Hideki Matsui

Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜)
(Godzilla)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
• High School Seiryo High School
• Debut March 31, 2003
• Final Game July 22, 2012

• Born June 12, 1974 in Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan

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Biographical Information

Close-up.

Hideki Matsui was a 3-time MVP in Japan and a two-time All-Star after coming to the US. He hit over 500 home runs between NPB and MLB. He played for the Yomiuri Giants for ten years. A huge power threat, he was expected to break Sadaharu Oh's NPB record of 55 home runs and was given uniform number 55, due to this. His highest total was 50 in 2002 in his final season in Japan.

Matsui crushed 60 homers with a .450 batting average in his high school career, and the Daiei Hawks, Chunichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants selected him in the first round of the 1992 NPB draft; the Giants won the lottery for the rights to him. Matsui got his first career hit against Tatsuji Nishimura on May 1, and he played 57 games with a .223/.296/.451 batting line and 11 homers in his rookie year of 1993. Matsui set the Central League record for most homers as a rookie straight from high school. He soon became a starting outfielder for Yomiuri in 1994, and he blasted 20 homers with a .294/.368/.475 batting line. He was selected into the 1994 NPB All-Star Games, and he was 2-for-8. Matsui ranked 6th in the Central League in hits (148, tied with Yasuaki Taiho) and 5th in homers (tied with Tomonori Maeda, Alonzo Powell, Jerald Clark and Jack Howell). In the 1994 Nippon Series, Matsui went 7-for-24 with a homer against Takehiro Hashimoto in Game 4 to help the Giants beat the Seibu Lions in 6 games.

The Ishikawa native extended his strong performance in 1995, and he blasted 22 homers with a .283/.363/.481 batting line. He again attended the 1995 NPB All-Star Games, and he went 3-for-5 in Game 2 to win the MVP. He won his first Best Nine award (as one of the CL's top three flyhawks), and he would win it 8 years in a row. Matsui was 9th in homers (tied with Bobby Rose and Scott Coolbaugh), 4th in RBI (80, tied with Hensley Meulens) and 6th in hits (142, between Atsuya Furuta and Powell). He improved to .314/.401/.622 with 38 homers, 97 runs and 99 RBI in 1996, and he was named Yomiuri's new cleanup hitter. Matsui was 2nd in homers (tied with Taiho, 1 behind Takeshi Yamasaki), 7th in batting (between Akira Eto and Shuji Nishiyama), 3rd in RBI (between Tom O'Malley and Yamasaki), 2nd in slugging (.003 behind Yamasaki), 7th in OBP (between Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and Powell), 2nd in OPS (24 shy of Eto) and 6th in hits (153, between Yutaka Wada and Kenjiro Nomura). He led the league in total bases (303) and runs, and he had a chance to tie Yamasaki for the lead in homers in the last game of the season. However, the Dragons intentionally walked him in all 5 plate appearances, and Yamasaki grabbed the title. He was 4-for-19 in the 1996 Nippon Series, and the Giants lost to the Orix BlueWave in 5 games. He won the 1996 CL MVP, and he got 654 points to edge out his teammate Masaki Saito (648 points).

Matsui crushed 37 homers with a .298/.419/.564 batting line in 1997, and he was again one homer away from getting the home run king title (lost to Dwayne Hosey this time). He still led the league in walks (100), and he was 4th in runs (93, between Takuro Ishii and Toshio Haru), 2nd in RBI (103, 9 behind Luis Lopez), 10th in hits (144, tied with Hosey), 2nd in OBP (.25 behind Rose), 3rd in slugging (after Jim Tatum and Hosey) and tied Rose for 2nd in OPS (46 shy of Tatum). He was 1-for-4 in the 1997 NPB All-Star Game 1, and he went 3-for-4 in Game 2, with a homer against Kip Gross. Matsui suffered from a left knee injury in the beginning of the 1998 season, and he was even hitless in 32 consecutive at-bats. He recovered and bounced back in May, and he ended up hitting .292/.421/.563 with 34 homers, and he still won his fourth Best Nine award. He led the league in homers for the first time in his career (beating out Eto by 6), and he also led in RBI (100, 4 ahead of Rose), walks (104, 7 ahead of Eto), OBP (.008 ahead of Rose) and slugging (.013 ahead of Tomonori Maeda). Matsui was voted into the 1998 NPB All-Star Game, and he crushed a homer against Hiroshi Takamura in the first inning of Game 1. He was 2-for-3 in Game 2, with a dinger against Tsutomu Iwamoto, and he won the Game MVP.

