Hideki Matsui produced one of the greatest big-game performances in Major League Baseball playoff history as the New York Yankees beat Philadelphia 7-3 on Wednesday to win their 27th World Series title.
Matsui drove in six runs on three hits, including his third home run in the best-of-seven final, and became the first Asian to win World Series Most Valuable Player honors as the Yankees defeated the Phillies 4-2.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Matsui said through a translator. “It’s awesome. It’s just unbelievable. I’m surprised myself. All I can say is I feel so happy right now. It feels great.”
The Yankees, with baseball’s largest payroll at US$201 million, extended the greatest legacy of championship success in North American pro sports by claiming their first crown since 2000.
“It’s back where it belongs,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said as he held the champions’ trophy above his head.
Yankees designated hitter Matsui smashed a two-run homer to right field in the second inning, added a two-run single in the third and a two-run double in the fifth.
The 35-year-old Japanese star matched the World Series one-game record for knocking in runs set by Yankees star Bobby Richardson in 1960.
Matsui’s heroics came in what could be his final game in a Yankees uniform since he was not signed beyond this season, but he achieved the dream he had when he joined the Yankees in 2003 of capturing a World Series crown.
Matsui batted .615 for the Series, going 8-for-13 with eight runs batted in, including two prior solo homers in the Series.
Andy Pettitte won his record 18th playoff game and second of the Series.
The Yankees won the crown in their first season in the new US$1.5 billion ballpark, just as in 1923 they claimed their first-ever Series crown in the debut year of the now-closed original Yankee Stadium across the street.
New York became the first World Series champions since Minnesota in 2001 to use only a three-man starting rotation of pitchers, including last year’s free agent signees Pettitte, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.
Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, whose season began with a February admission of taking steroids from 2001 through 2003, finally claimed a World Series title after 15 years of failure.
New York brought in closing relief ace Mariano Rivera to secure the final five outs and the 39-year-old Panamanian did his job to touch off a wild celebration.
Defending champions the Phillies failed in their repeat quest. No team has taken back-to-back titles since 1976.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique