World Series notebook

Keeping eye on Matsui

After MVP effort, he may be on outs

In perhaps his last game as a Yankee, Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs in Wednesday’s clincher. (David J. Phillip/Associated Press
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By Peter Abraham

Globe Staff / November 6, 2009

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NEW YORK - Hideki Matsui received a new Chevy for being named Most Valuable Player in the World Series. But will the Yankees give him a new contract?

A 35-year-old designated hitter with two surgically repaired knees would not seem to fit the plan of general manager Brian Cashman to make his team younger and more athletic. But Matsui hit .274 with 28 home runs and 90 RBIs this season, then went 8 for 13 (.615) with 3 homers and 8 RBIs in the six-game World Series.

“He was terrific for us,’’ Cashman said early yesterday morning after the Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3, to clinch their latest championship. “The business aspects can wait a few days.’’

If Matsui does not return, there is precedence for such a move. John Wetteland was MVP of the 1996 Series when the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, then signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent. The Yankees were interested in retaining Wetteland but would not meet his price, knowing Mariano Rivera was ready to take his place as closer.

Matsui said he played Game 6 without any thoughts of whether it would be his final time in pinstripes.

“I didn’t have that in my mind,’’ he said through a translator. “All I was focusing on was winning this game and helping the team become world champions.’’

Matsui said he has “no idea’’ whether the Yankees plan to retain him.

The Yankees have negotiating exclusivity with Matsui, left fielder Johnny Damon, and lefthander Andy Pettitte until Nov. 20.

Matsui has not played in the outfield since June 15, 2008, which could make Damon a more attractive player.

“He is somebody I would fight for us to keep,’’ Rivera said. “He has been so important to us.’’

Matsui’s 13 at-bats in the Series matched Baltimore’s Rick Dempsey in 1983 for the fewest by a World Series MVP (non-pitcher). But Matsui made the most of those opportunities; he had six RBIs in Wednesday’s clincher.

“You think about the 450 at-bats that he had this year and the production that he had, if he could have played every day, he would have drove in 130 runs, and that’s an amazing year,’’ manager Joe Girardi said.

To the rescue

After celebrating the championship, Girardi stopped to aid a woman who hit a concrete barrier after losing control of her car.

At 2:25 a.m., 27-year-old Marie Henry of Stratford, Conn., crashed along the Cross County Parkway in Eastchester. According to police, Girardi parked his car and crossed the highway to attend to her before flagging down a police officer.

“I had my wife call the police and I ran across the road,’’ Girardi said on WFAN radio. “The police got there three or four minutes later. Her car was mangled.’’

Police credited Girardi for his quick action.

“The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help,’’ Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano told The Journal News. “It was totally surreal.’’

Rollins defiant

Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins predicted his team would beat the Yankees in five games before the Series. He was not chagrined after being proven wrong.

“They were the better team this series,’’ Rollins said. “Do I think we’re the better team? I really do. They just executed. I think we weren’t playing bad, but they were playing that much better. They got the hits, we didn’t. It’s that simple.’’

Rollins did not help the cause much by hitting .217 (5 for 23) with two RBIs.

Watching from afar

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner did not attend Wednesday’s game but watched on television, according to family members. The 79-year-old Steinbrenner, who is in ill health, ceded control of the team to his sons in 2007. A publicist released a statement attributed to Steinbrenner that said he was proud of the team . . . The Hall of Fame collected memorabilia from the Yankees, including the scorecard used by Newton, Mass., native Suzyn Waldman, the first woman to broadcast a World Series game.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com.