Matsui's heroics join Asian golden age in U.S. sports

Matsui is looking pretty smart now.

The 35-year-old designated hitter received the World Series Most Valuable Player award for leading the Yankees to their 27th Major League Baseball title with a 7-3 victory Wednesday over defending champion Philadelphia.

Matsui's achievement is part of an Asian golden age in U.S. sports, coming in the wake of Chinese giant Yao Ming's NBA success, the first major men's golf title for an Asian man by South Korean Yang Yong-Eun at the PGA Championship and Filipino pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao's Stateside boxing breakthrough.

“What a great job Matsui did for us,” Yankees standout Nick Swisher said. “He has been coming up clutch for us in situations all year long. He deserved that MVP trophy. There's no doubt about it.”

Matsui, nicknamed “Godzilla,” batted 8-for-13 (.615) with three home runs and eight runs batted in, six of them in Wednesday's triumph that gave New York a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven final.

“He looked like he wanted it bad, didn't he?” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. “Matsui is one of my favorite teammates. He comes ready to play every day. He's a professional.”

Matsui matched a World Series record for driving in runs in a single game set by Bobby Richardson of the Yankees in 1960, but the Japanese slugger is the only one to do it under the pressure of a possible title-clinching game.

“He has been great for us in the clutch all year,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

But the mighty performance might have come in Matsui's sayonara swan song with the Yankees.

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