松坂の記事を見る － ７

USA TODAYより抜粋。
Even you when you know what pitch is coming, Daisuke Matsuzaka has a surprise waiting.
Kansas City Royals leadoff hitter David DeJesus knew Matsuzaka had told Japanese reporters his first major league pitch Thursday would be a fastball. It was — 93 mph right over the plate. But the left-handed DeJesus barely got his bat around and fouled the ball over the third-base dugout.

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 4, Royals 1

"He rushed his delivery, he didn't hesitate," DeJesus said of Matsuzaka, who usually pauses slightly in his windup with his hands above his head. "I can get around on a 93 mph fastball. But he kind of quick-pitched me."

Keeping hitters off-balance is the key to Matsuzaka's success, judging by the Royals players' reactions to his first major league start, a 10-strikeout, seven-inning effort in a 4-1 Boston victory.

"His fastball is good enough by itself without all the other pitches," said first baseman Ryan Shealy, who struck out three times and flied out. Shealy faced the 95 mph pitch in the second inning that was Matsuzaka's fastest of the game.

"He had this tight little breaking ball," said shortstop Tony Pena Jr., who hit grounders back to Matsuzaka in all three of his at-bats. "It started on the corner and just moved down. I think I saw a cutter (cut fastball), curve and fastball. The fastball runs outside and back to the middle."

"His off-speed stuff is tough because of where he locates it," said DeJesus. "I don't know if it is a slider or cutter. It's tough to classify when you don't know what it is."

DeJesus had the most success among the Royals hitters with a leadoff single in the first inning and a home run into the right field bullpen to start the sixth inning. He and Pena were the only Kansas City batters who did not strike out.

"I think it was the gyroball," DeJesus said when asked what he hit for the homer, referring to the mystery pitch that Matsuzaka won't confirm or deny throwing.

"No, it was a fastball inside. All I know about the gyro is that it's a Greek sandwich. … He throws everything. I don't know what to call them."

DeJesus might actually have seen a gyroball from Matsuzaka, or at least the pitch that attracts the label, when he got his first-inning single.

"It wasn't a fastball," DeJesus said. "It was kind of like this back-door cutter" that broke in on his hands. He was able to punch the ball over shortstop.

Pitches that players refer to as "back-door" sliders or cutters usually are pitches that start outside the strike zone and move back over the plate at the last moment. In reality, though, some of those pitches often are unsuccessful attempts by the pitcher to throw a sharp-breaking pitch. If hitters are accustomed to seeing those sharp-breaking pitches from a pitcher, they begin to react accordingly as soon as they recognize the spin on the ball.

But when the ball doesn't break the way the hitter anticipates, it can create the illusion the ball was first breaking one way and then another.

Regardless of the reality in Matsuzaka's case, the speculation merely adds to the mystique that he enhanced Thursday. And the Royals didn't add a lot of hope that seeing him again would increase their chances of success.

"He can get everything over (the plate)," DeJesus said. "And everything is moving. When you get a straight fastball, you want to take advantage."

Kansas City batters were 1-for-8 the first time through the batting order, 1-for-9 the second time and 3-for-8 the third time.

"The more you see somebody, the better chance you have," Royals catcher John Buck said. "Unless he's got you completely screwed up."

Therein lies the problem, the hitters pointed out. Barely half the pitches Matsuzaka throws are fastballs and those are made more effective because hitters must be aware of his various breaking pitches.

"The more you see him, the more you'll have success," DeJesus said. "But even in hitter's counts, he throws all those curves and off-speed pitches for strikes. Then he comes back at you with the fastball."

---
USA TODAYのHPは、精彩がなくなったような気がする。

体重が減ると体調が良い

肺炎のおかげで、体重が劇的に減少した。帰宅時の電車で気を失いそうになった時は、軽く５５キロを切っていたと思うが、その後体調が回復し、今は５８キロまで戻ってきた。ずっと６０キロを切れなかったのに、５８キロになると体調が良いのが良く分かる。ベスト体重は５７～５８キロのようだ。

松坂の記事を見る － ６

The Seattle Timesより抜粋。
Japanese sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka lived up to all the hype in his regular season debut, striking out 10 in seven innings of one-run ball as Boston downed Kansas City, 4-1, in the finale of a three game series at a chilly Kauffman Stadium.

