KAZUO MATSUI WITH THE NEW YORK METS IN 2004

Sept 26
He was on in the first inning, with a runner on 2nd. He hit him home. He had another base hit and contributed to his team's 3 to 2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Sept 25
Matsui was finally back in the starting line-up. But he couldn't deliver and celebrate his comeback. The Mets however defeated the Chicago Cubs 4 to 3.

August 7
Matsui has not been starting in the last several games. Back this time, he was number 3 in the line-up. A first for him in the US Major Leagues. He hit in a run in the 6th inning to catch up with the St Louis Cardinals. But his team lost in the end 1 to 2.

July 29
Matsui doubled. In the 9th inning, he was hit by the pitch. Then the bottom of that inning, he could not hold on to a ball to succeed in a double play. The Mets however beat the Montreal Expos 10 to 1.

July 27
In the 7th inning, Matsui had a base hit. His team beat the Montreal Expos 4 to 2.

July 26
Matsui had 2 base hits. His team however lost to the Montreal Expos 10 to 19.

July 22
This time, Matsui had 3 hits, including a triple. The Mets however lost to the Montreal Expos 1 to 4.

July 21
In the 4th inning, Matsui batted in a run. In the 9th, he contributed on the field. The Mets beat the Monteral Expos 5 to 4.

July 18
Matsui had 2 hits again, including an RBI. This time, the Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6 to 1.

July 17
Matsui was good at bat with 2 base hits. But out in the field he was no good. He erred twice. The Mets lost 2 to 8 to the Philadelphia Phillies.

July 16
Matsui had a 2 base his in the 5th inning, and in the 8th inning, he also got himself on base. But the Mets lost 1 to 5 to the Philadelphia Phillies.

July 15
In the 4th inning, Matsui's 2 base hit got in his team's first run. He had a base hit in the 8th inning. The Mets clinched the game 3 to 2 in the 11th inning from the Philadelphia Phillies.

July 9
Matsui's 2 base hit in the 8th inning, paved a way for the team's win. The Mets beat the Florida Marlins 6 to 3.

July 8
Matsui slammed a double for an RBI. He had another hit. But the Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 5 to 4.

July 7
In the 3rd inning, Matsui had a hit. In the 4th, he hit in an RBI. He also had a 2 base hit. His team won against the Philadelphia Phillies again 10 to 1.

July 6
In the 3rd inning, Matsu doubled, and eventually came home. He also had base hits in the 5th and 6th innings. The Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4 to 1.

July 4
In the 2nd inning,Matsui hit himself on base and also stole to 2nd. The Mets clinched all 3 games against the NY Yankees winning this one 6 to 5.

July 3
Matsui was again incredible. In the 1st inning he doubled. He came home too. In the 7th, he hit himself on base, and contributed again. In the 9th, with the game a tie, he was walked. He slid to home in the end to finish the game 10 to 9 against the NY Yankees.

July 2
The subway series was held this time at Shea Stadium. In the 2nd inning, Matsui blasted a 3 run. In the 5th, out in the field, he responded to a grounded ball quick to get the runner out on first. In the 6th, he homered again. This time it was a 2 run. The Mets won 11 to 2 against the NY Yankees.

June 29
In the 6th inning, he had a base hit which paved the wave for his team to bat in 5 runs. He also had another hit. The Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 7 to 5.

June 27
The Mets played a double header against the NY Yankees. In the first game, Matsui did not have a base hit, and his team lost 1 to 8. In the 2nd game, in the 7th inning, Matsui hit in an RBI. But the Mets again lost 6 to 11.

June 26
The previous day, the Mets game was rained out. And so the first day of the subway series was postponed to this day. Matsui faced another Matsui--Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees. In the 4th inning, Kazuo hit in 2 RBIs. He also stole base. In all he had 2 hits and helped his team 9 to 3 against the Yankees.

June 17
Matsui had 2 hits. In the 7th inning, with bases full, he batted in 2 runs. The Mets defeated the Cleveland Indians 6 to 2.

June 16
Matsui has been consistent at bat during the past few games. This time, he doubled in the 4th inning. In the 8th, his base hit marked his career 1500th hit. The Mets, however, had a devastating loss against the Cleveland Indians 1 to 9.

June 13
Matsui was quite lousy out on the field. He mishurled the ball to first base, twice. But the Mets won 5 to 2 against the Kansas City Royals.

June 12
This time, Matsui started. In the 1st inning, he had a lucky hit to the center. In the 7th, he got himself on base. But he performed a poor base run and was out a 2nd. The Mets lost 3 to 5 against the Kansas City Royals.

June 11
Matsui was not playing well for the past few games, and was take off the starting line up. He was on later in the game and had 2 hits. Still the Mets lost to the Texas Rangers 5 to 7.

June 8
In the 4th inning, Matsui got to first on a bunt hit. He hurt his team in the 9th inning though. He wasn't able to hurl properly to 2nd base. Thereafter, his team lost to the Minnesota Twins 2 to 1.

June 5
In the 6th inning, Matsui hit home a runner. He tried to steal to 2nd. During the attempt, the ball hit him and went into the outfield so Matsui took 3rd base. But his team lost again,6 to 7 to the Florida Marlins

June 4
Matsui had 2 hits and even stole base. But the Mets lost to the Florida Marlins 1 to 5.

June 1
In the 10th inning, Matsui got himself on base with a hit. He also stole to 2nd. He then came home on Todd Zeile's hit. Matsui contributed to the Mets 4 to 1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

May 31
In the first inning, Matsui doubled. He he was hit home too. In the 5th, he hit to center. The Mets beat the Philadephia Phillies 5 to 3.

