Who

An outfielder for New York Yankees, Matsui is the first Japanese power hitter to successfully make the jump to American baseball.

Backstory

An athletic star from an early age, Matsui excelled in judo and sumo wrestling in high school. Though he's a natural righty, he started hitting left-handed when his older brother, embarrassed by his younger sibling's ability, forced him to hit from his non-natural side as a handicap. He came to national prominence in Japan when he was intentionally walked five times during the championship game of the nation's renowned high school baseball tournament—an unheard-of feat. In 1993, he was drafted by the powerhouse Yomiuri Giants (Japan's equivalent of the Yankees). He spent ten seasons in Japan, winning the league's MVP three times and leading his team to three titles, before signing with the Yankees in 2003.

Of note

While Japanese players have had success in the majors before Matsui, all of them had either been pitchers (Hideo Nomo) or skill-and-speed guys (Ichiro Suzuki). Matsui was the first to show that Japanese power hitters could also cut it against higher-quality American pitching, and he's become one of the mainstays of a stacked Yankees lineup. He drove in 100 runs in four of his first five major league seasons; the only exception came in 2006 when he missed most of the season with a broken wrist. Matsui's also proven extremely reliable, going 1,768 games without missing a start in either Japan or America before the wrist injury. Following the 2005 season, the Yankees rewarded his performance with a four-year, $52 million contract.

AKA

He was nicknamed "Godzilla" in high school both for his power and for his pockmarked face. The name stuck.

Obsession

Matsui is known for his extensive porn collection. He is upfront about his massive porn stash, and has even been known to swap tapes with reporters. "Matsui is a horny guy," says one Japanese journalist. "All of us are horny, more or less. But Matsui doesn't attempt to hide the fact."

Personal

In the first few years of his career in Japan, Matsui complied with his team's requirement that he live in a team dormitory and refrain from dating. He enjoyed a long bachelorhood after decamping to New York (during which time he says he had "five girlfriends at any one time") before finally marrying in 2008. He lives in the Trump World Tower, along with teammate Derek Jeter and Jay-Z.

No joke

His family, tired of visitors gawking at the house Matsui grew up in, built him a museum in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture. His brother Masao served as architect and is currently director of the museum. Admission is free.

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