The 26-year-old right-hander, who yielded six hits and walked just one, was the most talked about player this offseason. Boston won the rights to Matsuzaka (1-0) with a $51.1 million posting fee, and after lengthy contract discussions, the Red Sox signed him to a six-year, $52 million deal last December.

"It's a day I've been waiting for a very long time," said Matsuzaka through an interpreter. "But even given that fact, it felt surprisingly normal."

Matsuzaka was the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, and finished 17-5 with a 2.13 earned run average for the Seibu Lions last season. He then put together a solid spring with Boston to further along his hype.

Manny Ramirez had two hits and one RBI, while Coco Crisp finished 1-for-4 with an RBI for the Red Sox, who dropped their season opener before rebounding with a 7-1 victory Wednesday. Boston visits the Texas Rangers for a three-game set on Friday.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out two in the ninth for his first save of the season.

David DeJesus ended 2-for-4 and scored the lone run -- a solo homer -- for the Royals, who welcome the Detroit Tigers for three games this weekend. Zack Greinke (0-1) scattered two runs -- one earned -- on eight hits while striking out seven and walking one in seven innings en route to the loss.

"He threw everything today," said DeJesus about Matsuzaka. "I saw a lot of different stuff up there. I don't know what to call them or what was what, but he definitely has a variety of pitches and can throw most of them over for strikes."

Ramirez's two-out, RBI-double, which scored Kevin Youkilis from first base, gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Red Sox tacked on another run in the fifth when Julio Lugo touched home on a throwing error by John Buck. Lugo started the inning by blasting a double to right, and in the process of stealing third, Buck's throw flew past Alex Gordon, allowing him to score.

Kansas City finally got to Matsuzaka in the sixth when DeJesus smacked a lead-off home run to right-center field.

The Royals had a chance for more in the inning, but after Esteban German singled, Boston got two quick outs when Mark Teahan struck out and German was thrown out at second by Jason Varitek. Emil Brown then laced a double to left, but Matsuzaka's fastball just hit the edge of the plate to retire Gordon.

Boston scored two runs off reliever Joel Peralta to pad its lead at 4-1 in the eighth. David Ortiz led off with a double, and after Ramirez flied out to move Ortiz to third, J.D. Drew was intentionally walked. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Ortiz slid home safely for the first run.

Mike Lowell then reached first on Gordon's fielding error and Drew took third. Following Varitek's strikeout, Crisp laced a single to center, plating Drew.

---
Japanese sensationと来たもんだ。

松坂の記事を見る － ５

Boston Heraldより抜粋。
Truth in advertising applies to Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Honest, he’s just that good.

It’s OK to buy into him.

The Red Sox have an ace on their hands.

“I don’t think this organization bid money on a hope,” third baseman Mike Lowell said yesterday after Matsuzaka blew away the Kansas City Royals in his first major league appearance, a 4-1 Sox victory. “I was more excited for him, just because the world was going to be coming to an end if he had a mediocre start. He answered the hype.”

Matsuzaka allowed just one run, a sixth-inning solo home run to David DeJesus, in his seven innings and was strong throughout in striking out 10. His struggles were minimal and never prolonged. Only once did the Royals go back-to-back among their six hits.

For a pitcher who is commanding a total financial package of $103 million over six years and who has inspired an inordinate quantity of newspaper, TV, radio and Internet stories, the game boiled down to Matsuzaka being able to use the right weapon at the right time.

Using a high number of well-executed sliders and curveballs among his 108 pitches, Matsuzaka was able to keep hitters guessing. By commanding his fastball on both sides of the plate, he essentially had his way with the Royals.

