Former New York Yankees outfielder and international baseball superstar Hideki Matsui announced his retirement on Thursday after playing 20 seasons with Japan's Yomiuri Giants and four different major league teams.
Matsui was a popular player while with the Yankees and was known as "Godzilla" from his time playing in Japan due to his home run hitting. Through his 10-year major league career, Matsui hit .282 with 175 home runs and 760 RBIs with the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays.
During his final season in the majors, he played 34 games for the Rays and hit .147 before being released in August. The 38-year-old outfielder announced his plans to retire on Thursday at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
"I wanted to bat cleanup again, but the results weren't there," Matsui said in slow, quiet Japanese, his eyes seemingly welling up, according to the New York Times. "I thought it was time to stop."
Matsui first came to the major leagues in 2003 after spending 10 years in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants, where he won three Central League MVP awards. He signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Yankees as a free agent in December 2002 and finished second to Kansas City shortstop Angel Berroa in the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .287 with 16 home runs, 106 RBIs and 42 doubles.
"I tried to tell myself I needed to stay here for the prosperity of Japanese baseball," he said in a nationally televised news conference a decade ago, according to the New York Times. But "I will do my best there so the fans will be glad I went."
The Yankees re-signed Matsui in 2005 to a four-year, $52 million extension, but the following season he broke his left wrist, fracturing both the ulna and radius after trying to make a diving catch in the outfield. After having surgery, he apologized to the Yankees for getting injured and rebounded to hit .285 with 25 home runs and 103 RBIs the following season after being limited to just 51 games in 2006.
Matsui took part in many memorable games in New York, including in 2003 (his second season), when he scored the tying run against Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. He was brought in on a double by Jorge Posada, which followed his own ground-rule double in the previous at-bat. Aaron Boone won the game for the Yankees later on one of the most famous walk-off home runs in playoff history..
During his time with the Yankees, Matsui made three All-Star teams and was a key part of the 2009 championship team that defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, winning the World Series MVP award after hitting .615 (8 for 14) with three home runs.
According to ESPN.com, Matsui became just the third player to hit .500 or better with three homers in the same World Series, following Yankee greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In October, San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval became the fourth hitter to join the club after hitting three home runs in a single game.
Matsui signed with the Los Angeles Angels after his final season with the Yankees, hitting .274 with 21 home runs and 72 RBIs in 145 games. The following year he signed with the Oakland Athletics, but all his numbers started to decline. He hit just .251 with 12 home runs and 72 RBIs in 141 games in his final full major league season.
Matsui was consistent and durable during his professional career, playing in 1,768 consecutive games in Japan and the United States before fracturing his wrist in 2006, ending the streak.
During his career in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants, Matsui hit .334 with 332 home runs, 889 RBIs and 245 doubles in 1,268 games. Matsui wore the No. 55 to honor Sadaharu Oh's single-season home run record and helped lead the Giants to three championships, winning in 1994, 2000 and 2002.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter said Matsui was one of "favorite" teammates during his career.
"I've said it numerous times over the years, but it's worth repeating now. I've had a lot of teammates over the years with the Yankees, but I will always consider Hideki one of my favorites," Jeter said in a release, according to ESPN.com. "The way he went about his business day in and day out was impressive. Despite being shadowed by a large group of reporters, having the pressures of performing for his fans both in New York and Japan and becoming acclimated to the bright lights of New York City, he always remained focused and committed to his job and to those of us he shared the clubhouse with. I have a lot of respect for Hideki. He was someone we counted on a great deal and he's a big reason why we became World Champions in 2009."
When Matsui first arrived in New York, he had a contingent of Japanese media that followed the team everywhere they played. His at-bats became front-page stories back home, especially his home runs. His best season with the Yankees came in 2004, when he hit .298 with 31 home runs, 108 RBIs and a .390 on-base percentage.
His final game with the Yankees ended up being Game 6 of the World Series, where he drove in a World Series record-tying six runs in the championship-clinching win over the Phillies.
"He played with pride, discipline and of course talent, and flourished when the lights were at their brightest," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said to USA Today. "People naturally gravitated towards him, and that's a direct reflection of his character. He was a true professional in every sense of the word and it feels good knowing he was able to raise the championship trophy as a member of the Yankees."
Matsui came to the Yankees with a lot of pressure after leading the Giants to a championship. He turned down a six-year, $64 million contract from the Giants to come play with the Yankees and delivered right away, hitting a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. Matsui was the first Japanese power hitter to successfully come to the major leagues, following players like Ichiro Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who were contact hitters mostly.
Matsui will be remembered as one of the most successful Japanese players to play in the major leagues. Matsui holds the single-season home run record for a Japanese-born player and is the only Japanese-born hitter ever to drive in 80 or more runs in a season the major leagues.
