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Former Yankee Matsui, Yomiuri Giants manager Nagashima, receive People’s Honor Award

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Former New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui and his former manager from the Yomiuri Giants Shigeo Nagashima, received the People’s Honor Award on Sunday for their significant achievements in their careers, as well as their massive popularity with the public. The award was handed to them by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a ceremony on Sunday at the Tokyo Dome.

The two baseball greats were also treated to a victory by the Yomiuri Giants against the Hiroshima Carps, as they were given a hero’s welcome before the game. The event also served as a retirement ceremony for Matsui, who ended his 20 year career after the 2012 season. He started out playing 10 years in Japan before transferring to Major League Baseball in the United States. He played for seven seasons with the New York Yankees, and then a season each for the Los Angeles Angels, the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays. He was named the MVP of the 2009 World Series. Matsui said he did his best to lift up baseball, a much beloved sport in Japan.

Nagashima was a former baseball player who had two runs as manager for the Giants. He was nicknamed Mr. Baseball during his playing career. It was during his second run that he signed Matsui, who became the new star of the team. They won the 1994, 1996 and 2000 league championship and he managed the team until 2001. He was supposed to lead the Japanese Olympic baseball team at the 2004 Athens Olympics but suffered a stroke in March and was unable to travel. Japan went on to win the bronze medal.

The People’s Honor Award was established in 1977 by the late Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda. The first ever recipient was Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh, who was present at the ceremony last Sunday. Other former winners include film director Akira Kurosawa, winningest sumo wrestler of all time Yokozuna Taiho and the women’s national football team who won the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

[ via The Republic ]

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