Daisuke Matsuzaka
May 18, 2008
Fenway Park is famous for its fans posting up big red K’s whenever their pitcher throws a strikeout. Daisuke Matsuzaka’s name lends itself to this, and his performance lets the fans put up many of the K’s.
The famous Dice-K, as dubbed by the Boston Globe, is one of the Red Sox’s most promising pitchers. While just in his second year in the American Major Leagues, Matsuzaka played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league since 1999. He was born in Kanita, Higashitsugaru District, Aomori, Japan, (can’t they just say Kanita, Japan?) but spent most of his childhood at his father’s in Tokyo. He excelled in Little Leagues in Japan, and he was accepted to baseball powerhouse Yokohama High School, where, by his second year, had developed a 90-m.p.h. fastball. We’re talking a 17-year-old with a fastball worthy of the Majors. In the Summer Koshien (a high school invitational baseball tourney in Japan), Matsuzaka had perhaps the most epic of all his highlights. Here’s his “Legendary 3 Days”: Day 1, 148 pitches in a complete game shutout. Day 2, 250 pitches in a 17-inning win. Day 3, he closed a seven-run rally after starting in left field. That’s three days, 413 pitches. And in the final game, he pitched a no-hitter, only the second ever in a final. All this at 18 years old.
After high school, Matsuzaka was drafted by Nippon League team the Seibu Lions. He recorded his first strikeout on a fastball clocking in at 97 mph, from an 18 year old. In his first year, Dice K was already considered the Lions’ ace, and finished with a 16-5 record. His fame was so great that rumors sprung up that Matsuzaka could throw the mythical “gyroball,” a pitch that may or may not exist. It’s no wonder that American Major League teams were already interested in this superstar.
In 2006, Dice K hired an agent for dealings with the MLB. The Red Sox paid dearly just to talk to the legend; they coughed up more than $51 million just for negotiating rights alone, never mind salary costs. And when the Sox and Matsuzaka finally agreed to terms, the salary wasn’t cheap-$52 million over six years.
During the ’07 season, Matsuzaka pitched well enough, but certainly not well enough for an eight million dollar salary that year. He didn’t make many headlines through skill, it was mostly his legendary status that had critics raving. Dice K did help the Sox clinch the division against the Minnesota Twins with an eight inning win. He finished the season 15-12, nothing special compared to ace Josh Beckett’s 20 win season. However, he did break the Sox rookie strikeout record with 201.
If his season performance was mediocre, the start of Dice K’s first MLB playoffs was abysmal. He did not make it through 5 innings in either of his first two starts. In his second start, against the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS, he was past the 100-pitch count by 4 and 2/3 innings. Pretty pathetic from a player who, at 18, was pitching consecutive complete games. Matsuzaka did begin turning his performance around at the end of the ALCS, winning Game 7 against the Indians and putting the Sox through to the World Series. He won Game 3 of the Championship, in which he got his first Major League hit, a two-run single off Rockies pitcher Josh Fogg. Matsuzaka put his name up with two other legends with his two RBIs, being the one of only three Sox pitchers to do so in the World Series. His name is now up there with former Sox uber-legends Babe Ruth and Cy Young.
This season, although Josh Beckett (5-3) is considered the Sox ace, Daisuke is doing much better, with an undefeated 7-0 record and a solid 2.15 ERA. Next year, hopefully Dice K will get the title of ace, which he clearly deserves much more.
*UHOH! Dice-K was injured in his start against the Seattle Mariners yesterday, May 27.
