Hideki Matsui came to the New York Yankees with a ton of hype as the best slugger in Japan.
He delivered on the hype, too, and became a fan favorite in the process.
On Friday, Matsui added a unique honor to his ledger.
Matsui was named as the 12th player elected to the MLB Hall of Pretty Good.
It’s a well-regarded social media platform that recognizes the best of the rest in MLB history. Guys have to compile fewer than 35.0 Wins Above Replacement and never win an MVP or Cy Young to be eligible for voting.
Matsui set a new record for the voting, receiving 93% of the votes.
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
Hideki Matsui received 93% of the vote and is officially the 12th member elected to the Hall of Pretty Good
@dugoutreportbsb with the graphic pic.twitter.com/hTnyMlB1hR
— MLB Hall of Pretty Good (@hallofgoodpod) June 20, 2025
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Matsui, who earned the nickname Godzilla, was World Series MVP as the Yankees claimed the crown in 2009.
In his MLB career, he spent seven seasons with the Yanks before a season apiece with the Angels, A’s and Rays.
He hit 175 MLB homers, 140 of those with the Yankees. He was a career .282/.360/.462 hitter in MLB.
Matsui actually should probably be a Hall of Famer if you factor in his production in Japan.
In 10 major league seasons in Japan, Matsui hit 332 homers and batted .304.
Combining his MLB and Japanese home runs adds up to 507 blasts beyond the fence.
Matsui retired after the 2012 season and has never broken through toward Cooperstown, though, so he’ll have to settle for this recognition that hopefully reminds many baseball fans out there just how good he was.
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