LOS ANGELES -- In the sports-happy, internationally oblivious country of the United States, probably more people know who Hideki Matsui is than who Junichiro Koizumi is.
Matsui is the star left fielder of the New York Yankees baseball team. Koizumi is only the Japanese prime minister. But for a shining few minutes late last week in New York, you could very well make the case that Matsui was the most important Japanese celebrity in the world.
The dramatic situation was this. It was early in a wild game against the hated Boston Red Sox baseball club. A sharp line drive was slammed into left field in the general direction of Matsui. An excellent fielder as well as batter, a Yankee star and a baseball superstar in Japan, Matsui charged the liner without fear, lunged for it and rolled over onto his left wrist and arm.