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MLB News | April 6, 2010
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The happiest place on earth... Matsuiland
By Tim Brown
April 6, 2010
Anaheim, CA — Konnichiha, Los Angeles.
Nearly seven years since hitting a grand slam against the Minnesota Twins in his maiden regular-season game at Yankee Stadium, Hideki Matsui on Monday night homered, singled and drove in two runs in his regular-season debut at Angel Stadium, again against the Twins.
As fans along the right-field line hoisted placards that read MATSUILAND, that apparently being the OC version of Mannywood, Matsui left the field after the Los Angeles Angels’ 6-3 victory with his cap raised in his hand, accepting cheers once meant for favorite Vladimir Guerrero.
For a night, Matsui’s knees held up and his bat barrel found the ball, in the eighth inning sending a Jose Mijares fastball into the right-center field bleachers.
After seven seasons with the Yankees, Matsui agreed to come west, leaving the World Series defense to former teammates in New York. In his final game there he’d homered and driven in six runs, beaten the Philadelphia Phillies, carried the trophy of the World Series champions, been named their MVP.
If this counts as moving on, it began with a full ballpark, a hero’s welcome and decent bat speed.
“Little by little,” he said, “I think things are settling in.”
His home run preceded teammate Kendry Morales’, turned a one-run game into something more comfortable and lightened the mood of a fan base still mourning the losses of John Lackey, Chone Figgins and the most productive player to ever wear their uniform, Guerrero.
“As I got to the dugout, I saw everybody’s happy faces,” he said. “The home run happened at a pretty good time in terms of the flow of the game.
“I think everybody always wants to start off the season on a good note. I’m just happy I was able to do that. Hopefully I can extend this.”
His experience in Los Angeles should be different than that in New York, where he was revered but folded into a clubhouse that held superstars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia and whatever else might have been going on that day. Here, he is batting cleanup. Here, a slump might not be swallowed up by various MVP types hitting ahead of him.
“From an objective standpoint, perhaps it would have looked that way, like I was flying under the radar,” he said. “But it doesn’t really change my outlook or approach on the game.”
Clearly, and so far, it’s all the same in Matsuiland.
Matsui himself said he’d not noticed the tribute, never heard of the place.
“I know Tokyo Disneyland,” he said.
• MLB News Archive Index: 2010, 2009
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