“I saw a little bit of everything - he’s got a good enough fastball by itself,” said Kansas City first baseman Ryan Shealy, who finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Matsuzaka. “Then he combines that with the offspeed stuff, so he’s tough.”

Alex Gordon was able to collect his first major league hit off Matsuzaka (a fifth-inning single), but the rookie third baseman struck out and flied out his other two times up against the right-hander.

“I guess that’s why you guys were hyping him so much,” Gordon said. “He went out there and pitched like he knows what he’s doing.”

One at-bat typified Matsuzaka’s day.

In the third inning, John Buck led off and was greeted with a 76 mph curveball that the Royals catcher could only gaze at as it plopped in for a strike. Next came an 83 mph slider that Buck fouled off. Then came the heat for the third strike, a 94 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate that Buck could only stare at.

“He was pretty much as advertised,” Royals manager Buddy Bell said. “He has great stuff and threw just about everything over for strikes. He had an understanding how to pitch and he had good velocity. He’s really good. For a kid, in his first outing in this league, to pitch like that, that’s really impressive.”

The chilly weather - 36 degrees at first pitch - played into the hands of both Matsuzaka and Kansas City starter Zack Greinke, whose strong effort (seven innings, eight hits, seven strikeouts, one earned run) was completely overshadowed.

With millions of fans back home in Japan tuning in at 3 a.m. to watch, hundreds of media covering the event and too-many-to count observers anxious to see what the 26-year-old is really made of, Matsuzaka barely appeared to notice the distraction.

Asked how emotional he got, Matsuzaka offered an answer that at first may have sounded surprising, but after yesterday, should be the baseline for his future.

“I’m having a hard time responding to the question because it really was such a normal day for me,” Matsuzaka said. “I think when I look back, when I pitched at Koshien (the high school tournament in 1998, when Matsuzaka’s star began glowing as he led his team to the title), it was definitely emotional. Today, it was a day that I have been waiting for for a very long time but given that fact, I felt surprisingly normal.”

Current ace Curt Schilling understands a few things about delivering performance under pressure.

“Any time he needed to make a pitch, he made the pitch,” Schilling said. “He’s got ace makeup.”

---
昨日は午後３時頃、眠くて眠くて、久しぶりに会社で居眠りをしてしまった。

松坂の記事を見る － ４

MLB HPより抜粋。
In the end, it was startling in its routine, impressive in its results.
Baseball, poets say, cannot be scripted.

Perhaps Daisuke Matsuzaka can make an exception. On Thursday, he certainly turned exceptional into normal.

His word.

"Today, I waited for a long time," Dice-K said, "so I felt surprised how normal it felt. It's hard to talk about the emotions of the first start, because it was such a normal day for me."

Normalcy may have never seemed so lofty, or set such a high precedent.

Or seemed so confounding to one of two men to see every one of Matsuzaka's 108 pitches.

"His ball moves funny. To me, it was like working a knuckleball pitcher," said Jeff Nelson, the plate umpire who spent the day looking over catcher Jason Varitek's shoulders.

"His ball definitely moves differently. It will break every which way, like I haven't seen out of anyone else's hand. You just don't know. That's why I liken it to knuckleball pitchers."

While no one quite shared Nelson's perspective, a Kauffman Stadium crowd of 23,170 and 200-plus media had the same view of the Japanese wunderkind's main-stage debut on a bone-chilling Midwestern afternoon that warmed Red Sox Nation's hearts.

There were no seeds of doubts, no buyer's remorse. No second guesses, only first impressions. All brilliant.

Seven innings. One run. Six hits. Ten strikeouts. One walk.

In the eye of his own hurricane, he was placid. Far from the madding crowd of reporters and shutterbugs, he was alone.

He stood on a 10-inch hill, in the middle of the diamond and in the center of the baseball universe, and turned it into a mountain.

Dice-K was graceful under pressure, broad-shouldered under a heavy workload, no longer under wraps.

It was pretty much what everyone had expected -- quite remarkable, when you think about the height of those expectations. Matsuzaka himself had.

