The 100 Greatest Colorado Rockies: 51 Kazuo Matsui

We continue our look at the top 100 Colorado Rockies of all time in this article. Here, we look at No. 51 on our list, Kazuo Matsui.

Kazuo Matsui is still playing baseball. Better known simply as Kaz, the second baseman is playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league which is the highest league in Japan. He plays for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, since 2011.

This is the same league Matsui got his start in professional baseball in 1995 with the Seibu Lions. He was an excellent player in Japan and the Mets signed him as a shortstop in 2004 when he was 28. Matsui struggled in 2005 after a decent rookie season in the majors. His second season he batted .255 in only 87 games. He suffered from several injuries and committed too many errors and was transitioned to second base.

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Matsui started 2006 with the Mets but was traded to the Rockies in June for Eli Marrero. The Colorado Springs Sky Sox was his home for two months until he finally made his debut in Denver in August. In 38 games with the Mets that season, he batted .200. He never lived up to the lofty expectations in New York. In 32 games with the Rockies he batted .345. That was enough for the Rockies to sign him another year.

That’s when he had the best year of his MLB career. Just in time for the Rockies to make a wild run to the playoffs. Matsui played in 104 games hitting .288 with 37 RBIs, the most he had in his major league career.

After only hitting four home runs in the regular season, Matsui hit a grand slam against the Phillies in the NLDS. It was the first of his career. He had a total 3.9 WAR for the Rockies. By far the best total he had for any team he played for in the States.

Off the momentum he signed with the Astros the next year and played in Houston until 2010. He signed with the Golden Eagles and played in the 2013 World Baseball Classic for Japan. If he would have played for the Mets the way he did for the Rockies, Matsui may have never came to Denver in the first place.

Next: Colorado Rockies: NL West Talk and Blank Stares in Paris

Between Japan and the majors, Matsui has over 2,500 hits. He is not only one of Japan’s greatest players ever, but he is one of the best Colorado Rockies because of his ability to help fuel the Rockies momentum during Rocktober.