Before Hideki Matsui signed a one year, $6.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, he had never known a major league team other than the New York Yankees.
The reasons that Matsui left New York; injury concerns, payroll, age, meant nothing to the bleacher creatures who worshipped him at the height of his outfield playing days in the Bronx.
Matsui was and will always be a true Yankee, even though he played Japanese baseball for the Yomiuri Giants for nine years before turning down their record offer (6 years, $64 million) to play for the Bombers.
Nicknamed “Godzilla” originally for his skin issues, and later adopted because of his explosive hitting, Matsui cemented his place in Yankee lore last year as he destroyed Philadelphia pitching in the World Series. Because of that he earned MVP honors and re-established his credentials as one of the more feared hitters in the game today.
An extension with New York, a team he had done so much for since 2003, seemed inevitable.
But it was not so.
Afterwards, Matsui said that he "loved the Yankees the best" but that he no longer felt valued and when his agent called to negotiate, "The Yankees had nothing prepared [in terms of contract conditions]." He made up his mind to sign with the Angels quickly. "I really felt their high expectations of me," he said. "They also acknowledged that I want to give fielding a shot."
And so, one of the biggest clutch hitters the Yankees have ever seen, left unceremoniously into the cold night of winter, with not even a pat on the back, but a legacy, indeed, he searched to complete.
Tuesday evening marks the Yankees their home opener and they will receive their World Series rings.
It seems only fitting that Matsui and the Angels will be the opponent.
And it would only be too appropriate if Matsui arrives to collect his well-earned ring and then goes “Godzilla” on the Bronx later this evening.
Matsui’s departure left a sour taste in his and fans mouths alike, but baseball is a business, it always has been.
Star players have been shipped, unceremoniously, out of cities where they made their legacy for a century now, is Matsui one of them?
Let’s find out.
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