"I felt happy about the expectations of people but, at the same time, I thought they were a bit extreme," Dice-K said through his interpreter, Masa Hoshino.

"So it's great to be able to go out there the first time and record a victory."

Except for the inaudible buzz in the air, the prelude to this long-awaited event was ordinary, although twice as many people filtered into the park than is normal for an early-April midweek afternoon.

Drawn by Dice-K curiosity, they were still Kansas City blue. While only a few looked over the barrier in the left-field corner to espy Matsuzaka in the bullpen warming up, dozens crowded around the corresponding wall on the opposite side to watch Zack Greinke.

(A worthy show: Greinke virtually matched Matsuzaka through his own seven-inning splendor.)

When Dice-K leapt out of the third-base dugout midway in the first and made his brisk way to the mound, red-clad Boston fans arose throughout the stands with a welcome ovation.

They were plentiful, but outnumbered. David DeJesus lined Matsuzaka's third pitch sharply to center for a single, and the leatherlungs screamed, "Take that, Dice-K!"

But as much as the Royals and their fans wanted to say, "No Dice-K," they were powerless. Not hopeless: they had their chances. But whenever they were one hit from breaking down the door, Matsuzaka slammed it in their faces.

In the first, he was tentative. The DeJesus leadoff single, his only walk to the third batter. But after turning Emil Brown's comebacker into an inning-ending double play, Matsuzaka shook his fist in celebration, sensing escape from his only rough spot.

In the second and third, he was efficient. Six straight outs, on 25 pitches.

By the fourth, he was serious. Seriously nasty. Like a right-handed sandbagger who had been shooting left-handed to appear vulnerable then finally switches hands to humiliate the pool hall, Matsuzaka ran the table.

In that fourth, he fanned Esteban German on a 93-mph heater, Mark Teahen on a 78-mph bender and Brown on a 94-mph fastball.

"He used all his pitches. At different times, different pitches were better," Varitek said.

You can score on Dice-K, as DeJesus demonstrated by pulling the righty's 80th pitch into Kansas City's right-field bullpen. You just can't rally against him. He possesses a pitcher's most important asset, the ability, and stubbornness, to work out of trouble.

Example: Sixth inning, Brown follows up DeJesus' homer with a two-out double to straddle second with the tying run; Dice-K responds by striking out Alex Gordon with his hardest pitch of the day, his one and only 95-mph fastball.

"I consider myself the type of pitcher who gets stronger as the games goes long," Matsuzaka said. "Today, it was very much true."

To the naked eye, so was the gyroball. If you buy the notion that it is nothing more than the pitch formerly known as a screwball, that is what Gordon appeared to pick on for his first Major League hit.

In the fifth, the highly regarded left-handed-hitting third baseman reached out for a ball breaking away from him, and lifted it over shortstop Julio Lugo's head into shallow left for the hit.

"The what?" Jeff Nelson, the plate umpire, said. "Gyro what? That is a stumper for me."

Nelson explained. "It wouldn't do me any good to read about pitches. Because then you might start looking for things. We just react to what we see, and call it."

And speaking of hidden tricks -- no one had said anything about Matsuzaka being able to field. Which, on this first day at least, he did astonishingly, pouncing on balls as a cat on a ball of yarn.

Like a human Roomba, he glided to suck up balls all over the infield ... comebacker, 30 feet to the left of the mound, 15 feet in front of the plate.

So make him an early contender for a Gold Glove, along with Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award. Maybe he'll even campaign for the Silver Slugger during Interleague Play.

No telling yet whatever other awards Matsuzaka will collect, but Mr. Photogenic is a lock. Even Thursday, cameras which have been snapping him for months scurried behind the plate before the start of every inning, capturing his warm-up pitches.

Even though they never changed.

If the same will be true of Matsuzaka's game pitches, he is in for a heck of a ride, with all of Red Sox Nation riding shotgun.

