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Matsui vs. Sasaki

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Matsui vs. Sasaki
Hi everyone,

I work for a Seattle baseball magazine and am putting together some statistics tables for the upcoming Mariners/Yankees series. I've been trying to find out if Hideki Matsui has ever batted against Kaz Sasaki while they were both in the CL, and if so what his H/AB numbers were. I haven't been able to dig anything up on the 'net so far; can anyone here help me out?

Arigato gozaimasu.
Comments
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Apr 18, 2003 12:48 PM | YBS Fan ]

From memory, yes, they've met quite a number of times. And Sasaki had owned Matsui. But I think Matsui did do better the final season Sasaki was with us (the BayStars). I seem to recall a home run in one of their final meetings, but don't quote me on it just yet. I'll dig through some old Chiba Isao articles from ShuBe (Shukan Baseball) and see what I can find.
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Apr 18, 2003 1:02 PM | YBS Fan ]

I found their 1997 matchups:

6 at bats
0 hits
0 home runs
4 strike outs
.000 batting average

Source: Shukan Baseball, "Chiba Isao no Kiroko no Techo #1894," Chiba, Isao. (Sorry, don't know the volume number of the magazine.)
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Apr 18, 2003 1:19 PM | YBS Fan ]

Found another Chiba-san article on the subject - this one focusing on Sasaki. In his weekly ShuBe column #1915 he writes that through 3 games into the 1998 season Matsui was 1 for 21 (.048) against Sasaki.

He goes on to state that through the end of 1997 Matsui was 0 for 20 with 9 strike outs. (As I said, Sasaki owned him.) On May 6, 1998 Matsui got his first base hit off of Sasaki, a single to right.

Will continue to look for 1998 and 1999 stats this evening. Lunch time is over.

As a side note, Yakult's Takatsu Shingo (family name first) tied Sasaki's NPB record of 229 saves on April 16th. He's only 13 save points away from Sasaki's record of 269 SP. Barring injury, it's just a matter of time before he surpasses Sasaki for both records.
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Apr 18, 2003 9:24 PM | YBS Fan ]

Found Matsui vs. Sasaki stats for 1998. Matsui went 2 for 3 (.667) against Sasaki that year, the best showing of anybody Sasaki faced in 1998.

I still haven't been able to verify that home run I mentioned before. Does anyone else remember one?

Source: "Egawa Taku Scouting Report '99," The Masada Press, ISBN4-915977-84-6.
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Apr 18, 2003 10:00 PM | YBS Fan ]

Well, that looks like it. 2 for 23 through 1998. I can't find any matchup data for 1999 in either paper nor with a number of Japanese Google searches.

It would be nice if anyone out there could confirm those numbers. Does anyone know of any other resources for confirmation?

Sorry, I came up a little short.
This is the subject
[ Author: Guest: Tyler Heid | Posted: Apr 19, 2003 2:05 AM ]

Matsui was 2 for 25 with 2 singles and 1 RBI vs. Sasaki. Also 10 K's of which 7 were in consecutive AB's.
Re: Matsui vs. Sasaki
[ Author: Guest: Tim | Posted: Apr 19, 2003 5:33 AM ]

That's outstanding stuff. Thank you kindly!!
Re: Matsui vs. Ichiro
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Apr 24, 2003 1:37 AM ]

What about Matsui against Ichiro? Were they great rivals?
Re: Matsui vs. Ichiro
[ Author: CFiJ | Posted: Apr 24, 2003 10:24 AM ]

Different leagues, different styles of play, different circles.

Perhaps the strongest connection between Matsui and Ichiro was that in one All-Star game (in 1997, I think), the manager brought Ichiro in from the outfield to pitch to Matsui with two out in the 9th. The opposing manager was a bit upset, and pinch-hit for Matsui with a pitcher.
Re: Matsui vs. Ichiro
[ Author: Kiyoshi | Posted: Apr 24, 2003 1:06 PM | HAN Fan ]

Matsui was in the Central League and Ichiro was in the Pacific League, so they didn't see each other except for exhibition games or all-star games.

Ichiro's "star" outshone everybody in Japanese baseball.
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