Matsuzaka

Earlier today we reported the Nike Air Force 1 Supreme designed for Yi Jianlian, here’s an updated look of the model designed for Daisuke Matsuzaka. This pair appears in Supreme materials including pony hair and a Dragon like textured pattern. In addition, the Dragon emblem is printed on the insole and heel along with Matsuzaka’s [...]

I was hanging out on Wednesday night with a few friends that are sushi chefs in the Boston area and heard on good authority that my former favorite sushi restaurant is in fact one of Daisuke Matsuzaka's favorites. If you don't know who Dice-K is, crawl out of your fallout shelter and watch a Red Sox game or two.Why is it my former favorite? Well for one, it's a bit far away - my office used to be right out there in Natick, so I'd swing by after work to grab a bite to eat. Now my office is downtown. Weeks go by without me needing to hop in my car. Reason number two is that when eating alone, it's nice to be able to sit at the bar and chat with the sushi chefs. All of the chefs that I liked ended up moving to other restaurants. As a result, I only make it out to Oga's once every few months. How often does Daisuke eat there? I was told once a week. How often does his wife eat there? Once or twice a week. Daisuke's a pretty busy guy, so often times it's just his wife and

Play-by-play man Gary Thorne, on tonight's Orioles MASN broadcast:In tonight's 5-2 win over Minnesota, Hideki Matsui provided Boston with 8 innings of 2-run, 8-strikeout ball.Hey, they're both Japanese, right? Close enough.

Earlier today Boston Red Sox fans got to see Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch and what a show he put on. Matsuzaka pitched 7 innings, allowed 6 hits, 1 run, had 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts against the Kansas City Royals. He threw a total of 108 pitches, with 74 of them being strikes. The Red Sox won the game 4-1, and Matsuzaka is 1-0. Yes it was against the Royals, but it still was impressive how he changed his pitches against batters and his approach against them. He definitely had them fooled as some of them looked lost when swinging and missing, or taking a call third-strike from the umpire. He looks like a special pitcher and Red Sox fans hope he can continue this kind of dominance over other teams/better teams such as the New York Yankees.

Daisuke Matsuzka took the hill on Saturday at spring training and faced batters for the first time and from all accounts it sounded like he fared well for the first time. Here is a look at the article from redsox.com. Interestingly, Matsuzaka started from the stretch, throwing 20 pitches before converting to the windup. As usual, he had a reason for doing it like that. Matsuzaka seems to enjoy testing himself mentally every bit, as much as physically. “I had runners on my mind, in the back of my head,” Matsuzaka said. “That’s why I started from the stretch.” Once Matsuzaka went to the windup, his best fastball seemed to emerge. “I saw him break out every pitch,” Francona said. “Fastball, changeup, breaking ball — he was commanding the ball. He looked like he had his feet on the ground. I understand when I left, he turned it up a little bit. I wish I would have seen it the other way around. But he’s got that changeup that he tu

First the “gyroball.” Now a knuckleball for Daisuke Matsuzaka. He had stated during his press conference that he was had fooled around with the knuckleball but had very little success with it. If I can keep my form and throw a knuckleball - it would be great. I tried it in L.A., but it didn't work. Well it seems that he may have found a teacher. Tim Wakefield said on Saturday that he would be willing to teach Matsuzaka the knuckleball. "Somebody told me he wants to learn how to throw a knuckleball, so I'll be glad to teach him," Wakefield said Saturday. "I worked with some of the young kids in our organization and elsewhere (and) I can teach him how I hold it and how to throw it, but it's up to the individual to kind of have the feel to take the spin off the ball" Matsuzaka already has 6 pitches not including the gyroball (fastball, changeup, curveball, slider, cutter, and a splitter). Adding another would only make him more dangerous. Being a student of th

Daisuke Matsuzaka met with over 6,000 media members today at City of Palms Park where the Red Sox hold their spring training games. Ok, it was probably like 100-150 members of the media. This is the type of following that will probably follow him around during spring training and to every city the Red Sox visit plus at home in Boston. So let’s take a look a few of the questions asked during the press conference today. There is a large number of media here and around you. Talk about your relationship with the media and have you spoken with the rest of your team about the amount of media? [Matsuzaka laughs] I don't know if I will tell them about the media situation. I think the team will be the way - the right people to address that situation. How has the transition to the United States been, with what you've eaten and everything like that? I don't have any dislikes. So far, so good from now on. I see no problems in the future. You are unfamiliar with the hitters and they

I write this post thinking well I am sure most of you have already heard the news. Then I think to myself, well you can turn just about anywhere to get the updates. I swear 60% of the Boston Globe’s Red Sox page is about Dice-K. So the question I have to ask is, Is there anyone else on the Red Sox? Or is it Dice-K versus everyone this year. All kidding aside, Daisuke arrived at spring training on Monday driving in in a Cadillac Escalade. Yes he was driving. I didn’t know you could get a driver’s license that quick. If the cops from Reno 911 were in Ft. Myers, he surely would have gotten a ticket. Matsuzaka did workout a little bit, playing a little catch with catching prospect, George Kottaras. After the workout, Matsuzaka held an impromptu press conference much to the surprise of the Boston officials. He let the media know that his spring training locker was in the middle between Jason Varitek, and his fellow countryman, Hideki Okajima. Dice-K had this to say about

