Hideki Makes Impressive and Unheralded Debut to 2006 Season
Lost in the cloud of good feelings that surrounded the Yankees last night as they romped the Oakland A's was another outstanding performance by Hideki Matsui.
Read through the New York papers and watch the cable sports highlights and all you'll read about and see are A-Rod's grand slam in the second inning, a few scattered hits by Johnny Damon, and a relatively strong pitching performance by Randy Johnson.
But how about Hideki Matsui? His line read:
4 hits, 2 walks, 1 three-run homerun, and 4 RBIs.
That translates to a 1.000 batting average and a 1.000 on-base percentage.
Hideki Matsui is without a doubt the most reliable offensive force on the Yankees. Not only is he steady throughout the regular season, he has the faith of his teammates to come through in clutch situations, something that A-Rod notably lacks.
Don't expect Hideki Matsui to grab too many headlines during the 2006 season.
Don't even expect Joe Torre to do the right thing and slot Hideki Matsui into the 3-spot in the line up behind Damon and Jeter.
Just expect Japan's greatest baseball player to give you solid, humble effort every single night he takes the field.
Also expect Hideki Matsui to end up with more than 100 RBIs, a batting average in the .300s, close to if not more than a 100 runs scored, and between 30 to 40 homeruns.
I only wish that we could take about 9 million off of Mussina's salary this year and another 10 million off of A-Rod's salary and divide the total among Hideki and others who deserve more, such as Aaron Small, Chien Ming Wang, and Shawn Chacon.
- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com
Read through the New York papers and watch the cable sports highlights and all you'll read about and see are A-Rod's grand slam in the second inning, a few scattered hits by Johnny Damon, and a relatively strong pitching performance by Randy Johnson.
But how about Hideki Matsui? His line read:
4 hits, 2 walks, 1 three-run homerun, and 4 RBIs.
That translates to a 1.000 batting average and a 1.000 on-base percentage.
Hideki Matsui is without a doubt the most reliable offensive force on the Yankees. Not only is he steady throughout the regular season, he has the faith of his teammates to come through in clutch situations, something that A-Rod notably lacks.
Don't expect Hideki Matsui to grab too many headlines during the 2006 season.
Don't even expect Joe Torre to do the right thing and slot Hideki Matsui into the 3-spot in the line up behind Damon and Jeter.
Just expect Japan's greatest baseball player to give you solid, humble effort every single night he takes the field.
Also expect Hideki Matsui to end up with more than 100 RBIs, a batting average in the .300s, close to if not more than a 100 runs scored, and between 30 to 40 homeruns.
I only wish that we could take about 9 million off of Mussina's salary this year and another 10 million off of A-Rod's salary and divide the total among Hideki and others who deserve more, such as Aaron Small, Chien Ming Wang, and Shawn Chacon.
- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com
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