May 30
Matsui got himself on base in the 3rd inning. And he did also in the 5th. But the Mets lost to the Florida Marlins 6 to 8.

May 29
Matsui had his first ever 3rd base hit in the MLB. His team lost though to the Florida Marlins 2 to 3.

May 23
Matsui again slammed a home run as the first in the line-up. In the 3rd inning, he achieved a 2 base hit too. The Mets beat the Colorado Rockies 4 to 0.

May 22
Matsui started off the game with a home run. It's his 4th homer of the season. His team beat the Colorado Rockies in this game 5 to 4.

May 18
In the 5th inning, Matsui had a 2-base hit. In the 9th, he made a great contribution. With runner on first and 2nd, Matsui hit to the left, to help the team tie with the St Louis Cardinals. Cliff Floyd, who followed finished the game with a run. The Mets won 5 to 4.

May 15
In the 5th inning, Matsui batted a 2 base hit. His team, however, lost to the Houston Astros 4 to 7.

May 14
In the 3rd inning, Matsui had a hit to the left. In the 9th, he got himself on base. And the Mets defeated the Houston Astros 8 to 3.

May 12
Matsui had a hit. He was walked twice. He stole base for the 2nd time this season. The result, the Mets defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7 to 4.

May 12
In the first inning, Matsui blasted a home run from Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson. And his homerun helped the team win 1 to 0 over the Diamondbacks.

May 11
Matsui doubled in the first inning. He had another 2 base hit in the 5th inning and proved he's recovered from his injury the previous day. But the Mets lost again to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5 to 9.

May 10
Matsui was back on the starting line-up. He began with a bunt. In the 2nd inning he batted in a run with a 2 base hit. But an accident in the 4th inning. He swung the ball towards him and was in great pain. He had to pull out from the game thereafter. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won 12 to 8.

May 9
Matsui has not been contributing. And for the first time this season, he was not on the starting line-up. He was on from the 8th inning though. In the 11th inning, with runners on 1st and 2nd, he was up to bat, and hit a game winning RBI. The Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6 to 5.

May 5
In the 3rd inning, Matsui showed great fielding as short stop, getting the runner out at first. In the 8th, he hit in a run. And contributed in a game dedicated to Mike Piazza's home run record. The Mets won 8 to 2 over the San Francisco Giants.

May 4
Matsui had 3 hits, and even came home. The Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 6 to 2.

April 30
Matsui got to a good start with a base hit in the first inning, He even came home. But in the 4th inning with bases loaded for the San Diego Padres, he let the ball pass him. The Padres earned a run due to Matsui's error. And the Mets lost 6 to 7.

April 28
Matsui started the game with a home run. He also had a base hit. But the Mets lost 3 to 2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

April 24
Again, Matsui hit himself on base twice,but could not get his team to win. The Mets lost lost 0 to 3 against the Chicago Cubs.

April 23
After 2 games without a hit, Matsui was back in shape. Facing Greg Maddoux, he hit himself on base twice. But his team lost 1 to 3 against the Chicago Cubs.

April 20
In the first inning, Matsui hit to the right to get himself on base. He came home that inning on Mike Piazza's hit. But the Mets lost to the Montreal Expos 1 to 2.

April 19
Matsui for the first time faced another Japanese pitcher in the MLB. It's Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos. But Ohka did not allow him to get on base. The Mets still won 4 to 1 against the Expos.

April 16
Matsui flopped. In the 3rd inning, he miscontrolled a hurl to first base. But he got himself on the 8th inning. The Mets however lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6 to 7.

April 14
For the first time, Matsui showed he can field well. It was in the 7th inning, He also won an RBI with a sacrifice fly. But that's the only run for the Mets on the day, and lost to the Atlanta Braves 1 to 6.

April 12
For the first time Matsui played at the Mets home ground, Shea Stadium. He got himself on base in the 2nd inning. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, he doubled. He earned 2 RBIs and his team beat the Atlanta Braves 10 to 6.

April 11
Kaz Matsui did not hit himself on base the previous game, but this time he had 2 hits. One was a double which was just short of becoming a home run. The Mets won 4 to 1 over the Montreal Expos.

April 8
This time, Matsui had 2 base hits. In the 9th inning, he doubled and even attempted to come home, but was touched out. The Mets however in the 11th inning secured a 3 to 2 win over the Montreal Expos.

April 8
Matsui was not able to get himself on base this time. His team lost the Atlanta Braves 8 to 10.

April 7
Matsui did not play as dramatic as his first game, but he was on base 3 times. He was walked twice and singled. However the Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves 6 to 18.

April 6
Little Matsui had a fairy tale debut. He was the first at bat. And he slammed the first pitch hurled by the Braves Russ Ortiz, making him only the 2nd player to homer as a lead off batter on opening day. And that wasn't all. He doubled, was walked with the bases loaded, and had another 2 base hit. Most surprising, he was then deliberately called with 2 runners on base. He batted in 3 runs in all. The Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 7 to 2.

POST 2003 SEASON
Little Matsui joins Mets
Kazuo Matsui who played for the Seibu Lions' has been this off-season's most attention getter. And he announced just before departing to the US on Dec 8 that he has decided to join the New York Mets. There were speculations that 4 US Major League teams approached him. On Dec 10, Matsui signed a 3 year contract for an estimated 20.1 million dollars. He will wear number 25. The news conference was also attended by NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg.



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