SALON

Thursday, Nov 5, 2009 2:01 PM UTC

Japan celebrates Matsui’s MVP win

Becomes first Japanese winner of world series honor after record-setting performance

By

Topics: Baseball,

Japan nearly came to a standstill as millions watched on TV while Hideki Matsui, the man they know as Godzilla, stomped around New York to lead the Yankees to the World Series title.

Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the MVP trophy for the Most Valuable Player of the World Series with a record-tying six RBIs in the clincher to lead the Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 on Wednesday.

Matsui homered, doubled and singled in Game 6, highlighting a Series in which he hit .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs.

Japanese workers crammed into downtown electronics stores to watch the final few innings on giant TVs. The game ended just before 2 p.m. local time Thursday, giving workers an excuse to take an extended lunch break.

“All the news recently has been about Ichiro Suzuki,” said office worker Hiroyuki Takeuchi, who took the morning off to watch the game. “But Matsui’s presence is huge. He overcame injuries and came through with the performance of a lifetime. As a Japanese, I’m very proud today.”

Matsui was a three-time MVP for the Yomiuri Giants in the regular season in 1996, 2000 and 2002, his last year in Japan. He also won the MVP award in the 2000 Japan Series, Japan’s version of the World Series.

Earning the nickname “Godzilla,” Matsui hit 50 home runs in 2002. The No. 55 on his uniform is a tribute to Sadaharu Oh’s single-season home run record.

“As the first Japanese to win an MVP in the World Series, this is a great accomplishment for Matsui and will have a huge impact,” said former San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese player to play in the major leagues, who watched at his Tokyo home.

Matsui always has been popular in Japan, but his decision not to play in the World Baseball Classic drew criticism from some fans. Matsui always said he was passing over the WBC to prepare for the season with the Yankees.

The 35-year-old designated hitter is in the final year of a $52 million, four-year contract. And every baseball fan across Japan wants to know this: What will the Yankees do with Matsui?

“He’s a very hard worker and is serious about his career,” Murakami said. “I hope he stays with the Yankees. I know he wants to stay, and the Japanese fans want him to stay.”

Japanese sports dailies have speculated about his future, some even saying he might return to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers, the fierce Central League rivals of the Giants.

“I hope he stays in New York,” Takeuchi said. “He looks good in pinstripes.”

More Jim Armstrong.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 4 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations