season. Despite having played in the United States for seven season, Hideki still relies on his translator, Roger Kahlon. Today, he resides in the West Side of Manahattan in Trump Place.

I personally admire Matsui for his humble and hard-working attitude during his time at the Yankees. While players like A-Rod and Jeter were getting a lot of press and attention, Matsui quietly kept his runs and statistics up, maintaing the solid core that was the Yankee Team. He also has a knack for hitting last-minute home runs to win the game... here are just a few:

there is a little introduction, but bear with me, it's worth it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLFcZMrrmsM

Thanks for watching!

Meghan