Hideki Matsui doesn’t know when he will return to action, but he has no intention of sitting out the rest of the year.
“I plan to come back,” Matsui said through a translator. “My goal is to get back this season, but I certainly don’t want to [come back] short-handed and [I will] not come back until I can do what I’m capable of.” Until then, there’s not much the durable outfielder can do.
“I’m going to focus on doing whatever I can to recover,” Matsui said. “Those are my only plans right now.” Matsui held a press conference yesterday at the Stadium, making his first public statements since he fractured his wrist attempting a diving catch in Thursday’s loss to the Red Sox. He underwent successful surgery the next day, after his consecutive streak game ended at 518 major-league games, and 1,768 overall.
The left fielder was unsure what the timeframe for his recovery is, but he doesn’t figure to do anything for at least a month and a half.
“What I was told was that it will be about six weeks for the bone to heal,” said Matsui, who intends on staying in New York during his recuperation. He added that he will come to The Stadium as often as the team wants him to. “I guess the rehab will start after that.” Until then, he thinks the Yankees offense will survive without him.
“I believe the Yankees can still win without me,” said Matsui, who had a .295 average and 75 homers in over three seasons in The Bronx. This year, he was batting .261, with five homers and 19 RBIs. “I expect that will still happen.” The problem is the Yankees aren’t missing just Matsui. He joined Gary Sheffield on the disabled list, and Jason Giambi also didn’t start last night because of the neck injury that happened Monday.
Perhaps that’s why Matsui felt the need to explain the apology he made last week.
“I’m disappointed for all the people who were considerate enough to use me in the lineup every day,” Matsui said. “I’m also disappointed for the fans who were hoping the streak would continue.” Joe Torre considered the apology unnecessary.
“It wasn’t like he hurt himself skiing,” Torre said.
Now, Matsui has to keep himself occupied for the coming months.
“This is my first time dealing with this kind of thing,” Matsui said. “I knew the streak would end. It’s something that just happened naturally. The numbers started adding up. I just wanted to be on the field and help my team win.” He won’t be able to do that for the time being, but he doesn’t regret the play that caused the injury.
“I just happened to catch the replay on TV,” Matsui said. “I wouldn’t do anything differently. It just so happened that my glove got stuck in the ground.”
