Baseball: Ex-Yankees slugger Matsui to be named Giants manager
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Former Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui, who also starred for the New York Yankees, will become the Central League club's new man
Former New York Yankees star Hideki Matsui is set to become the new manager for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants, according to sources. The 52-year-old Matsui, known for his powerful hitting, left his mark on both Japanese and American baseball, hitting a combined 507 home runs. Following Shinnosuke Abe's departure in May, coach Hideki Hashigami briefly took charge of the team.
However, prosecutors declined to indict Abe over allegations of assaulting his teenage daughter. Yomiuri ended the regular season in second place, narrowly missing out on the championship by being defeated by DeNA BayStars in the Climax Series. Matsui, who began his baseball journey at Seiryo Senior High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, became a first-round draft pick for the Giants in 1992.
During his time with the team, he secured three home run titles, three RBI titles, and one batting title. Matsui then transferred to Major League Baseball in 2003, spending the majority of his career with the Yankees, where he earned the World Series MVP award in 2009 before retiring in 2012. In Japan, he had a batting average of .304, with 332 home runs and 889 RBIs; in the major leagues, his statistics were .282, with 175 home runs and 760 RBIs.
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