page_title: Hideki Matsui
section_title: Oakland Athletics
hierarchical_section_title: Hideki Matsui / Professional career / Oakland Athletics
caption_attribution_description: Hideki Matsui
context_page_description: Hideki Matsui, nicknamed "Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
  Matsui played the first ten seasons of his career in Japan for NPB's Yomiuri Giants. During that span, he was a nine-time All-Star, three-time Japan Series champion, and three-time Central League Most Valuable Player. In 2003, Matsui transitioned to playing in MLB in North America, and spent his first seven seasons there with the New York Yankees. As a Yankee, he was a two-time All-Star and 2009 World Series champion, for which he was named the World Series MVP. After becoming a free agent, Matsui had one-year stints with three other MLB teams: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays. On July 28, 2013, Matsui signed a one-day minor league contract with the Yankees in order to officially retire with the team.
  During his 20-year playing career, Matsui hit 507 home runs – 332 in NPB and 175 in MLB. In 2018, Matsui was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
context_section_description: On December 14, 2010, Matsui signed a one-year contract worth $4.25 million with the Oakland Athletics for the 2011 season. On April 3, 2011, Matsui collected career hit number 2,500 (between NPB and MLB) at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum versus the Seattle Mariners and on July 20, 2011, Matsui hit career home run number 500 versus the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
caption: Matsui with the Athletics in 2011
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