The Japan Times Online - Advanced Search: "He publicly apologized to his manager for the injury that would keep him out of the team's lineup indefinitely, and he apologized to his fellow players for having to withdraw from the front lines of the battle to allow his broken left wrist to heal.

The apology was so unusual and unexpected and uncharacteristic, it became a major news story in the American media. The New York Times devoted a major feature to the Matsui apology. Countless news organizations picked up the story for the astonishing if almost unprecedented development that it represented: a superstar athlete and celebrity actually saying he was sorry."