Athletes - Hideki Matsui

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	Athletes - Hideki Matsui

Hideki 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.

Matsui was born in Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan (later merged into Nomi, Ishikawa). 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 (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 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. Coincidentally, Yomiuri is 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.

On January 14, 2003, Matsui signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees. He became the starting leftfielder. On 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. In his second season, Matsui was in an All-Star lineup that included Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter. Matsui finished 2004 with a .298 average with over 30 home runs and 108 RBIs. In 2005, Matsui hit a career high .305 and 116 RBIs.

Matsui has not missed a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, putting together a streak of 487 games played. 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 .297 hitter with 70 home runs and 330 RBI. In the postseason (2003-2005), Matsui averages .319 and has hit 6 home runs and 25 RBIs.

Matsui recently signed a 4 year deal for $52 million dollars, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki as the highest paid Japanese player in baseball, and securing his place with the Yankees through 2009.

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 place any movement on his bat.

In Time Magazine's Asian Heroes story, it was revealed that Hideki Matsui is also an avid adult film collector. As quoted in the article "Indeed, his only eccentricity, if it can be called that, is his extensive private library of adult videos. His refreshing ability to laugh self-deprecatingly about his porno collection, reporters say, is one reason why fans and even nonfans have taken to him so much. Says former reporter Isao Hirooka: 'Hideki just wants to be like ordinary people.'"

Athletes - Hideki Matsui

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