First off, congratulations to the New York Yankees for winning the 2009 World Series championship. That’s number 27 for them, which is just utterly ridiculous.

It would be too much to say that Hideki is the reason why the Yankees won number 27, but tonight, Game 6 of the World Series it was the Hideki Matsui show. Godzilla, as nicknamed by his loving fans and teammates, hit 2 home runs and was responsible for 6 of the 7 Yankee runs. That ties a World Series record. In other words, he was the MVP tonight and ended up being the MVP of the entire World Series. He is the first Japanese player and the first designated hitter to hold this distinction. And he did it while playing in only 3 of the 6 games! That’s rarefied air. To put his epic performance into perspective, in baseball, failing to get a hit 70% of the time is considered to be really good. For Hideki in the World Series, he succeeded 62% of the time with a .615 batting average!!

So on one of the brightest stages in the sporting world, watched by millions of viewers all around the world, surrounded by all-star talent on both teams, Hideki’s star shown brightest.

For me, as both a Yankee fan and a Hideki Matsui fan, it makes this World Series win a little sweeter for me!

It’s not hard to like a guy like Hideki. His baseball peers view him as an elite, professional hitter, full of class. No one has anything bad to say about him. He is humble, he is funny, and you can always seem to count on him for big hits in important moments. Great qualities for surviving under the harsh New York stage lights.

There’s a lot more I can say but this is most important: Congrats Hideki, you finally get your championship ring!