This day in baseball: Marriage bet

Credit: sports.yahoo.com

Here’s a fun little story I found:

On March 27, 2008, Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui made an unexpected announcement: that he had gotten married the day before.  Matsui had kept the wedding a secret, telling only friends and family, but keeping it from the press — and, apparently, from teammates as well.

Only a few weeks prior, Matsui had made a bet with teammates Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu about who would be the first to get married.  Neither Jeter nor Abreu knew anything about Matsui’s already-pending marriage and were both stunned upon hearing the news.  Abreu, once he got over the shock, simply laughed and agreed to write Matsui a check.

Jeter, however, was not so ready to give in.  He claimed that Matsui had played him for a fool and arranged for a renegotiation of the terms of the bet.  Matsui told the press, “If he doesn’t get married within a year, I win the bet.  Basically the bet was, whoever gets married first.  Jeter said he himself doesn’t have a girlfriend, so he’s getting a one-year handicap.”

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Source:

Kepner, Tyler.  “Matsui Gets Married, and Not Just to Beat Jeter.”  New York Times 27 March 2008.  Web.  Accessed 27 March 2013.  http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/matsui-gets-married-and-tries-to-take-jeter-for-a-ride/