Thursday, May 29, 2003
Tempered expectations for Matsui
By Jeff Bradley ESPN The Magazine
He came to New York with a reputation as a masher, a game-breaker, a player with a nickname, Godzilla, that not only suggested he was a monster, but promised it.
Hideki Matsui is in his first season in the majors after playing 10 years in Japan.
So far, though, Hideki Matsui hasn't lived up to his billing. Sure, he hit a grand slam in his Yankee Stadium debut, but through
May 25 he had fewer home runs (3) than backup third baseman Todd Zeile (4). Even Joe Torre is conceding that Matsui, who banged 50 HRs for the Yomiuri Giants a year ago, won't hit 30 for him.
"Yeah, he's a different player than I thought we were getting," Torre says. "But I think he's better."
Better? Surely, Torre is trying to protect Godzilla from The Boss. Can't you just hear the "I ordered steak and got hamburger" rant coming from Steinbrenner's office?
"Seriously," Torre says. "I thought it would be tough for a slugger to switch leagues and switch countries, because most home run hitters take advantage of pitchers' mistakes, pitchers they've faced over and over again. But Hideki is much more than a home run hitter. I think he'll hit 20-25 home runs. But he's mostly a line-drive hitter. He covers the whole plate. Hits to all fields. He has good at-bats. And he knows how to play the game."
Until he replaced injured Bernie Williams in center, Matsui had stabilized left field, where the Yankees had opened the season with 10 different players in 10 years. Torre loves the way Matsui expands his hitting zone in RBI situations. Loves the way he takes only what the pitcher gives him. And loves his technical skills on defense.
Matsui says he's just happy to be contributing (his 32 RBI through May 28 put him third on the club). "The biggest difference has been the sinker," Matsui says. "I'm still making adjustments, but my approach is simple. Swing hard, try to hit the ball hard."
Back in Japan, they're having trouble coming to grips with a merely mortal monster. "When Ichiro has four home runs and Matsui only has three, this is a problem for the fans," says Gaku Tashiro of the Sankei Sports newspaper. "A big problem."
Luckily for Matsui, Torre doesn't put much stock in Vinny from Queens. So he's not likely to care about Koji from Ikebukuro.
Jeff Bradley is a staff writer at ESPN The Magazine.