Hideki Matsui

Okay, "Godzilla" might be the most perfectly earned nickname in baseball history. Picture this 188cm slugger uncoiling that left-handed swing and you already know the ball is leaving the yard. But what gets me about Hideki Matsui isn't the raw power, it's the unshakable calm behind it. The guy got walked five straight times at Koshien as a teenager and just took it, then went on to dominate with the Yomiuri Giants and cross the ocean to become a Yankees folk hero, capping it with a World Series MVP. And off the field? He buries himself in books, sips red wine, plays the piano. Godzilla on the diamond, quiet gentleman everywhere else. Honestly, that just makes him more lovable.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Hideki Matsui, nicknamed "Godzilla," is a retired Japanese professional baseball player born on June 12, 1974, in Neagari, Nomi District, Ishikawa Prefecture. He played for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League from 1993 to 2002, winning multiple MVP awards and hitting 50 home runs in his final season there, before joining the New York Yankees in 2003. In 2009, he became the first Asian-born player to win the World Series MVP award. After retiring in December 2012, he was awarded Japan's People's Honor Award in 2013 and inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Name (English)

Hideki Matsui

Name (Japanese)

松井秀喜

Reading

まつい ひでき

Born

June 12, 1974 (age 52)

Origin

Neagari, Nomi District, Ishikawa, Japan

Height

188 cm

Occupation

Professional baseball player / Major League Baseball player

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Tiger

Blood type

O

Agency

New York Yankees (Special Advisor to the General Manager)

Agency history

Yomiuri Giants (1993–2002)
New York Yankees, player (2003–2009)
Los Angeles Angels (2010)
Oakland Athletics (2011)
Tampa Bay Rays (2012)

Active years

1993–2012 (active player); 2013–present (team advisor)

Junior high

Nomi Municipal Neagari Junior High School

High school

Seiryo High School (Ishikawa Prefecture)

University

Did not enroll (drafted 1st overall in 1992, turned professional in 1993)

Debut

1993 — Joined the Yomiuri Giants as the 1st overall draft pick; professional debut

Awards & achievements

• 1996 Central League MVP
• 1998 Central League Home Run King, RBI King, Best On-Base Percentage
• 2000 Central League MVP, Japan Series MVP, Golden Glove Award
• 2002 Central League MVP, Home Run King, RBI King (50 home runs)
• 2009 World Series MVP (first Asian-born player to win the award)
• 2013 People's Honor Award (Japan)
• 2018 Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

Timeline

1. 1992Selected 1st overall by the Yomiuri Giants in the draft; hit 60 home runs in high school career
2. 1993Joined the Yomiuri Giants; professional debut
3. 1996Won his first Central League MVP award
4. 2002Hit 50 home runs and won Central League MVP; departed the Giants at year's end
5. 2003Joined the New York Yankees; MLB debut
6. 2009Won World Series MVP — the first Asian-born player to do so; Yankees won the championship
7. 2012Played for the Tampa Bay Rays; announced retirement on December 27
8. 2013Received the People's Honor Award together with Shigeo Nagashima; appointed Special Advisor to the Yankees GM
9. 2018Inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

Spouse

A Japanese woman (married March 2008; name not disclosed)

Children

Two sons (born 2013 and 2017)

Parents

Father: Masao Matsui

Hobbies

• Reading (Teru Miyamoto, Sei Ijuin, Ryotaro Shiba)
• Wristwatch collecting
• Watching films
• Wine

Specialties

• Left-handed batting
• Piano and singing — performing songs by Yutaka Ozaki

Motto

If your mind changes, your actions change. If your actions change, your habits change. If your habits change, your character changes. If your character changes, your destiny changes.

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E4%BA%95%E7%A7%80%E5%96%9C
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q954080

Tags

• Professional baseball
• Major League Baseball
• From Ishikawa
• Yomiuri Giants
• New York Yankees
• Godzilla
• People's Honor Award
• Baseball Hall of Fame

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.