Whenever I am asked who I respect, I answer his name. I'm sad to hear his retirement.
He was not only one of the greatest players but a great person. Unlike arrogant Ichiro, he is very modest and loved by many people. Also he has strong mentality. I know him since he was a high school student. From that time, he was a great baseball player, and his mental was strong even though he was a teenager.
Here it is an article about him on the Wall Street Journal.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/12/28/japans-favorite-son-hideki-matsui-retires-from-baseball/
He was the fourth batter of both the top team in Japan "Giants" and the top team in the US "Yankees."
He won the MVP title for the 2000 Japan Series.
He won the MVP title for the 2009 World Series.
