rookie of the year?
It's great to be good, but being lucky might be even better
By MARTY KUEHNERT
Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees is not only good, he's lucky . . . really lucky!
Since maverick Hideo Nomo bolted Japanese baseball in 1995 and paved the way for those who dared follow, 16 Japanese players have managed to play in the major leagues. But only two have been lucky enough to make it to the World Series.
The first was Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who got a courtesy ride with the San Francisco Giants last year as a reserve outfielder.
Shinjo got into three games, but had only six at bats and just one hit, a single, for a .167 average. Not much to brag about, but he does have a claim to fame.
Shinjo became the first Japanese to make it to the pinnacle of professional baseball, and the first to get a hit. And even though his Giants lost the Series to the Anaheim Angels, four games to three, no one can take that record away from the ubiquitous Shinjo.
It's more than a little ironic, however, that a player who is more show than substance, got the honor of being the first in the World Series.
In three seasons in the majors Shinjo played in just 303 games, and tallied a sub-par .245 average, with just 20 homers and 100 RBIs. It remains to be seen where Shinjo will play in 2004, but it seems more likely he will play in Japan than in the major leagues, where his stock has sunk to an all-time low.
Nomo -- the pioneer to whom all that followed owe a huge debt of gratitude -- has never been lucky enough to finish on a championship team, no matter how stellar his personal stats.
He's toiled nine years, was Rookie of the Year in 1995, an All-Star, only the fourth man in history to record no-hit games in both the National and American Leagues, the proud owner of an independent minor league baseball team, the Elmira Pioneers of the Northern League, and making $7,750,000 this year alone, but he's never even been close to the World Series.
No doubt Nomo would give up a considerable amount of his personal wealth accumulated during his stellar MLB career to have had the chance to just stand on the mound one time in "the Series." It has to be the dream of every pro baseball player.
No doubt Kaz Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners envisioned themselves in the 2003 World Series.
Both were key players in the Mariners' run at the Series in 2001, with an MLB record-tying 116 wins, and again in 2002 and 2003 when they were very competitive with 93 wins. But in all three years the Mariners have been close, but no cigar.
Both players were Rookies of the Year, Sasaki in 2000 and Ichiro in 2001, and additionally Ichiro was the MVP of the American League in his first season, only the second time that has happened in MLB history (following Fred Lynn in 1975 for the Boston Red Sox).
Still, for Sasaki and Ichiro, there's been no invitation to the dance, and no World Series diamond ring, the most coveted prize in baseball.
And, with the current competition of 30 teams in MLB, the Mariners may never be in the Fall Classic no matter how well their star Japanese players -- Sasaki, Ichiro and Shigetoshi Hasegawa -- do.
So just how lucky is Matsui?
Sure, he parlayed his star power in Japan, and near triple crown 2002 statistics, into a fat three-year, $21 million contract with the Yankees, but that was no guarantee of his success across the Pacific.
From there, the Golden Boy from Ishikawa Prefecture had to do it on his own. He had to produce, or his considerable hype would have evaporated quickly into a chorus of New York jeers.
But this year Matsui has ably proven his mettle. He was the only player on the Yankees to play in all 163 games, he was first in doubles with 42, fourth in average at .287, and most importantly, with 106 RBIs, second only to Jason Giambi who had 107.
Matsui was a "team player" and showed it from the get-go.
In the Yanks' first exhibition game on Feb. 27, Matsui hit a two-run homer in a 9-3 losing effort against the Cincinnati Reds.
On March 31, in his MLB debut, the steady lefty hit the first pitch he saw for an RBI single, helping the Yanks to win their opener 8-4 vs. the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Then on April 8, Matsui became the first Yankee rookie in the 79-year history of Yankee Stadium to hit a grand slam in his first home game, leading the Yanks to a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
In his first All-Star game on July 15 in Chicago, Matsui swung at the first pitch he saw, and what happened . . . a lucky hit dropped just out of the reach of the shortstop's glove. It was the first hit for the American League, and the AL boys went on to win 7-6. There is no question Matsui is leading a charmed life. No one, usually, can have this much luck.
On Sept. 15, Hideki slapped an RBI single in the Yankees thrashing of the Baltimore Orioles, 13-1, and he became only the third Yankee in history to drive in 100 runs in his first season. The other two, the legendary Joe DiMaggio with 125 in 1936, and Tony Lazzeri with 114 in 1926.
And now the golden 29-year-old rookie is shining in the World Series, the ultimate goal of all MLB players.
Barry Bonds has regularly said he'd gladly have given up any one of his five MVP awards for a World Series title. Bonds has hoped and prayed for a World Series ring for 18 years, and now Matsui seems close to attaining one in his very first year in the majors.
In Game 1, there seemed to be no jitters for Matsui who collected a team-leading three hits in a close-call loss, 4-3, to the Florida Marlins.
But in Game 2, it was Matsui's first inning three-run blast that started the Bronx Bombers on their way to a 6-1 victory over the visitors in Yankee Stadium.
There's no guarantee yet, but Japan's 17th major leaguer (counting Mashi Murakami who played for the San Francisco Giants in 1964-65) seems likely not only to be the fourth Rookie of the Year (following Nomo, Sasaki and Ichiro), but also the country's very first World Series ring holder.
After all, he's not only good, he's as lucky as they come.
