Hideki Matsui expected to boost Angels revenues
TEMPE, Ariz. -- It's far too soon to determine whether Hideki Matsui's one-year, $6-million contract will pay for itself, but the Angels are already beginning to reap benefits from their investment in the Japanese slugger, who was named most valuable player of the World Series last November.
Komatsu, a heavy equipment/trucking company that purchased an ad that was placed prominently in the right-field seating area in Yankee Stadium last season, has purchased a similar ad in Angel Stadium at a price that is believed to be more than $100,000. The ad could be seen in several pictures of the home runs the left-handed-hitting Matsui sent over the right-field wall in New York.
Matsui, who will undergo a physical Monday and join the Angels for their first full-squad workout Tuesday, spent time Friday and Saturday filming a television commercial for Komatsu in Tempe Diablo Stadium. The event attracted 25 to 30 Japanese media members, who watched the proceedings from the press box and took several notes as translator Roger Kahlon threw batting-practice pitches to Matsui.
A Japanese company has also started marketing tours of Southern California that include tickets to Disneyland and to Angel Stadium to see Matsui play for the Angels.
-- Mike DiGiovanna
Photo: Hideki Matsui smiles while meeting with Japanese reporters at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Friday. Credit: Eric Risberg / Associated Press
