Kyodo, AFP-Jiji
Fans in Japan were saddened Friday by the news of power-hitter Hideki Matsui's retirement from baseball at the age of 38, many wishing he would resume his career in the country.
"If he were to play in Japan, he could still hit 30 to 40 home runs," longtime fan Toshimitsu Miura, 52, said outside Tokyo's Shimbashi Station. "It's Matsui's policy to do things with class, but it's so sad."
A fan in the same age group as Matsui, 36-year-old Yohei Kamamoto remembered watching the "Matsui incident," when as an overpowering high school slugger, an opposing team walked Matsui five times in a game at the National High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium.