Japanese baseball star Hideki Matsui Retires From Baseball. Nicknamed “Godzilla,” the hard-hitting Matsui played ten seasons in MLB, seven of them with the New York Yankees (2003–2009). As a free agent, he then had one-year stints with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Oakland Athletics, and the Rays.
“I want to thank all my fans, in the past 20 years —10 years in Japan and 10 years in the U.S.— who have supported me,” the 38-year-old slugger reportedly said. “I was supported by many fans and wonderful coaches and teammates.”
Matsui wore down toward the end of his career and admitted his performance was affected after a surgery.
“These past two years, I wasn’t able to yield very good results, and from around five years ago, both of my knees hadn’t been doing too well,” he reportedly said, adding “even after going through surgery, my physical condition wasn’t at its best.”
Photo: Matsui/Flickr
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