Matsui vs. Sasaki

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

That's outstanding stuff. Thank you kindly!!

What about Matsui against Ichiro? Were they great rivals?

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.

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.