By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Hideki Matsui will sign a one-day minor league contract with the New York Yankees on July 28 for the sake of officially retiring from Major League Baseball as a member of the Yankees.
New York will honor Matsui with a pregame ceremony for the 1:05 p.m. ET start against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Matsui came to North America in 2003 following a successful 10-year stint with the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League.
In seven seasons with New York, Matsui collected 140 home runs, 196 doubles and 597 RBI with a .292 average in 916 regular-season games, and won World Series MVP honors in 2009 after hitting a scorching .615 with three homers and eight RBI in a six-game triumph over defending champion Philadelphia.
Matsui played for three different clubs over the last three seasons, spending 2010 with the Angels, 2011 with Oakland and last season with Tampa Bay. The left-handed slugger managed just two homers and seven runs batted in over 34 games for the Rays, with a career-low .147 average.
Matsui ended his major league career with a .282 average, 175 homers and 760 RBI over 1,236 games. In 56 games over 11 postseason series, "Godzilla" struck for 10 homers, 15 doubles, 39 RBI and hit a robust .312. He was a two-time All-Star selection who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2003.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/matsui-to-retire-as-a-yankee