Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)–The Yomiuri Giants said Friday that former star Hideki Matsui has become new manager of the Japanese professional baseball team under a three-year contract. Matsui, 52, played for the Tokyo-based Giants in the Central League of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, before joining the New York Yankees and other Major League Baseball teams in the United States. “I want to get started right away so that a new golden age can begin for the Giants,” he said at a press conference in Tokyo the same day. Matsui also spoke about his mentor, Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima, a former Giants player and manager, who died in June last year at the age of 89. “To be honest, I wish Mr. Nagashima could have seen me here in my new role,” Matsui said. The new manager will wear No. 90, the jersey number Nagashima wore for six seasons from 1975, when he began his managerial career after retiring as a player the previous year. Matsui will be paid an estimated 200 million yen annually under the three-year contract. After graduating from Seiryo Senior High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Matsui, a native of the central Japan prefecture, joined the Giants as the team’s first-round pick in the NPB’s 1992 draft. He won the Central League’s home run and RBI titles three times each, before using free agency to play for the Yankees from 2003. He was named the MVP of the World Series for 2009, his final year with the Yankees, becoming the first Japanese player to earn the fame. Matsui later played for three other MLB teams–the Los Angeles Angels, the Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays. In his combined Japanese and U.S. career, Matsui, nicknamed “Godzilla,” collected 2,643 hits, including 507 home runs, and scored 1,649 RBIs. In 2013, Matsui and Nagashima received the People’s Honor Award from the Japanese government. The Giants’ former skipper Shinnosuke Abe resigned in May this year following a scandal. The team finished second in the Central League in the 2026 regular season under interim manager Hideki Hashigami before being eliminated in the first stage of the league’s Climax Series. Bringing up Matsui’s appointment, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference Friday, “As a professional baseball fan, I plan to continue closely watching how he will make history as the manager of the prestigious team.” Kihara is a fan of the Giants’ eternal rival, the Hanshin Tigers. The top government spokesman said that Matsui, throughout his baseball career, “brought great excitement and joy to society and gave inspiration and hope to youngsters.” “I witnessed his success during his playing days,” Kihara added, expressing hopes that Matsui will help revitalize the overall sporting world. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
