Matsui Gets Rude Taste of Western Culture

Hideki Matsui, the slugger from Japan who made his American baseball debut for the Yankees on Monday, was a center of attention in Toronto even before he singled home a run in his first at-bat in the Yankees’ 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays took out a controversial advertisement in Sunday’s newspapers, urging fans in Japanese and English to boo Matsui.

The ad was altered Monday, dropping the “Boo Matsui” part, but a Yankee cap was still depicted with bird droppings on it.

Toronto Manager Carlos Tosca apologized to Yankee Manager Joe Torre for the ad. Torre said he had no ill feelings toward the Blue Jays and his only concern was if fans did more than boo.

“Booing is fine if it stops there,” he said. “It scares me to think about throwing things. If you start with a negative and create an anger type of thing, that’s my concern. We’ve been booed as much as anyone. I understand that. It’s all in fun.”

Matsui got a mixed reaction in pregame introductions and before his first at-bat.

“I’m used to it because in Japan it’s the same way,” he said through an interpreter. “It’s not that I’m completely comfortable with it. But it’s not to the point where it’s bothersome.”

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Skirting the issue: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “While Bud Selig is busy reinventing the game, he should make a rule that once per series, each team must throw a strike to Barry Bonds.

“If not, the manager must wear a skirt for a week.”

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More Ostler: “There should be an annual award for the Most Misquoted Player . The award will be presented by a lovely babe wearing a sash that proclaims her ‘Miss Quoted.’ ”

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Trivia time: Who was the first winner of the NBA most valuable player award?

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All is Wells? John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune on some baseball wishes for 2003:

“I want to see David Wells go to Iraq on a goodwill caravan. On second thought, Wells would never make it. He’d show up Half-in-the-Baghdad.

“I want a law passed forbidding rainouts rescheduled as day-night doubleheaders.”

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Surrendering: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “When Lou Piniella managed the Mariners, Seattle was 0-10 against Boston ace Pedro Martinez. It got to the point where Piniella said the Mariners wouldn’t match their Nos. 1, 2 or 3 pitchers against Martinez and even started resting players in games he started.”

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How does he know? Longtime shoe company representative Sonny Vaccaro says prep sensation LeBron James could get a shoe deal bigger than any of the “free agents” now on the market including Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett.

“Kobe won’t get half of what LeBron gets,” Vaccaro told the Akron Beacon Journal.

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Trivia answer: Bob Pettit of St. Louis in 1955-56.

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And finally: Major League Baseball has distributed three pages of guidelines on player uniforms, which include seven restrictions on pants (not too baggy), six related to shoes and five to jerseys.

“Sometimes baseball surprises me with the stuff they worry about,” Jeff Bagwell told Bloomberg News.