Hideki Matsui, who is in New York for the official signing of a three-year, $21 million deal with New York Yankees, underwent a physical Friday and went on a four-hour tour of Yankee Stadium.
After completing the mandatory examination Friday morning, Matsui arrived at Yankee Stadium just before 1 p.m., and took some swings of the bat in commemoration of his visit to his new home field.
"I'm overwhelmed that I will be playing at this stadium. I can feel the tradition, the history," said Matsui, who will be introduced at a news conference on Tuesday.
Matsui arrived in New York on Thursday and met with Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner.
"I was surprised just meeting him and when I continued to bow my head, he told me, 'You don't have to bow your head,' " Matsui said.
Matsui will search for his residence in New York this weekend and attend a press conference at a Manhattan hotel at noon Tuesday.
The New York Post reported Friday that Yankees security staff gave about 150 Japanese members of the media the slip after the three-time Central League MVP arrived at Newark Liberty Airport.
The slugger arrived at his hotel through an underground entrance, the report said, though no members of the Japanese media were present since they believed rumors that he had been whisked away to stay at the swank Waldorf-Astoria hotel.