---
サイヤング賞は分からないが、フィールディングを見て、ゴールドグラブ賞は確実に取れると確信した。

ブログタイトルを変える

松坂大輔は、長嶋茂雄以来のスーパースター。

松坂の記事を見る － ３

MLB HPより抜粋。
There was no pumped fist. There was no boastful smile. Instead, Daisuke Matsuzaka merely clapped his glove ever so softly after a fly ball from the Royals' John Buck to center was handled by Coco Crisp. That put an end to Matsuzaka's first official day of pitching in the Major Leagues, and it was an opening act that somehow lived up to all of the massive hype that has been bestowed upon him.

Matsuzaka scattered six hits and registered 10 strikeouts while throwing 108 pitches in the Red Sox's 4-1 victory. He gave up one run and walked one.

Nerves? Perhaps. But only if they're made of steel.

"It was really such a normal day for me," said Matsuzaka. "It's a day I've been waiting for for a very long time, but even given that fact, it felt surprisingly normal."

In one impressive afternoon of pitching against the Royals, the Boston right-hander showed his ability to baffle hitters and, when the need arose, get out of jams.

Take, for example, the 95-mph heater -- Matsuzaka's fastest pitch of the day -- that got rookie Alex Gordon to end the sixth inning. In an inning that could have been much worse, Matsuzaka minimized the damage. He did so by freezing Gordon every bit as much as the brave fans who came out amid the mid-30s temperatures to witness the unveiling of this talented right-hander from Japan.

Designated hitter David Ortiz, Boston's slugging superstar, watched much of Matsuzaka's performance from the clubhouse television. At times, the slugger couldn't believe his eyes.

"He reminds me of Pedro [Martinez] when he's pitching," said Ortiz. "He has total control of the game when he's out there, you know what I mean? He's got great stuff. When you watch him on TV, it's like a Nintendo game. He throws pitches that normally pitchers don't throw for a strike. He's got pitches that just disappear when they get to the plate."

None of the trained observers seemed to think that Matsuzaka's performance Thursday was anything above his norm.

"My guess is after what I've seen in Spring Training and today, that's how he pitches," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Some pitchers, especially young pitchers, every three or four outings, you'll see a gem. And the other outings they can't command it and they lose. I don't think you'll see that with this guy. I think that's the way he pitches."

The bar has been set, and Matsuzaka looks poised to vault right over it.

"Well, up to now, given all the expectations that have surrounded me, I felt happy about those expectations, at the same time feeling that perhaps they were a little bit extreme," Matsuzaka said. "Speaking for myself and for all the fans that have supported me here, it's great that I was able to come out here and record a victory in my first start."

David DeJesus put the first true dent in Matsuzaka's armor, belting a solo homer to right to lead off that sixth. That cut the Boston lead to 2-1. Esteban German then followed with a single up the middle. But in one key sequence, Matsuzaka struck out Mark Teahen looking on a 3-2 pitch and Jason Varitek fired to second to nail German on a stolen base attempt. The caught stealing, a borderline call which probably could have gone the other way, came back to haunt the Royals even more when the next batter -- Emil Brown -- stepped up and pummeled a double to left.

But after that strikeout on Gordon, Matsuzaka was out of trouble, but not out of the game. With 96 pitches over six innings, Francona surmised that Matsuzaka had one more in him.

"After the sixth inning ended, [pitching coach] John Farrell came over to me and asked me, 'Can you throw another inning?' I said, 'Yes,' and I went out there and I threw," said Matsuzaka. "Being out there on the mound, I get a rough sense of my own pitch count. I went out there sort of knowing that the seventh inning would probably be my last."

The Red Sox gave Matsuzaka the slight amount of breathing room he needed, scoring one in the first on a Manny Ramirez RBI double and another in the fifth when Julio Lugo stole third and scored on a throwing error by Buck.

Though Matsuzaka had just a 2-1 lead when he walked off after the seventh, the Sox created some comfort for the bullpen by scoring two in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon nailed down Matsuzaka's first win with a save in the ninth.

