By Satoshi Sugiyama
TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Former New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui described his appointment as Yomiuri Giants manager as a homecoming on Friday, as he returned to take charge of the team where he started his career more than three decades ago.
The 52-year-old succeeds Shinnosuke Abe, who stepped down in May. Matsui started his professional career at the Giants in 1993 and won three home run titles and three RBI crowns before moving to the Yankees ahead of the 2003 season.
“I was thinking back to 24 years ago, when I left the Giants on my own will,” Matsui told reporters on Friday. “On that day, I couldn’t smile at all. But today, I feel as though I’ve returned to my hometown with a big smile on my face.”
Matsui said he was fully aware that he lacked the experience of the other managers in Japan’s league, but added that he wanted to “run alongside the players and grow together with them”.
Matsui, nicknamed “Godzilla”, won World Series MVP honours in 2009, his last year with the Yankees.
Before moving to the United States, he played for the Giants for 10 years, helping the club win three Japan Series titles.
“I spent about half of my playing career in America. After retiring, I was also fortunate to spend 12 years with the New York Yankees, where I was involved in player development,” Matsui said.
The Japanese veteran, who retired in 2012, said the Giants had always remained close to his heart and that he hoped to usher in a new era of success for the team.
“In terms of market size, the scale is completely different. But it is also true that right now, the best baseball player in the world is Japanese,” he said.
“I hope that players like that will emerge from our Giants as well.”
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Mariko Katsumura, Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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