Hideki Matsui was a huge star for the New York Yankees and just as big a deal in Japan, even after he became a Yankee. The Japanese media followed him everywhere the Yankees traveled too. During the 2009 World Series, he hit .615 and was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
Hideki Matsui was born on June 12, 1974, in Nagari, Ishikawa Japan. As a young boy, Hideki would play baseball with his brother and his friends. Hideki was a right-hand hitter, but playing with the older kids, he had one problem, he would hit the ball so well that his embarrassed older Brother demanded that he hit left-handed, or he wouldn’t let him play with them anymore.