Hideki Matsui homering off a high school girls all-star team sent fans into a frenzy.
Godzilla’s still got it. Video has surfaced on X of former Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui blasting a home run at age 50, and New York fans are losing their minds.
Behold, that classic stance and swing that sent 175 balls into the seats during his 10-year MLB career.
Hideki Matsui, now 50 years old, hits a home run at the Tokyo Dome pic.twitter.com/XsCfMdQkoO
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 23, 2024
You can almost hear John Sterling exclaim, “a thrilla from Godzilla!” as Matsui’s shot lands in the right-centerfield seats, which are completely empty except for a marching band for some reason.
With Matsui’s former team headed back to the MLB postseason and seeking its first championship since he was World Series MVP in 2009, Yankees fans began fantasizing about a late-season infusion of offense.
Similar sentiments littered the replies, from “Yankees need to sign him” to “Can he play LF? Or DH? I think we got a spot for this playoff legend.”
Fans might want to pump the brakes, however. If you notice, it took the 50-year-old Matsui quite a long time to round the bases, and he didn’t look too comfortable in the process, as other Yankees fans humorously noted.
One fan also gave some needed context: Matsui was facing nothing close to professional pitching. The game was part of an annual charity exhibition between baseball stars and a high school girls all-star team. Its goal is to develop women’s participation in baseball in Japan.
Matsui wasn’t the only former Yankee in the game. Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners legend who played 2½ seasons in New York, could be seen celebrating Matsui’s home run in the dugout. One fan even posted a pair of pictures of Matsui and Ichiro embracing.
Though best known for his days patrolling the outfield, Ichiro pitched the first inning for his team, giving up three runs to the high school all-stars, according to the Kyodo News. The outlet reports 28,000 fans attended the game at the Tokyo Dome. Former Red Sox and Mets pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka also played.
Yankees fans vent their frustrations with Alex Verdugo
The Yankees outfielder’s recent hot streak has evaporated in the past week-plus as he finds himself in a 2-for-19 skid. His season-long numbers don’t present much hope, either. He’s batting just .233 with an OPS+ of 82 and a sub-.300 OBP.
“I’ve seen enough put him on the roster over Verdugo in the playoffs,” or variations of that thought were common among Yankees fans after watching the Matsui home run.
In Verdugo’s defense, it helps that Matsui had one of the most memorable World Series performances in recent memory. He hit .615 in the 2009 Fall Classic against the Phillies with three home runs and eight RBIs in only 14 plate appearances. He did not start any of the three World Series games in Philadelphia as he had been relegated to a DH-only role by then, his age 35 season.
It makes Matsui even more of a New York legend. With October coming, Yankees fans just hope another legend will surface.
