The hard-hitting Hideki Matsui returned to the Yankees’ roster recently after long-suffering from a sore knee. Matsui had the option of undergoing surgery to drain his knee of fluids to help it recover, but opted for rehab instead - surgery would’ve ended his season prematurely, after all, and Matsui seems like too much of a proud workaholic to let his team down that way.

Granted, maqtsui might still not see the end of the season. He’ll be played every day, training or real life games, to see how his knee holds up. What’s more, Matsui’s almost certainly finished in the outfield - the strain of having to sprint for balls would be too much. But, hey, he’ll still be around for batting, and that’s where he excels anyway.

Just hit home runs every time, Matsui, and you won’t have to worry about straining the knee much anyway. I’m sure your compatriots would be happy with that.

The Yankees star has been suffering from knee problems this season and has already had fluid drained from his knee four times. He’s going to make one last attempt at rehab before giving in and getting the surgery that will repair the knee for good - but end his season early.

Matsui has been out of action since June 22, a break that’s obviously been troublesome to the player given his repeated attempts to recuperate. His coach is all too happy to let Matsui give rehab a shot, noting that his determination to get back on the field speaks of his dedication either way. He further pointed out that the knee couldn’t get any worse anyway, so why not give it a shot if that’s what Matsui wants to do?

First, Matsui’s generous. In 2004 he personally contributed $400,000 of his wealth to help with the cleanup after the Indian Ocean earthquake. Good start.

Second, he’s married. To whom? No one really knows. Matsui’s managed to keep his wife hidden from the press so far, only providing a hand-drawn picture to show what she looks like. Pretty funny.

And, third - whether this is still true is unknown, though if his wife allows it to stand, well, huh - Matsui has an extensive collection of pornography. And according to reports he used to share his treasures with Japanese reporters.

That’s certainly an innovative way of handling the media.

But Matsui has a curious streak, and that streak only widened recently when revealed he got married. His wife is a Japanese girl in her mid 20’s, and they’d been dating for a while prior to the marriage. It seems that at least a few of his fellow ball players know her.

What else do we know?

That’s about it, actually. Nobody in the press (that the rest of us know of) has ever seen Matsui’s bride. He’s kept her a complete secret from the rest of the world, possibly to avoid the kind of intrusions that come with being the wife of an athlete.

But Matsui has been especially quirky about his wife. Not only has he not appeared in public with her, he introduced her to the press via a sketch. Yes, not a picture, a sketch on a white piece of paper.

Either Matsui has a great sense of humor, a good sense for publicity or is just plain weird. It’s possible it’s all three.

His stats speak for themselves. In only five years Hideki Matsui batting has exploded. He’s managed to hit 106 runs, and though that may seem small compared to other players he’s also managed to bat in a spectacular 471 runs for the New York Yankees.

His success may be attributed to his conditioning. Matsui didn’t miss a single game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, and was only put out by a wrist injury that he ignored while making one final crucial throw back to the infield.

He first signed with Tokyo’s Yomiuri Giants and led his team to three league titles in 1994, 200 and 2002. Because of his superb batting power (and probably because of his ethnicity) Matsui came to be known as “Godzilla” among teammates and foreign media alike, who had taken a shine to the Japanese player despite not being a part of the MLB.

Matsui signed his first American contract in 2003, traveling Stateside to the New York Yankees. He has since proven a staple player for the team and his contract was renewed; he continues to play for the Yankees to this day.