Hideki Matsui

Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜, Matsui Hideki, born June 12, 1974) is a Japanese professional baseball player. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed. He is currently a free agent. After playing the first ten seasons of his career for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he played the next seven seasons, from 2003-2009, for the New York Yankees of North America's Major League Baseball. He has been successful in both leagues, win... more

Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜, Matsui Hideki, born June 12, 1974) is a Japanese professional baseball player. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed. He is currently a free agent. After playing the first ten seasons of his career for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he played the next seven seasons, from 2003-2009, for the New York Yankees of North America's Major League Baseball. He has been successful in both leagues, winning the Central League Most Valuable Player Award three times in Japan, as well as the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in the United States. Hideki Matsui was born in Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan (later merged into Nomi, Ishikawa). 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... less