"Daisuke really threw the ball the way he needed to on a day it was hard to score, the way the conditions were," said Francona. "We got one early and we added on and he made it stand up. He was terrific."

As for the cold, that didn't bother Matsuzaka either.

"I pitched in similar conditions last year in Morioka in the cold weather," said Matsuzaka. "Luckily for me, both my mind and body were familiar with pitching in these conditions, so I feel I was able to pitch fairly normally."

Just like in his exhibition season debut, Matsuzaka gave up a hit to the first batter he faced. DeJesus did the honors, belting a single up the middle on Matsuzaka's third Major League pitch. But, aside from a walk to Teahen, there were no further complications in the inning. Matsuzaka got out of the two-on, one-out jam by inducing Brown into a 1-6-3 double play.

It was clear that Matsuzaka was getting into a groove. His first Major League strikeout was a 94-mph fastball past the bat of Ross Gload to end the second. Matsuzaka then punched out Buck looking to start the third.

The fourth inning was his most dominant, as Matsuzaka struck out the side on 14 pitches. He finished the frame with a flourish, blowing a high fastball by Brown.

However, a somewhat sticky situation developed in the fifth. Matsuzaka gave up a leadoff single to Gordon -- the first Major League hit for the prized rookie -- and a two-out single to Buck. That set up runners at the corners, representing the first time all day the Royals had a runner 90 feet from home plate. But that was as far as they would get, with Matsuzaka getting Tony Pena Jr. on a tapper back to the mound. It was the 24th pitch of the inning for Matsuzaka, who threw 78 over the first five innings.

"Major League hitters, after you go through the order once or twice, get a beat on you," Francona said. "He didn't let them. He started throwing different pitches in different counts. In the fifth inning, they hit a couple of balls hard. He came back in the sixth and seventh and was as good as he was early."

Varitek enjoyed the view from behind the plate a lot better than those Kansas City hitters did from the batter's box.

"We had a game plan, and he executed it," Varitek said. "The toughest thing for me is to adapt to his style, just try to figure out what it is. Thinking ahead is my job, because he doesn't get locked into a particular pitch depending on the count."

Matsuzaka might be a mystery to the hitters and even, at times, to his catcher. But there no longer seems to be a question of whether he will be a good pitcher at the Major League level. On the heels of Thursday, the more relevant question seems to be, "How good?"

There will be more evidence on display to answer that inquiry on Wednesday, when Matsuzaka makes his first Fenway start against the Mariners.

---
松坂を見た後は、イチローも松井もどうでもよくなる。次の試合も是非ライブで見たい。松坂の一番良い所は笑顔だ。

松坂の記事を見る － ２

MLB HPより抜粋。
The intense media coverage of Daisuke Matsuzaka's Major League debut on Thursday wasn't limited to the hordes in attendance at Kauffman Stadium.

No pitch thrown by a Red Sox pitcher had more anticipation than the one the right-hander threw shortly after 2 p.m. ET. It's not a stretch to say that more eyes around the world saw Matsuzaka's first pitch and first game in a Red Sox uniform than any other debut in MLB regular-season history.

It certainly was the most documented.

Beginning in Boston and New England, where all the major-market papers chronicled every pitch online through their websites and blogs. There were the local Boston TV stations, all of which had a presence out in Kansas City.

Both The Boston Globe and Boston Herald were thinking along the same lines in both headlines and photographs. "Dice-KKKKKKKKKK" screamed both papers on their main front pages, posting a 'K' for each of his 10 strikeouts.

And both papers sent their top sports columnists.

Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe detailed the atmosphere inside Kauffman Stadium, writing:

"Dice-K was Ice K. He was also 10 K. And Special K. Maybe even a Japanese Pedro. Or a Pocket Rocket. Given the hype and hysteria that have accompanied his every move and word since the Red Sox spent $103.1 million to acquire him, we figured it would be almost impossible for rookie right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka to live up to expectations in his first regular-season appearance before Major League hitters. But he did. On a day better suited for the Winter Olympics [36 degrees], Dice-K struck out 10 Kansas City Royals and allowed only one run on six hits over seven innings of a 4-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium [Thursday]."

