Film & TV "Matsui, not A-god, will be the AL MVP"

[Butt Rubber]

Matsui, not A-God,
will be the AL MVP

NY's most dangerous in 20 years
getting better; Rodriguez isn't

Hideki Matsui batted .298, with 31 home runs, 108 RBIs and 109 runs scored last year.

By Mike Celizic
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 8:51 p.m. ET March 30, 2005

It’s been nearly 20 years since the Yankees had a player who looks as commanding at the plate as the man hitting in the most productive spot in the line-up. And I’m not talking about A-Rod or Jeter.

advertisement

I’m talking about Hideki Matsui.

In his third year in Major League Baseball, Matsui, one of the greatest hitters Japan ever saw during his ten years and three MVPs in the Japanese League, is about to erupt. If you’ve watched him, you’ve seen it coming for two years.

“It” is an MVP season, a year flowing with RBIs and extra-base hits, a year in which his batting average doesn’t just break .300 but blows past it.

I’m calling it now, and you’re welcome to check back in at season’s end to see if I got it right, because I’m as confident about this call as any I’ve ever made.

So much has been made of A-Rod in pinstripes since he joined the Evil Empire last year that Matsui has gone about his work in relative anonymity. It’s only natural. He’s a foreigner on a team with more stars than the Milky Way, a man who speaks little, and then through an interpreter, a quiet man by nature who’s never been seen making a fool — or a spectacle — of himself around town.

But this year, the recognition factor is going to change, and by the end of the season, fans won’t be talking anymore about how A-Rod is the best hitter in pinstripes. A-Rod, in case you haven’t noticed, isn’t getting better; Matsui is.

He’s settled in so surely in the Bronx, that it’s hard to believe he wasn’t born a Yankee. No one, including Derek Jeter, looks better in pinstripes than Matsui. And while there is no question that Jeter is the heart of the team, Matsui has become as vital a cog as there is in the Yankee machine.

Matsui will probably hit clean-up this year, and he should. He may not hit as many home runs as Gary Sheffield, but he went from 16 to 31 in his first two years and he’ll do better this year. With Womack, Jeter and A-Rod hitting ahead of him, Matsui should drive in 130 runs or more. He’ll be in the top five in batting average — Ichiro remains the man no one will beat for average — and somewhere in that neighborhood in on-base percentage.

That’s not really a guess. All you have to do is look at the progression in his numbers in his first two years.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7325335/

 

[Butt Rubber]

He was solid in 2003, a .287 hitter who knocked in 106 runs and had 42 doubles and 16 home runs. Last year, as a sophomore, he brought his average up to .298, his homers to 31, knocked in 108 and scored 109; he had a .522 slugging percentage and a .390 on base average.

advertisement
Have Our Top 20 Newsletter
Delivered to Your Inbox Each Week!
The Most "WOW!" Travel Dealson the
Internet - here's a sampling: Released
MAR 30, 2005


Fly Roundtrip to New Zealand, Just Announced $650 Air New Zealand

Orlando 1-Bedroom Suite at Half-Price $69 Vacation Village at Parkway

Ireland in May: Air & 7 Days Car Rental $369 Brian Moore International Tours

Fly to Las Vegas over Spring Weekends $97 & up Orbitz

Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, 40% OFF in May $199 Atlantis

Click on Any Deal and Check Them Out Today!
*Fares listed may notinclude all taxes, charges and government fees.
More information. © 2005 Travelzoo Inc.


This spring, he’s already leading the Yankees in home runs and ribbies. At the plate, he looks perfect, quiet, compact, patient. His balance is extraordinary and a short, quick stroke lashes line drives to every part of the field. That’s what Mattingly used to do. It’s what no Yankee has done since.

But what is about to set Matsui apart from everyone else on the Yankees is his ability to out-think pitchers. Mattingly in his day and Jeter now were see-the-ball, hit-the-ball batters. Both will take a ball that isn’t in the strike zone and drive it somewhere if they think they can get decent wood on it.

Matsui anticipates, and Joe Torre has said he’s seldom seen anyone as good at figuring out which pitch to look for. And as he’s gotten his reps in against American League pitchers, his internal data base has grown to the point where he knows what a pitcher is throwing before the catcher flashes a sign.

Especially in his first year and less so last year, he wore down toward the end of the year, his body accustomed to the 140-game Japanese season. But when the Yankees needed help the most, he rose to the occasion.

In the playoffs, the Red Sox have recently admitted that they didn’t have a clue how to get Matsui out. In the ALCS, while most Yankee bats were fading, Matsui hit .412 with 14 hits in seven games, nine for extra bases. He drove in 10 runs with those 14 hits.

There’s no better proof of talent that performance under pressure. And Matsui has consistently been as tough an out as there is with the game on the line.

Now, finally, he’s fully acclimated to the American game and the long season. He knows the pitchers, and they still don’t know him. He’s comfortable and confident, and he doesn’t have to worry about the pressure of the New York media – A-Rod and Jason Giambi soak up so much ink there’s not much left for the quiet man who looks perfect in pinstripes.

But this year, with or without an interpreter, you’re going to hear plenty from Matsui. Not in the interview room and not on the gossip pages, but at the plate.

Not since Mattingly have the Yankees have a hitter like him. He’s won three MVPs in Japan. This year, he’ll add the American version.

 

[imported_MAKaveli_10]

No Way. There is too much talent in the AL. Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Validemire Gurrero, Vernon Wells and A-rod.

 

[nail_polish]

there was another article in the papers talking matsui should be mvp also...but u know that will never happen unless he ends up hitting most home runs or driving in most rbi's...he like jeter mvp and team player does things all correct but usually its the flashy players who get mvp awards

what should have happened was he should have gotten rookie of the year in 2003..that we should all be angerered about

 

[Hennessy]

not if Ichiro hits 400