The young slugger shined in All-Star Game action again in 1999, and he set the All-Star record by hitting a homer in 4 consecutive games with a long ball against Takayuki Shinohara in the 1999 NPB All-Star Game 1; he won MVP. He blasted 42 homers with a .304/.416/.631 batting line for the summer, and he was 2nd in homers (2 behind Roberto Petagine), 9th in batting (between Tomochika Tsuboi and Akihiro Yano) and 5th in RBI (between Yoshinobu Takahashi and Tomoaki Kanemoto). He had his career year to that point in 2000, and he blasted 42 homers again with a .316/.438/.654 batting line. Matsui led the league in homers, runs (116), RBI (108), total bases (310), sacrifice flies (7), walks (106), OBP and slugging. He won the Best Nine and his first NPB Gold Glove, and he gained 964 points in the CL MVP voting to win his second MVP award; Kimiyasu Kudoh was a distant second at 429. In the 2000 Nippon Series, he was 8-for-21 with 3 homers, and he was named the Nippon Series MVP. Matsui also won the Matsutaro Shoriki Award.

Matsui set the CL record as he reached base in 56 consecutive games, and he crushed 36 homers with a .333/.463/.617 batting line in 2001. He won his first batting title and second Gold Glove, and he was 2nd in homers (3 behind Petagine), 5th in hits (160, between Toshihisa Nishi and Lopez), 3rd in RBI (104, between Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Lopez) and 2nd in walks (120, tied with Petagine, 8 behind Kanemoto). He was voted into the 2001 NPB All-Star Game, and he crushed a homer against Tomohiro Kuroki in Game 1. Matsui blasted another dinger against Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 2, and he added a solo shot against Soichi Fujita in Game 3. He finished 4th in voting for the 2021 CL MVP, between Shugo Fujii and Atsunori Inaba.

The Godzilla had another monster year in 2002, and he crushed 50 homers with a .334/.461/.692 batting line. He was the first and only player to reach 50 homers in the Heisei era, and he also led the league in runs (112), homers, RBI (107), total bases (346), walks (114), IBB (17), OBP (.023 ahead of Petagine), slugging (.043 ahead of Petagine) and OPS. He was 2nd in batting (.009 behind Kosuke Fukudome) and 2nd in hits (5 behind Takayuki Shimizu). Matsui also attended the 2002 NPB All-Star Games, and he had a 3-for-7 record. In the 2002 Nippon Series, Matsui was 3-for-3 in Game 2, but he only got one hit in the rest of the series. The Giants still swept the Lions, and he announced that he would go to MLB after that season. He won 200 of 201 votes in the CL MVP voting.

In 2003, he signed with the New York Yankees. Matsui played 1,768 consecutive games before fracturing his wrist while diving to catch a liner by Mark Loretta on May 12, 2006. He had played in 518 consecutive games to begin his MLB career, breaking the record previously held by Ernie Banks (424). Banks did it from 1953 to 1956 and he played shortstop during the streak. Al Simmons of the Philadelphia Athletics held the American League record of 394, from 1924 to 1926, playing the outfield during the streak. Both Banks and Al Simmons are Hall of Famers. On May 6, 2007, Matsui reached 2,000 career hits between MLB and NPB. This made him the 46th member of the meikyukai.

Matsui was the first player ever to be named Japan Series MVP (2000) and World Series MVP (2009). Matsui's 6-RBI game in the 2009 Series tied Bobby Richardson's 49-year-old World Series record; it was only two years before Albert Pujols tied that duo. After securing that last honor, he became a free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the 2010 season. He became a member of the Oakland Athletics in 2011. On July 20, he his 500th homer between Japan and the United States, a solo shot against Duane Below of the Detroit Tigers. The 500 total included his 10 postseason homers hit in the U.S. He finished the season hitting .251 in 141 games, with 28 doubles but only 12 homers and 72 RBI as the A's primary DH.

Hideki did not immediately find a team for the 2012 season, waiting until April 30th before signing with the Tampa Bay Rays. After spending time in the minor leagues to find his form, he was called up to Tampa on May 29th, homering in his second at-bat of the season off Chicago's Philip Humber. However, he played little over the next few weeks, and his production did not warrant much more playing time. On July 25th, his batting line stood at .147/.214/.221 in 95 at-bats when he was designated for assignment by the Rays to make room on the roster for the newly-acquired Ryan Roberts. He did not play again that season and on December 27th, officially announced his retirement at a press conference in New York, NY.

He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in the class of 2018; Kanemoto was the other player to make it on the Sportswriters ballot that year. At age 43, he was the youngest elected player, two years younger than Hideo Nomo had been. He also became eligible for Cooperstown in 2018 but received just 4 votes and dropped off the ballot.

Overall, Matsui hit .304/.413/.582 with 1,390 hits and 332 homers in 10 seasons in NPB. His batting line was .282/.360/.462 with 1,253 hits and 175 homers in 10 years in MLB. As of 2024, he was 36th in NPB history in homers (between Masaru Uno and Makoto Matsubara) and 39th in walks (844, between Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroyuki Yamazaki) despite a decade of action elsewhere.

Record

In Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, Matsui tied the record of 5 runs in a postseason game. He is the only player ever to have at least 5 runs and 5 RBI in the same postseason game.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time AL All-Star (2003 & 2004)
• 2009 World Series MVP
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 5 (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 & 2010)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2004)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 4 (2003-2005 & 2007)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (2004, 2005 & 2007)
• Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009

Related Sites

• Hideki Matsui on mlb.com
• Stats at japanesebaseball.com
• Who is Hideki Matsui?