Kazuo Matsui facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kazuo Matsui松井 稼頭央 |
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Matsui with the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2018
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| Infielder / Outfielder / Coach / Manager | ||||||||||||||
| Born: October 23, 1975 Higashiōsaka, Osaka, Japan |
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| Professional debut | ||||||||||||||
| NPB: April 5, 1995, for the Seibu Lions | ||||||||||||||
| MLB: April 6, 2004, for the New York Mets | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | ||||||||||||||
| MLB: May 18, 2010, for the Houston Astros | ||||||||||||||
| NPB: October 6, 2018, for the Saitama Seibu Lions | ||||||||||||||
| NPB statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .291 | |||||||||||||
| Hits | 2,090 | |||||||||||||
| Home runs | 201 | |||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 837 | |||||||||||||
| Stolen bases | 363 | |||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .267 | |||||||||||||
| Hits | 615 | |||||||||||||
| Home runs | 32 | |||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 211 | |||||||||||||
| Stolen bases | 102 | |||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||
As player
As coach
As Manager
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| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Kazuo Matsui (born October 23, 1975) is a famous Japanese baseball player. He used to play as a shortstop and is now a manager for the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is known as a switch-hitter, meaning he can bat with both his left and right hands.
Matsui made history on December 17, 2003. He became the first Japanese infielder to sign with a team in Major League Baseball (MLB). He joined the New York Mets.
Contents
Early Life and Baseball Beginnings
Kazuo Matsui went to PL Academy Senior High School in Osaka, Japan. This school was very well-known for its strong baseball team. Matsui played in the National High School Baseball Championship Tournament during his second year.
He was thought to be the team's best starting pitcher. But injuries kept him from playing much. He only pitched in one game, the quarter-final, where he allowed two runs.
Professional Baseball Career
Playing for the Seibu Lions
In 1994, the Seibu Lions picked Matsui third overall in the Japanese League Draft. This team plays in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), which is Japan's top baseball league. He started wearing jersey number 32.
By 1996, his third season, Matsui became a regular shortstop. He was second in the league with 50 stolen bases that year. Before the 1997 season, he changed his jersey number to 7.
The 1997 season was great for Matsui. His batting average went above .300 for the first time. He also led the league with 62 stolen bases, helping his team win the Pacific League Title. During the 1997 All-Star Game, he stole four bases, setting a new record. He was even named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP). Matsui led the Pacific League in stolen bases for two more years in a row.
Matsui played only for the Seibu Lions in Japan from 1995 to 2003. He won the Best Nine Award seven times in a row (1997–2003). This award goes to the best player at each position.
One of his best years was 2002. He had a .332 batting average, hit 36 home runs, and had 87 runs batted in (RBI). He also had 193 hits, 119 runs, 46 doubles, 6 triples, and 33 stolen bases. He also won four Gold Glove awards in Japan. These awards are for excellent defense. In 1998, he won the Nippon Professional Baseball MVP award in Japan. Even though his team won the Pacific League Title four times, they never won the Japanese Series.
Joining the New York Mets
Matsui joined the New York Mets in 2004. He did something amazing: he hit a home run in his very first plate appearance in each of his first three MLB seasons (2004, 2005, and 2006). No other Major League player has ever done this!
In 2004, he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw. In 2005, he hit one on the sixth pitch. In 2006, he hit an inside-the-park home run on the fourth pitch. This means he hit the ball and ran all the way around the bases to score without the ball leaving the field.
Matsui played 114 games in 2004, which was his most in MLB. He batted .272 with 125 hits, 32 doubles, 7 home runs, and 44 RBI. These were all career highs for him in MLB.
People expected Matsui to be a great defensive shortstop for the Mets. But in 2004, he made many errors. So, in 2005, he moved to play second baseman. He also had some injuries, which he didn't have much in Japan. His hitting wasn't as strong as expected either. By mid-2005, he wasn't playing every day. He finished the season batting .255 with three home runs.
In 2006, Matsui started the season hitting .200. His only home run that year was the inside-the-park home run against the San Diego Padres. He was the first player since 1975 to hit an inside-the-park home run as his first home run of the season.
Playing for the Colorado Rockies
On June 9, 2006, Matsui was traded to the Colorado Rockies. He first played for the Rockies' Triple-A team, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, for about two and a half months. He joined the Rockies' main team on August 23, 2006, playing shortstop. He soon moved to second base.
His hitting improved a lot with the Rockies. He went from batting .200 with the Mets to .345 with the Rockies in 2006. Mets fans had often booed him because he didn't meet their high expectations.
Matsui signed a new contract with the Rockies for 2007. He changed his jersey number back to 7, which he wore in Japan.
Matsui played much better in 2007 for the Rockies. He batted .288, which was higher than his career average. He had career highs in runs (84), triples (6), stolen bases (32), and sacrifice hits (8). He was also great at scoring when he got on base.
Matsui and the Rockies made it to the playoffs in 2007. They won a special game against the San Diego Padres to get into the National League wild card spot. This was only the second time the Rockies made the playoffs.
Matsui hit his first career grand slam in the playoffs. It happened in the second game of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies. A grand slam is a home run hit when all three bases are loaded, scoring four runs. This grand slam gave the Rockies the lead, and they won the game. Matsui was only the third player in MLB history to hit his first grand slam in the playoffs. He was also the first Japanese player to hit a grand slam in the postseason. In that same game, he hit a triple and a double. He almost achieved a cycle (hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game).
Time with the Houston Astros
On December 1, 2007, Matsui signed a three-year deal with the Houston Astros. He had surgery before the season started and missed the first few weeks. Matsui played his first game for the Astros on April 18, 2008. He batted .293 and stole 20 bases that season.
Matsui continued to have some injury problems. But he managed to keep his starting position at second base. He joined a special group of baseball players with over 2,000 career hits. This includes his hits from both Japan and MLB.
In 2009, he was the best among all starting second basemen in range factor. This stat measures how much ground a fielder covers.
The Houston Astros released Matsui on May 19, 2010. He had a tough time hitting, with only a .141 batting average. After this, he signed a minor league deal to return to the Colorado Rockies for the rest of the season.
Back to Japan: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
After the 2010 season, Matsui went back to Japan. He signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in NPB. In 2013, Matsui and the Eagles won the Japan Series, which is the championship series in Japanese baseball.
Final Season with Saitama Seibu Lions
On November 17, 2017, Matsui signed with his old team, the Saitama Seibu Lions, in NPB. On September 27, 2018, he announced that he would retire from playing baseball at the end of that season.
Coaching and Managing Career
After retiring as a player, Kazuo Matsui became a coach. On October 13, 2022, he was hired as the manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. This means he is now in charge of the team.
Playing for Japan
Matsui also played for the Japan national baseball team. He was chosen to play in the 2003 Asian Baseball Championship and the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
See also
- Home run in first Major League at-bat
