Jeter, Matsui To Visit Tsunami-Hit CIties For Charity

TOKYO, JAPAN - MAR. 18: Former New York Yankees teammates Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter reunited in Tokyo on Wednesday to promote the charity event they will headline this week in support of children from the disaster-stricken Tohoku region. "It feels great to have Jeter here with me to take part in this event," Matsui told a Tokyo press conference. "This is sure to bring joy to many children and fans from across the country. It's going to be a great time. The most important thing, of course, is the children who were affected by the disaster, to put smiles on their faces." On Saturday, the pair will throw out the ceremonial first pitches at a preseason exhibition at Tokyo Dome between Matsui's old club, the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Ham Fighters. After that, they will host a charity auction before returning to the dome to conduct a baseball clinic. Jeter and Matsui will then oversee a youth game between American children in Japan and kids from Tohoku before concluding the big day with a home run-hitting contest between them. Jeter, who retired last season after 20 years in the major leagues, has long been involved in his own youth foundation. He said he jumped at the chance to join Matsui in lending a hand to the Support Our Kids Project. The project organizes overseas exchanges and home stays abroad for children of Tohoku to promote leadership skills that will lead to their native region's rebirth. Matsui retired after the 2012 season after 10 years in the majors and 10 in Nippon Professional Baseball and despite Jeter's age references, is just a few days older than his old teammate. This year and last, Matsui served as a special instructor at the Yankees' spring camp and was recently named a special adviser to the general manager for batting, a job that will see him talking to players, coaches and managers in the club's minor league system.