Even though I am supposed to be rooting for the Angels, as they won the series against us, the Red Sox (it is my rule, to follow the team who beat my team in PS games), I find myself hoping for Matsui to win a world series ring as a Yankee for once.
This might very well be the last year in a pinstripe, and might be his last chance to play for the world championship team in his career.
I have a tremendous amount of respect towards him as a person, specially after his arm injury several years ago.
The way he bounced back this year is truly impressive, and he has been quietly productive specially in the second half of the season.
He does not say much (not just because of his poor English. He is just a kind of person who does all his talking by playing hard for the team), he is not much of a leader in this team even for all the time he has spent there, and he is not a super star type of player at all, but I think he is a very good player with whom the managers never have to worry about motivating him once in a while, to get everything out of him in the games.
He gives all he got everyday, he never complains about his role in his team, he always talks about his team first, he never takes steroids (I just know he never has done it. I just know) to bring his numbers up.
People talk about Ichiro being a super star in Japan, and it is true now. However, people forget that Matsui was the mega star in Japan when he played for Yomiuri Giants, and even for his great records, Ichiro was not as popular as Matsui when he was in Japan. (partly because he played for Orix Buffaloes, much less popular team in a pacific league)
Matsui was truly an national treasure of Japanese baseball when he left his country, and it was like nothing you can imagine. It would be Jeter leaving the Yankees and New York in his prime to join the most popular team in the better league (It is hard to imagine, because there is no better league in our universe) to pursuit his dream, when everyone in the States screaming for him either not to leave the Yankees or, to do well for the new team. I can not even imagine how much the pressure was on him at the time.
To Japanese fans, he was, one of the best three slugger ever in Japan, along with Sadaharu Oh, and Shigeo Nagashima, both of them played for the Yomiuri Giants, and he was sort of in a position to fulfill the dream of those old time fans who hoped to see how Sadaharu Oh would have done in MLB in his prime. Matsui was put in a position where he had to show Japanese fans how good the Japanese sluggers can be in the States. (Ichiro did not have that problem, because he was not the typical slugger to say the least)
Matsui, as we all know, is not a great power hitter at the MLB level, and will never win a HR title in his career, but I think many of the Japanese fans who did not know much about MLB seriously expected him to win a title or two.
I still remember in 2003 ALCS game 7, when he hit that double from Pedro, and came home jumping, getting totally pumped, I could not stop feeling happy for him even though I was in a total shock as a Red Sox fan to see it happening. It was his first year as a Yankee, and he did very well in that series, and I had never seen him playing excited like that back in Japan. I was so angry at him for hitting that double, but was so happy for him to making his dream coming true like that at the same time.
Think of what he had to overcome, (injuries, too much expectations from his coutry, having to adjust to being one of the supporting casts in his team...) I have to respect this guy, a lot.
