Yankees legend Hideki Matsui played seven seasons ... after learning that Sabathia had been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Matsui issued a statement honoring his former teammate.

Derek Jeter, Sadaharu Oh and Hideki Matsui were among many ... on the back of 1,278 he hit for the Orix Blue Wave in Nippon Professional Baseball, closing with 4,367 in total.