Eight weeks ago, he was George Steinbrenner’s latest marketing tool. By Sunday, he was the best Yankee left fielder in the Joe Torre Era. Today, Hideki Matsui is a Yankee Stadium cult figure.
That’s what happens when you swat a grand slam in your first appearance on baseball’s biggest stage and help carry the Yankees to a 7-3 win over the Twins at a frigid Yankee Stadium in the one-day delayed home opener that was witnessed by 33,109 and started with the temperature at 35 degrees.
Matsui hit in all six Yankee road games and displayed a high baseball IQ. Yet, he was a stranger to the Stadium’s denizens. Yankee fans don’t buy hype; they demand results.
After punishing an ill-advised Joe Mays change-into the right-field bleachers in the fifth inning that turned a 3-1 Yankees lead into a 7-1 bulge, Matsui is no longer a novelty. Now he is a Yankee.
“Right now, I don’t feel that way,” Matsui said when asked if he felt like part of the mystique that smothers the most revered address in sports. “Whether that will happen will depend on how I do.”
Matsui, who is the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his Stadium debut, had his father Masao, mother Saeko and older brother Toshiki in the seats.
“More than me, they are happy about the home run,” said Matsui, who also contributed to the victory by cutting off a double in the left-field gap in the fourth and saving a possible two runs with the score tied 1-1.
Robin Ventura’s two-run homer off Mays in the fourth provided Andy Pettitte with a 3-1 cushion that swelled to 7-1 thanks to Matsui making Twins manager Ron Gardenhire pay for intentionally walking Bernie Williams to load the bases for Matsui.
“It’s happened before,” Matsui said of the walk that followed consecutive one-out singles by Nick Johnson and Jason Giambi. Johnson made third on Giambi’s single to center and Giambi took second on Torii Hunter’s wide throw to third. “I wasn’t surprised by it.”
Staked to a 7-1 lead, Pettitte gave the Twins life when he started the sixth by walking Jacque Jones and Cristian Guzman. Hunter plated one run with a sacrifice fly and Matt LeCroy singled in another. When Doug Mientkiewicz singled up the middle, Torre replaced Pettitte with Antonio Osuna, who fanned Michael Cuddyer and retired six of the next seven batters he faced.
“It was very frustrating with the big lead to walk the first two batters,” said Pettitte, who is 2-0 after giving up three runs and five hits in 52/3 innings.
Matsui, who grounded out in the second and walked on a 3-2 pitch in the fourth, took Mays’ first pitch in the fifth for a strike. The next two offerings were out of the strike zone. Matsui then fouled a change-up into the dirt. Mays missed with the next pitch and then paid the price for leaving a change-up where Matsui could get his flat, quick stroke on the ball.
“I never dreamed of it,” Matsui said of hitting a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. “When I hit it, I had a feeling it was going to go over the fence.”
As Matsui’s ball climbed toward a pewter sky, the frozen crowd buzzed. By the time he was done exchanging fists in the dugout, the crowd was begging for a curtain call. With Torre directing, Matsui popped out and raised his helmet to the sky.
“He must have done it before because it didn’t take much convincing,” Torre said.
When he arrived in America he was a curiosity. Those who paid attention during spring training understood he was a solid player. Yesterday raised the best left fielder Torre has managed in The Bronx to a cult figure.
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HOMER’S WHERE THE HEART IS
Hideki Matsui made a grand entrance at Yankee Stadium yesterday. Here’s a look at some other memorable Bronx debuts:
Babe Ruth
April 18, 1923 vs. Red Sox
1-2, HR, 3 RBI
Reggie Jackson
April 7, 1977 vs. Breweres
2-4, 2 singles, 2 runs
Dave Winfield
April 9, 1981 vs. Rangers
2-3, 2 singles, 2 BB, run
Darryl Strawberry
August 6, 1995 vs. Orioles
0-3, strikeout
Jason Giambi
April 5, 2002 vs. Orioles
1-3, single, BB, run
Hideki Matsui
April 8, 2003 vs. Twins
1-3, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 2 runs
