On July 28, 2013, Matsui signed a one-day minor league contract with the Yankees in order to officially retire with the team.

[1]: 233 Matsui was recruited by Seiryo High School in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, a Western Honshu baseball powerhouse.

"Matsui's stoic, emotionless conduct during those at-bats drew great praise from tournament officials and reporters alike", author Robert Whiting wrote.

At the end of the tournament, a representative of the High School Federation declared that "All students should learn from Matsui's attitude.

[1]: 235  A three-time MVP in the Japanese Central League (1996, 2000, and 2002), Matsui led his team into four Japan Series, winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002).

The origin of the name is derisive in nature, in reference to Matsui's skin problems early on in his career, but has since come to represent his powerful hitting.

Matsui narrowly lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Ángel Berroa after two writers, Jim Souhan and Bill Ballou, refused to include him on their ballots due to his age.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner responded by pointing out this had not prevented either writer from voting for Ichiro Suzuki or Kazuhiro Sasaki, both of whom had previously played in the NPB for several years and were the two oldest players to have received the award, and stated he felt Matsui had been robbed.

On November 15, 2005, Matsui signed a four-year deal for $52 million, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki as the highest paid Japanese player in baseball, and securing his place with the Yankees through 2009.

It was originally ruled an error on Raúl Ibañez, who lost track of the ball due to the sun, but a scoring change gave Matsui the hit.

In the winter of 2007, it was widely reported in the media that the Yankees were in talks to send Matsui to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for one or two pitchers.

[16] On June 12, 2009, Matsui hit a three-run home run on his 35th birthday, giving the Yankees a 7–6 lead over the New York Mets in the sixth inning.

[17] On July 20, he hit a walk-off solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Jim Johnson of the Baltimore Orioles, giving the Yankees their fourth win in a row after the All Star break, their ninth walk-off win, and a tie for first place in the division with the Boston Red Sox.

[23] Matsui also became the third player in Major League history to bat .500 or above and hit three home runs in the same World Series, joining only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Matsui returned to free agent status following the close of the season, and on November 23, 2010, the Angels announced that they would not offer him salary arbitration.

[42] Elected at the age of 43, he became the youngest player to be inducted to the Hall, breaking a record held by Hideo Nomo.

Matsui holds the record for longest streak of consecutive games played to start a Major League Baseball career.

[45] On May 11, 2006, in his 519th game with the Yankees, Matsui fractured his left wrist on an unsuccessful sliding catch in the top of the first inning against the Boston Red Sox.

Matsui, despite the injury, threw the ball back to the infield before gripping his wounded wrist in obvious pain.

He returned to the Yankees starting lineup on September 12 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and had an RBI-single in his first at-bat back, and proceeded to go 4 for 4 with a walk and scored twice.

[48] Matsui also donated $620,000 to relief efforts for victims of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster in the Tōhoku region of Japan.

[citation needed] On March 21, 2015, Matsui and former teammate Derek Jeter held a baseball charity event to support children affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, at the Tokyo Dome.

His bride's name was not announced, but it was reported that she was 25 years old and had been formerly working in a "reputable position at a highly respected company".

As of November 2016[update], Matsui had an apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and a home in Connecticut where he was raising his son.