The Herald's Tony Massarotti told readers that each time Matsuzaka takes the mound will be 'can't miss' baseball events like Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez before him.

"Let's be honest here," Massarotti wrote. "If Matsuzaka is what the Red Sox believe him to be, if he is truly what we saw yesterday, we are all on one hell of a run. Roger Clemens pitched here for 13 years and Pedro Martinez for seven, and now Matsuzaka is in the first season of a six-year contract. Having a pitcher like that -- rather, a performer like that -- forces you to pull out the pocket schedule before making plans of any kind. Sorry, the 11th doesn't work. The Dice Man is pitching that day. Life, after all, is about priorities.

"We are just three games into this Red Sox season, but there are some things we just know. Every so often, there are those who put on a Boston uniform less as players and more as performers, and Matsuzaka certainly appears to be in that exclusive group. He has the presence. He has the ability. He has an artistry that simply makes him fun to watch. And everybody knows it," Massarotti added.

The common theme was obvious: If Matsuzaka can consistently replicate his performance of Thursday, when he remarkably matched the hype associated with his debut, then Red Sox fans can look forward to another great pitcher making Boston his home for the foreseeable future.

Both papers had some of their most acclaimed photographers on site. Both Matt Stone of the Herald and Jim Davis of the Globe filed photos of the star hurler in a blur, a la the Kentucky Derby or Indianapolis 500 at the finish.

The Herald's sports page on the back employed the headline, "The Dice Is Right!" The Globe's sports page went the bilingual route, printing "Monster debut" in Japanese characters with the translation below in parentheses.

Halfway around the world, the Globe's Jenn Abelson documented fans who turned out at a Japanese sports bar at 3 a.m. on Friday morning to watch their native son fulfill his dream of playing in the Majors. Meanwhile, the Herald stayed more local by running a story featuring Japanese fans celebrating the moment at Showa Boston Institute for Language and Culture in Boston inside their front cover on page 3.

The sports radio talk shows were in on the buzz as well. Both WEEI and ESPN 890 took calls from excited and optimistic fans throughout the late afternoon and early evening who had waited all winter for this day.

Nearly every caller was positive and praised the front office for spending the $51.1 million on the bidding process and the additional $52 million guaranteed to the right-hander over the next six years.

The enthusiasm is sure to carry over to next week when Matsuzaka is expected to make another debut -- his first appearance at Fenway on Wednesday night. And the media attention will be as intense as ever.

---
The Dice Is Right! まさしくその通り。Dice-Kが松坂、Igawa-Kが井川。次は井川に期待。

やっと松坂の記事を見る

SI.comより抜粋。
After striking out three times, Ryan Shealy sounded amazed.

"I didn't know he threw that hard," he said.

Dice-K was more than OK in his major league debut.

With millions of early rising viewers keeping track on Japanese television, Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 10 in seven innings in his major league debut Thursday to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Kansas City Royals 4-1.

"I can't say that my overall condition was that great today, but I think the role of a starting pitcher is to set up the game and give my teammates the opportunity to win," he said through an interpreter. "I feel like I was able to do that today, so I was satisfied."

On a cold, blustery afternoon, Matsuzaka (1-0) allowed six hits, including a sixth-inning homer by David DeJesus, and walked one. He looked every bit the ace Boston committed $103 million to.

"Any time you have that good of a fastball and the offspeed to go with it, it's tough," Shealy said. "He mixes up speed on his pitches and moves it in and out. You can't really get comfortable with him."

His fastball clocked at 95 mph and his famed array of fastballs, changeups and breaking pitches at times was dazzling. Flashing a reddish-orange glove during his slow-motion windup, he retired 10 batters in a row during one stretch starting with the final out of the first inning. He struck out the side in the fourth on 14 pitches.