The Japan Times: Oct. 22, 2003
By MARTY KUEHNERT
Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees is not only good, he's lucky . . . really lucky!
Since maverick Hideo Nomo bolted Japanese baseball in 1995 and paved the way for those who dared follow, 16 Japanese players have managed to play in the major leagues. But only two have been lucky enough to make it to the World Series.
The first was Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who got a courtesy ride with the San Francisco Giants last year as a reserve outfielder.
Shinjo got into three games, but had only six at bats and just one hit, a single, for a .167 average. Not much to brag about, but he does have a claim to fame.
Shinjo became the first Japanese to make it to the pinnacle of professional baseball, and the first to get a hit. And even though his Giants lost the Series to the Anaheim Angels, four games to three, no one can take that record away from the ubiquitous Shinjo.
It's more than a little ironic, however, that a player who is more show than substance, got the honor of being the first in the World Series.
In three seasons in the majors Shinjo played in just 303 games, and tallied a sub-par .245 average, with just 20 homers and 100 RBIs. It remains to be seen where Shinjo will play in 2004, but it seems more likely he will play in Japan than in the major leagues, where his stock has sunk to an all-time low.
Nomo -- the pioneer to whom all that followed owe a huge debt of gratitude -- has never been lucky enough to finish on a championship team, no matter how stellar his personal stats.
He's toiled nine years, was Rookie of the Year in 1995, an All-Star, only the fourth man in history to record no-hit games in both the National and American Leagues, the proud owner of an independent minor league baseball team, the Elmira Pioneers of the Northern League, and making $7,750,000 this year alone, but he's never even been close to the World Series.
No doubt Nomo would give up a considerable amount of his personal wealth accumulated during his stellar MLB career to have had the chance to just stand on the mound one time in "the Series." It has to be the dream of every pro baseball player.
No doubt Kaz Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners envisioned themselves in the 2003 World Series.
Both were key players in the Mariners' run at the Series in 2001, with an MLB record-tying 116 wins, and again in 2002 and 2003 when they were very competitive with 93 wins. But in all three years the Mariners have been close, but no cigar.
Both players were Rookies of the Year, Sasaki in 2000 and Ichiro in 2001, and additionally Ichiro was the MVP of the American League in his first season, only the second time that has happened in MLB history (following Fred Lynn in 1975 for the Boston Red Sox).
Still, for Sasaki and Ichiro, there's been no invitation to the dance, and no World Series diamond ring, the most coveted prize in baseball.
And, with the current competition of 30 teams in MLB, the Mariners may never be in the Fall Classic no matter how well their star Japanese players -- Sasaki, Ichiro and Shigetoshi Hasegawa -- do.
So just how lucky is Matsui?
Sure, he parlayed his star power in Japan, and near triple crown 2002 statistics, into a fat three-year, $21 million contract with the Yankees, but that was no guarantee of his success across the Pacific.
From there, the Golden Boy from Ishikawa Prefecture had to do it on his own. He had to produce, or his considerable hype would have evaporated quickly into a chorus of New York jeers.
But this year Matsui has ably proven his mettle. He was the only player on the Yankees to play in all 163 games, he was first in doubles with 42, fourth in average at .287, and most importantly, with 106 RBIs, second only to Jason Giambi who had 107.
Matsui was a "team player" and showed it from the get-go.
In the Yanks' first exhibition game on Feb. 27, Matsui hit a two-run homer in a 9-3 losing effort against the Cincinnati Reds.
On March 31, in his MLB debut, the steady lefty hit the first pitch he saw for an RBI single, helping the Yanks to win their opener 8-4 vs. the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Then on April 8, Matsui became the first Yankee rookie in the 79-year history of Yankee Stadium to hit a grand slam in his first home game, leading the Yanks to a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
In his first All-Star game on July 15 in Chicago, Matsui swung at the first pitch he saw, and what happened . . . a lucky hit dropped just out of the reach of the shortstop's glove. It was the first hit for the American League, and the AL boys went on to win 7-6. There is no question Matsui is leading a charmed life. No one, usually, can have this much luck.
On Sept. 15, Hideki slapped an RBI single in the Yankees thrashing of the Baltimore Orioles, 13-1, and he became only the third Yankee in history to drive in 100 runs in his first season. The other two, the legendary Joe DiMaggio with 125 in 1936, and Tony Lazzeri with 114 in 1926.
And now the golden 29-year-old rookie is shining in the World Series, the ultimate goal of all MLB players.
Barry Bonds has regularly said he'd gladly have given up any one of his five MVP awards for a World Series title. Bonds has hoped and prayed for a World Series ring for 18 years, and now Matsui seems close to attaining one in his very first year in the majors.
In Game 1, there seemed to be no jitters for Matsui who collected a team-leading three hits in a close-call loss, 4-3, to the Florida Marlins.
But in Game 2, it was Matsui's first inning three-run blast that started the Bronx Bombers on their way to a 6-1 victory over the visitors in Yankee Stadium.
There's no guarantee yet, but Japan's 17th major leaguer (counting Mashi Murakami who played for the San Francisco Giants in 1964-65) seems likely not only to be the fourth Rookie of the Year (following Nomo, Sasaki and Ichiro), but also the country's very first World Series ring holder.
After all, he's not only good, he's as lucky as they come.
The Japan Times: Oct. 22, 2003