Matsui a smash in his likely farewell to N.Y.

Mark Kriegel, FOXSports.com
Thu Nov 5, 11:44 AM EST
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NEW YORK - He arrived at the interview room drenched in champagne, the result of his previously un-witnessed talent for celebration, an exuberant humor that belies the ritual solemnity of his statements. As anyone present for the postgame party could tell you, Hideki Matsui is pretty good with a champagne bottle.

"This is the best moment of my life," he said, through his interpreter, Roger Kahlon. "Right now."

A season that was supposed to be about the most familiar, and expensive, of Yankee icons — Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Mariano Rivera — ended with the star most conspicuous for his anonymity. In leading the Yankees to their 27th championship Wednesday night, Matsui hit a homer, a double and a single. His six RBIs tied a World Series record, previously held alone by Yankees' alum Bobby Richardson. In fact, as great nights go, Matsui's will compare favorably with Reggie Jackson's three-homer game against the Dodgers, the gold standard for World Series performances. Both Jackson, MVP of that 1977 World Series, and Matsui, knocked in eight runs in six games. The difference is, Reggie hit .450 in 20 at-bats while slugging 1.250. Matsui hit .615 and slugged 1.385, while spending three games in Philadelphia as a pinch-hitter. He is also, it's worth mentioning, the Fall Classic's first Asian-born MVP. All that, and he's almost certainly played his final game in blue pinstripes.

"Do you expect to be a Yankee next season?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I have no idea."

Moments like those must make Matsui the envy of every player in the Yankee clubhouse. How many days did A-Rod or Jeter wish they spoke only Japanese?

Matsui is a great hitter, whose left-handed swing makes him even more ideal for the new Yankee Stadium. He's donated his knees to the Yankee cause. But seven years after his arrival, he remains an enigma, hiding in plain sight. Matsui is as famous in Japan as Rodriguez and Jeter are in America. His signing with the Yankees was celebrated with a parade in Tokyo. A Japanese media contingent, ranging between eight and 12 reporters, follow him during the regular season. But nobody — certainly not in this country — knows who he is. Even the identity of his wife — who works for "a highly respected company" — remains unknown.

Hideki, we hardly knew you...

In Matsui and Johnny Damon, the Yankees have two free agents at the end of four-year, $52 million contracts, both of whom hit from the left side. But unlike Damon, Matsui can no longer take the field. He's strictly a designated hitter. And so, his best game as a Yankee was likely his last.

"I'm certainly aware that I represent Japan," he said. "But more so, in my mind, I feel that I am a member of the Yankees. I'm a Yankee baseball player."

He doesn't inspire the amateur psychoanalysis like the now-redeemed A-Rod, who was the best player though the entire postseason. Or the hero-worshippers that flock to Jeter, the rightful regular season MVP. He doesn't leave you awestruck like Mariano, the greatest reliever ever to play. Guys don't find themselves arguing at the bar over Matsui. As the American public is concerned, he's almost a two-dimensional character. Still, he might have been the perfect Yankee, or perhaps, the perfectly emblematic one.

First of all, he harkens back to that old Yankee ideal: the square-jawed silent type. Second, and more important, just like the team with which he identifies, Hideki Matsui is all business.

The Yankees have a $200 million payroll and a new $1.5 billion stadium. So people are entitled to complain about them buying a championship. But that misses a larger truth. The mayor — a man who saw to it that the Yankees got that stadium — just spent $90 million of his money to get himself re-elected. There is a cult of wealth in this town unlike any other. Baseball and the business of baseball are regarded as one in the same.

The party line has the Yankees winning this 27th championship for their aged and enfeebled patriarch, George Steinbrenner. No disrespect to the Steinbrenner family, but that's not the case. The Yankees didn't win this World Series for "The Boss," any more than the Angels didn't win for Nick Adenhart, their gifted rookie pitcher killed by a drunk driver. For sure, Steinbrenner is due immense credit. Both the Stadium, and the unforgiving expectations under which the team plays, are products of his vision. But he is celebrated, now as ever, because he owns the team. The Yankees are playing with his money (not including taxpayer subsidies, of course).

Sure, they can afford a $13 million designated hitter. But it's not good business to have two of them. Matsui will understand, of course. He made $83 million playing here. Does that make him a mercenary? No. It makes him a ballplayer. And ballplayers know they can be replaced.

With regard to his last game as a Yankee, Matsui was asked what special moment he would remember.

"I didn't have that in my mind," he said. "All I was focusing on was winning this game and helping the team become world champions."

All business.

Courtesy of FOXSports.com