Here is a link to a very interesting article written by Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe. In the article, he talks about all the things the Red Sox have done or are going to do in regards to Daisuke Matsuzaka. The article is six pages long. Here are a few excerpts from it: Goodies for the fans? The Sox have plans, on days that Matsuzaka pitches, to hold back 20-30 tickets and offer the “Matsuzaka experience.” For a premium price (yet to be set, but sure to be lots of yen), fans will be invited to the park early, receive a Matsuzaka Sox jersey, and have dinner at one of the team’s restaurants. I think this is a pretty cool idea. Depending on the price, it would be something I might consider doing. But I am sure this ticket, like all Red Sox tickets, would be very hard to get. Especially the Opening Day ticket, since he is projected to start it at Fenway against Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners. And if the Sox can’t do enough for Matsuzaka, Boras will. The agent say

With the Japanese marketplace being different than that here in America, it seems that the Daisuke Matsuzaka ad is causing a little controversy here in the states. For those who haven’t seen the ad, here is a look at it. YouTube Link The rules here in the United States are simple. No person can be seen drinking a beer in an ad. While in Japan, this is acceptable. This ad was intended for use in Japan but with the YouTube phenomenon, the ad reached the United States. Major League Baseball also doesn’t allow it’s players to endorse alcoholic beverages. Also, the deal Matsuzaka reached with Asahi was done before he signed with the Red Sox. A Major League Baseball International spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous, had this to say: “The ad is consistent with what's acceptable in the Japanese marketplace. We did approve it with him drinking the beer outside of his uniform. It's a type of commercial that is really commonplace in Japan. It is not really that

According to the Japan Times Online, Daisuke Matsuzaka already has a few endorsement deals under his belt. Back in late December, I had posted an article that was named “First Picture of Matsuzaka in a Sox Uniform“. Well it turns out that the ad he was filming when that picture was taken will be a Matsuzaka vs Hideki Matsui television commercial for Ashai Super Dry Beer that will start running in April. They are also reporting that Matsuzaka will star in Dunkin Donuts ads worldwide. This one seems odd to me as there aren’t any Dunkin Donuts in Japan anymore. Makes me wonder if they are rethinking their decision to pull out of Japan 10 years ago. Also noted in the column was this: One of the sports papers, by the way, has already mentioned the possibility of the Red Sox opening the 2008 official American League season in Japan, but it remains to be seen what MLB will decide to do with respect to the rumored regular-season openers next year at the Olympic Stadium in B

MLB: Dan Shaughnessy welcomes Dice-K Matsuzaka to Boston. Some classic lines, such as: "Never make fun of employees at Burger King. All Red Sox fans are your friends." NFL: Terry Bradshaw hits a woman in the face with a football during a Fox pregame show. Joe Buck makes a joke. That was a disgusting act. Mike Webster's family finally won their disability case against the NFL. Lamar Hunt, creator of the name "Super Bowl", owner of the Chiefs, and NFL luminary, dies at age 74. This is the Kansas City equivalent of losing Art Rooney. A la Carmelo Anthony, Terrell Owens takes us into the world of "snitching". The great NFL Rookie of the Year debate rages on. So is Devin Hester a candidate for Offensive ROY or Defensive ROY? COLLEGE HOOPS:SI's Grant Wahl says the jury is still out on Pitt. What, that win at Buffalo didn't convince you? RANDOM FUN STUFF: Dozens of your favorite 1980s video games, available to play online! Frogger, Donkey Kong, Tetris, Centipede, so many more! If you were

Another fellow who will probably bring us all a world of content this year is Daisuke Matsuzaka. I'm sure ESPN will cover every game he does initially, but it should be some good stuff.This video above features Daisuke in a commercial for Asashi Super Dry Beer. Ok, I am assuming he does not chug the whole thing in the spot, but boy, can he chug it down (ok, so it looks like he did). He dons the Red Sox uniform and struts his stuff, it's all good. He stands proud, confident and sure of himself; therefore, he'd better keep that composure when he hits Fenway.Assuming he can chug beer like that, he'll fit in Boston just fine.Hehe.

{mosgoogle right}TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will start the Boston Red Sox's regular-season opener against the Oakland Athletics in Toyko on March 25."I think that will be a ton of excitement," Boston manager Terry Francona said before Monday's preseason game against the New York Yankees. "I know he's honored."Jon Lester will pitch the second game of the two-game series with the Athletics in Japan on March 26.Clay Buchholz an [...]

{mosgoogle right}TOKYO (AP) -- Being overshadowed by bigger stars is nothing new for Oakland Athletics pitcher Joe Blanton. Going up against a national hero is another story.Blanton will be on the mound Tuesday when the A's take on the World Series champion Boston Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka in Japan.Talk about a home field advantage. Matsuzaka will have a sold-out Tokyo Dome crowd and an entire nation behind him. Blanton will have his teammates and, at best, a smatter [...]

Earlier today we reported the Nike Air Force 1 Supreme designed for Yi Jianlian, here's an updated look of the model designed for Daisuke Matsuzaka. This pair appears in Supreme materials including pony hair and a Dragon like textured pattern. In addition, the Dragon emblem is printed on the insole ...