Yomiuri Giants Appoint Franchise Star Hideki Matsui as New Manager

▲ Hideki Matsui, who is taking office as the new manager of Japan's Yomiuri Giants

Japanese professional baseball team the Yomiuri Giants have appointed franchise star Hideki Matsui (52) as their new manager, according to Japanese media reports including Sports Hochi on October 23.

Affectionately nicknamed "Godzilla" during his active playing days due to his explosive batting power, the newly appointed manager Matsui served as Yomiuri's 62nd cleanup hitter.

From 1993 to 2002, he recorded a career batting average of .304, 332 home runs, and 889 RBIs over 10 years.

He subsequently advanced to Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States, playing 7 years for the New York Yankees and 1 year each for the Los Angeles Angels, Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays. He retired after posting a major league career batting average of .282 with 175 home runs and 760 RBIs.

In 2009, he left a massive footprint in both the U.S. and Japan, becoming the first Asian player in major league history to be selected as a World Series MVP.

Having previously based himself in New York while traveling between the U.S. and Japan to coach prospects, manager Matsui will wear a Yomiuri uniform again 25 years after leaving for the United States.

Sports Hochi, which functions almost as an official organ for Yomiuri, highlighted the connection between the late former Yomiuri lifelong honorary manager Shigeo Nagashima, known as "Mr. Baseball," who passed away in June of last year, and the newly appointed manager Matsui.

Former manager Nagashima, who passed away at the age of 89, was a legendary Yomiuri hitter and manager who served as the face of both the Yomiuri club and Japanese baseball.

Growing into a flagship Yomiuri hitter under the late coach's guidance, manager Matsui received Japan's People's Honor Award alongside him in 2013.

During the opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, he cemented his status as a sports figure symbolizing Japan by serving as an Olympic torchbearer alongside SoftBank Hawks Chairman Sadaharu Oh, Yomiuri's representative home run king, and former manager Nagashima.

Sports Hochi interpreted manager Matsui's taking office as Yomiuri manager as carrying on the dying wishes of his beloved mentor, former manager Nagashima.

Following former manager Shinnosuke Abe, who voluntarily stepped down in the middle of this season due to a domestic violence controversy, Yomiuri chose manager Matsui as his successor, carrying on its tradition of "bloodline purity."

Yomiuri is well-known for an unwritten rule of appointing as manager stars who began their playing careers with the Yomiuri Giants and served as the team's ace pitcher or cleanup hitter.

In contrast, the Chunichi Dragons, a club that places as much emphasis on bloodline purity as Yomiuri, entrusted the managerial reins for post-season reconstruction to legendary left-handed pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo—who neither played nor coached for Chunichi—for the first time in 42 years.

Kudo hails from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Chunichi's home base, and achieved three Pacific League titles and five Japan Series championships as manager of the SoftBank Hawks.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

※