Red Sox executives have business cards printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other. Restaurants in the Fenway Park area are beginning to offer Japanese dishes and more than 100 Japanese media have been chronicling his every step. About 200 media were on hand to chronicle his every move.

"Up to now, given all the expectations that have surrounded me, I've felt happy about those expectations," he said. "But at the same time feeling like perhaps they were a little bit extreme. But speaking for myself and for all the fans that have supported me here, it's great that I was able to come out here and record a victory in my first start."

In addition to his pitching, Matsuzaka proved himself a skillful fielder, pouncing off the mound three times to field weak grounders.

"He's got a bunch of plus-pitches," Shealy said. "A lot of guys have a good fastball or have good offspeed stuff, but he seems to have both."

Kansas City manager Buddy Bell strained to think of a pitcher to compare him with.

"I will tell you this -- I was pretty impressed," Bell said. "He just really had a feel for what he was doing. Everything he did was absolutely solid. Everything that he tried to do."

Matsuzaka left the Seibu Lions to sign a six-year, $52 million contract with the Red Sox, who bid $51,111,111 for his rights.

The crowd of 23,170, bundled on a 36-degree day, booed Matsuzaka in the first when he stepped behind the mound and started doing half jumping-jacks, snapping his heals together in the air.

He gave up a single to DeJesus on his third pitch. He walked Mark Teahen with one out, then got Emil Brown to ground into a double play, but then didn't allow another runner until Alex Gordon singled leading off the fifth.

DeJesus homered on Matsuzaka's second pitch of the sixth. Estaben German followed with a single, and Matsuzaka's shoulders seemed to droop, and pitching coach John Farrell visited the mound. German was caught stealing as Teahen took a called third strike, Brown doubled off the left-field wall, but Gordon took a called third strike, the first of three straight strikeouts.

"Major league hitters, after you go through the order once or twice, get a bead on you, and he didn't let them," Boston manager Terry Francona said. He started throwing different pitches on different counts. He came back in the sixth and seventh and was good as he was early."

DeJesus joked about the famed "gyroball," a pitch Dice-K may or may not throw.

"I think it was the gyroball," he laughed when asked what he hit for the home run. "No, it was a fastball. I didn't think it was going to go, but the ball kept carrying."

Matsuzaka, who wasn't satisfied with his spring-training performances, threw 74 of 108 pitches for strikes. The 26-year-old right-hander, 108-60 with a 2.95 ERA and 1,355 strikeouts for Seibu, did not have to face two of Kansas City's top hitters: Mike Sweeney and Mark Grudzielanek were given the day off following a night game.

J.C. Romero and Jonathan Papelbon finished, with Papelbon striking out two of three batters for his first save.

Zack Greinke (0-1), who missed almost all of last season due to social anxiety disorder, struck out seven in seven innings, allowing two runs and eight hits.

Manny Ramirez had an RBI double in the first, and Julio Lugo doubled in the fifth, stole third and scored on catcher John Buck's throwing error.

Boston added two runs in the eighth on Joel Peralta's wild pitch with a runner on third and Coco Crisp's RBI single, his first hit in 10 at-bats this season.

Notes: Gordon, the Royals' top prospect, had been 0-for-8 until he singled leading off the fifth. He also let a grounder get under his glove at third for an error. ... The media contingent was the biggest the Royals saw at home since the seventh game of the 1985 World Series.

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30球団の中で２番目に弱いチームに勝つのは、楽天に勝つのと同じで、松坂は不満たらたら。

皿を洗わない妻

昨夜９時前に帰宅する。テーブルの上が食べ残しの皿で一杯だったので片付ける。床が汚いので掃除機をかける。流しが皿で一杯だったので皿を洗う。妻がやっと私の夕食を作り始める。私の皿洗いを見て、皿の内側を洗っていない、と言う。だったら洗ってくれ、と言う。妻が洗わないから、５年間洗っている、と言う。妻は黙る。続けて、たまには皿を洗ってくれ、手伝うから、と言う。妻は黙ったまま。