On Thursday afternoon I had the chance to interview former New York Yankee all-star Hideki Matsui on his thoughts about the game today.
Matsui was extremely gracious with his time as we discussed the rule changes made in 2020, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Major League Baseball season and the youth clinics he runs, the important role of Yankees alumni in player development and his relationship with former Yankees managers Joe Torre and Joe Girardi.
James Kelly: The first question I want to ask relevant to what’s going on this week, what’s your opinion on the new playoff format with all these extra teams added in.
Hideki Matsui: I personally don’t really have an opinion on it, I think it’s up to the fans. If the fans really like it then I think it’s great but I personally don’t really have an opinion on it.
JK: So staying along the line of new rules, due to the Covid-19 MLB shutdown there was a chance to change some of the rules, try some new things out. What do you think of the extra inning runners rule or the seven inning double headers or any of the changes made to the rules of the game?
HM: Will the rule changes be permanent? Or just for a limited period of time?
JK: Some of them could become permanent. Rob Manfred recently said that the expanded playoffs change could carry over into 2021 as well as the extra innings rule.
HM: I think given this year’s environment and what happened with the virus and sports in general, I think there were decisions that had to be made and these were some of those decisions that had to be made in order to make it possible. At the end of the day, the Commissioner had to make those decisions in order to continue moving forward. So in that sense I think there’s not much you can do. It was just a decision that had to be made in order to make playing baseball possible. As far as going forward, I think they can discuss more in depth what could be implemented on a longer term basis and what could be changed and so forth.
JK: Obviously you’re a special advisor to Yankees GM Brian Cashman which is a position the for which the Yankees have an abundance of great former players who come back to work with some of the younger guys and major leaguers. Have you personally seen the effect of losing minor league baseball this year on player development?
HM: Definitely, I think it’s had a big effect on minor league players not having a season to play, they don’t have a place to develop their skills or showcase what they can do. Not having that environment certainly impacts the development of all these players. From my standpoint I really empathize with these young players not having that environment to continue developing.
JK: To continue with the prospects in the Yankees system, as mentioned earlier you work with them a lot in camp as a special advisor. How important is it for the prospects in the Yankees system to be surrounded by former players who enjoyed so much personal and team success?
HM: As far as the ones who decide if that has an impact that really helps them, it’s the players themselves. Our hope as former players and as an organization is to try to provide the best possible environment for them to develop but as far as how they take that in and how they utilize that is really up to the players themselves.
JK: Has there been anyone in particular that really benefitted from your advice and your perspective on the game?
HM: It’s hard for me to say because it’s all about how the players take in that information, how they digest it and how they then apply that for their own development. So from my perspective it’s very hard to say. Obviously they continue to develop even without my presence there so it’s not for me to opine on whether my methods had an impact on any players. What I’ll say is that a lot of the players who are playing at the major league level now are ones that I had worked with in the past. But all of them are really hard workers and they’ve really continued to work on their own craft and really worked very hard to get to where they are now so it’s difficult for me to say and probably not my position to say whether I had any impact on the players.
JK: To shift the perspective then, obviously when you came over [from Japan] you had already established yourself as a professional baseball player. Everybody knew how talented you were and you were a veteran in the Japanese league. Was there anyone when you came over to the Yankees that you really benefitted from being able to tap into their knowledge base about Major League Baseball.
HM: Certainly, I think there were two people that really stand out who really helped me in my success here in Major League Baseball, first being Joe Torre and second being Don Mattingly when he was our hitting coach.
JK: Staying with Joe Torre, for someone who enjoyed so much long term success in the game, what did he bring to the club as a manager with years of experience as a Hall of Fame caliber player and then having won multiple championships.
HM: As far as Joe is concerned I’m certainly not in the position to talk about his achievements and why he was so great as a manager and as a player. But I can speak to you on the relationship I had with him and why I feel that people are attracted to him and why people love him very much. I think it’s just that he’s very personable and really emphasizes the relationships and looks at everybody as a human being more than anything first. And that’s how he approaches his relationships. At a personal level he’s very approachable and very friendly, very fair and as a manager he was also a very similar way. Obviously he had his rules of how to manage but within that, he approached each player as an individual and whenever he needed to speak with them he was always coming from the standpoint of “How can I help this player? What do I need to do to support him for him to be successful?” And I think that’s what really stood out about him and his personality.
JK: Would you say Joe Girardi shared some of those qualities? Or did he have more of a different style?
HM: To be honest Joe Girardi was in many ways very similar to Joe Torre. If you were to point out differences, and I can only speak on the relationship that I had with him which could be different from the relationship Joe Girardi had with other players. For a long period of my Yankees career, I was with Joe Torre mostly and it was just two years that I was with Joe Girardi as a manager. But having said that I think he treated, at least he treated me, more like an adult if you will. The one thing I think that really stood out about him is that he was very much a strategist. I think that was one part that really stood out that he was a very strong strategist.
JK: To follow up on that, in today’s game we’re seeing the true dawn of the advanced analytics era. What kind of role did analytics play both for you and from a team strategy perspective under both Torre and Girardi?
HM: I think even in my playing days I think there was a level of focus on analytics. We took advantage of what was available based on the available technology. Since my playing days I think that the advanced analytics and the available technology has evolved in the direction of where it is now. So in that sense there was definitely a focus on analytics even during that time.
JK: To switch gears here, I understand you’re hosting baseball camps and clinics for kids. How important is it for you to give back to the baseball community in this way?
HM: It’s important because this game of baseball has given me so much and I’ve gained so much from it. It really made me who I am today. This is just a way of giving back in some capacity. It may not be very big and it may not have much impact, but my intention is that if at the very least, I can provide some kind of opportunity for the youth to gain from the game of baseball, then within me that something that I feel that I’m giving back. It may not have much impact but within me it’s at least one way for me to give back to the game of baseball.
JK: What kind of challenges have you faced trying to set up these camps during the Covid-19 pandemic?
HM: We haven’t been able to do any camps to be honest with you. That’s really the biggest challenge during this environment with the virus. Unless we get to a place where the parents and the children feel comfortable doing the camps it’ll continue to be a challenge to hold any camps or events like this.
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