Ex-Baseball Star Matsui to Become Next Yomiuri Giants Manager

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Former Japanese baseball star Hideki Matsui is set to become the next manager of the Yomiuri Giants professional baseball team, it was learned Friday.

Matsui played for the Giants in the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League before joining the New York Yankees and other Major League Baseball teams in the United States.

After joining the Giants in 1993 as a first-round draft pick, Matsui won the Central League's home run and RBI titles three times each, before using free agency to join the Yankees in 2003. He was named the most valuable player of the 2009 World Series.

The Giants' former skipper Shinnosuke Abe resigned in May this year following a scandal. The team finished second in the year's regular season under interim manager Hideki Hashigami before being eliminated in the first stage of the Central League Climax Series.

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