On the Yankees beat

It was announced that Hideki Matsui got married yesterday. He flew to New York and got married to a 25-year-old Japanese woman who he's been dating since after the 2006 season. But he kept it a big secret, only their immediate families knew. I think that was to avoid the huge crush of Japanese media that follows him everywhere.

Now here's the funny, no, hilarious part. During his meeting with the American press this morning, someone asked Matsui if he would tell Derek Jeter to get married now. Then Matsui said they had a bet, Jeter has a year. We were waiting at Jeter's locker when he got there, and he was stunned that Matsui had gotten married. His jaw dropped, he said: "Nuh-uh, Hideki? Where'd you hear that?"
He then raced over to Matsui's locker to find out if it was true, talked to Hideki for a minute and congratulated him, then returned to his locker, where Jeter said: "We had a bet, that's not even right."
Apparently, Matsui, Bobby Abreu and Jeter made a bet (at the start of spring, when Matsui already knew he was getting married) about who would get married first. Jeter was given a one-year handicap, since he doesn't have a girlfriend (or as Matsui put it, claims he doesn't), and Abreu was given a six-month handicap, I guess because he has a girlfriend but it wasn't long-term like Matsui.
So everyone wanted to know if Jeter would be attempting to win. He conceded, saying: "He won." People said hey, you've got a year. He said no chance, "I'll give him the money today." He then recovered and said, "Good for him, congratulations." But Jeter, who always says he is not surprised by anything, admitted he was surprised by this.
About that time, Abreu got to the park and Jeter told him. Abreu's locker is just a couple away from Matsui's, and his jaw dropped. He checked with Matsui, found out it was true.
Like Jeter, Abreu has no plans to attempt to match Matsui by getting married within his "handicap period." Abreu said, "He won, so we have to find someone else and make a new bet."
However, as they closed the clubhouse, Jeter was going over to Matsui. There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not this was a fair bet, or if Matsui punked or played them. Anyway, there is the comedy for the day. Enjoy.