In Photos: Former Yankees icon Hideki Matsui teams up with MLB to host Play Ball in Japan, bringing baseball fun to local community
Former Yankees icon Hideki Matsui, nicknamed "Godzilla" by the Yankees faithful, was a searing talent in the sport, both on and off the field. Hailing from Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan, he fulfilled his dream of playing in the big leagues and won the 2009 World Series and WS MVP with the star-studded NY Yankees.
Recently, Matsui gave back to the local community where he grew up in Japan by teaming up with the MLB to host a fun-filled Play Ball event in Ishikawa. Hideki was seen giving valuable lessons to the kids of the local community, teaching them how to hit, throw, base run, and most importantly, have fun playing the sport.
Take a look at the images from the Play Ball event here:
Hideki Matsui was a three-time Japan Series champion with the Yomiuri Giants before the Bronx Bombers came calling to sign him to the big leagues.
Matsui signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Yanks in the 2002 offseason and extended the contract by signing a four-year, $52 million deal in the 2005 offseason.
Hideki became the first Japanese-born player to play a game in Canada and surpassed Ichiro Suzuki as the highest-paid Japanese player in the MLB during the early 2000s.
Matsui etched his name into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and ended his big league career in 2012 with a statline of .282, 175 home runs and 760 RBIs.
Hideki Matsui's home run record was recently broken by the greatest two-way ace in the sport and now the highest-paid Japanese-born player in US sports history, LA Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani.
Hideki Matsui had signed a one-day contract to retire as a Yankees legend
Hideki Matsui played with the NY Yankees until the 2009 season, after which he played a season with the LA Angels in 2010, one season with the Oakland Athletics, and finally with the Tampa Bay Rays until August 2012.
When he was released by the TB Rays, Hideki signed a one-day contract with the Yankees on July 28, 2012, and retired as a member of the greatest baseball team in the history of the big leagues.
Besides being one of the torch bearers for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in Tokyo, Japan, Matsui was also awarded the People's Honor Award by the Japanese government during his retirement ceremony, which was held at the Tokyo Dome in 2013.