Hideki Matsui won't be in Cooperstown's Class of 2018, but another prestigious baseball museum has now called his name.
Matsui, the former New York Yankees slugger who's regarded as one of the best home-run hitters to ever come out of Japan, was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday as the headliner of a three-man class. He received 91.3 percent of the vote from the Players Selection Committee, according to Kaz Nagatsuka of The Japan Times.
He's just the fifth player to be inducted into Japan's Hall of Fame on the first ballot, joining a list that includes the country's home-run king Sadaharu Oh, and former major-league All-Star pitcher Hideo Nomo.
"I played as a professional baseball player for 20 years, but I only played in NPB for half of the time, 10 years," Matsui said in a statement, per the Times. "I was given the honor of being selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame, nevertheless. And I would like to express my appreciation to those concerned."
Fans of Major League Baseball didn't see Matsui until 2003 when he joined the Yankees at age 28. He finished 2003 as the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star in each of his first two big-league seasons. In 2009, he helped the Yankees win their most recent World Series title and earned series MVP honors by hitting .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs during their six-game victory.
For his big-league career, which also included stints with the Angels, Athletics, and Rays, Matsui hit .282/.360/.462 with 175 homers, 249 doubles, and 760 RBIs. He's currently making his first appearance on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot but has yet to receive a single vote, according to ballot tracker Ryan Thibodaux.
But before he came to the States, Matsui - or rather, "Godzilla" - was a rock star in his home country. Over his decade with Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants - a franchise often referred to as Japan's version of the Yankees - Matsui crushed 332 homers, ranking 35th all-time in Nippon Professional Baseball history. The Giants won three of their 22 Japan Series titles and four total Central League pennants while Matsui played for them.
He was also a three-time Central League MVP and three-time home-run leader, including 50 in his final NPB season of 2002.
Between NPB and MLB, Matsui hit .293/.387/.521 and slugged 507 home runs over his 20-year career. He's also a member of the prestigious Meikyukai, or "Golden Players Club," having recorded over 2,000 hits across both leagues.
