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April 5th @ Kansas City - Dice-K's debut

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BoSox34 FCL Red Sox

BoSox34

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The moment we've all been waiting for...The beginning of the Dice-K Era.

 

Matsuzaka vs. Greinke

2:10 PM

Kauffman Stadium

 

Some Japanese players have had no trouble being successful in major leagues while others haven't been quite as fortunate. The Boston Red Sox paid a hefty price for Daisuke Matsuzaka with the belief he can be a star in North America.

 

Matsuzaka makes his highly-anticipated major league debut Thursday as the Red Sox complete a season-opening three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

 

Matsuzaka, the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, is the latest Japanese star to attempt to make the transition to the majors, bringing extremely high expectations - for which the Red Sox paid a very high price.

 

Boston (1-1) won the bidding for the rights to Matsuzaka, posting a record-setting $51.1 million fee to the Seibu Lions before agreeing to a $52 million, six-year contract with the 26-year-old right-hander on Dec. 13.

 

A dominant pitcher for eight seasons in Japan, where he was 108-60 with a 2.95 ERA, the Red Sox have Matsuzaka pitching their third game of the season, but there's little doubt that he is expected to become the staff ace very quickly.

 

"Within myself, there is maybe a baseline for success," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I have certain expectations toward myself but, as for giving you a hard number (of wins), what that might be, that's something I can't do."

 

Dealing with major league hitters only is part of what Matsuzaka will face this season. He also has to contend with the hype surrounding him and intense spotlight from the Japanese media, which will have more than 130 members on hand Thursday to document every move.

 

"The one thing he's shown us, because he has pitched on such a high stage, for lack of a better term, since the age of 17, is his relaxation and his mound presence to deal with the attention and the spotlight," Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell said. "I think he feels very much at home in this environment."

 

Matsuzaka's skills were evident in spring training, where he looked dominant at times and finished a streak of 10 hitless innings and a 2.04 ERA.

 

Royals first baseman Ryan Shealy doesn't expect to see anything from Matsuzaka that he hasn't seen before.

 

"We've got a ton of good pitchers over here, so it's not like he's going to be throwing stuff that we've never seen before," he said. "I watched him throw on ESPN. It looks like he's got good command. It looks like he throws a lot of strikes with offspeed stuff. But we are the first team to get to face him, so it is exciting."

 

At least Matsuzaka won't have to worry about pitching the Red Sox to their first win of the season. Josh Beckett allowed two hits through five innings in a 7-1 victory over the Royals (1-1) on Wednesday night. J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell hit back-to-back doubles in a three-run first inning for Boston, which ended a six-game losing streak at Kansas City.

 

It's been a rough two games for Royals rookie third baseman Alex Gordon. The 2006 minor league player of the year is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts and hasn't hit a ball out of the infield.

 

"This kid's going to be a heck of a player," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "He's trying like the devil to get his first hit. A lot of us have been there. Once he gets that out of the way, he'll be fine."

 

Overshadowed by Matsuzaka's debut is Royals starter Zack Greinke, who missed almost all of last season due to social anxiety disorder.

 

Greinke showed promised during a strong rookie season in 2004 but slumped to 5-17 with a 5.80 ERA in 2005. He made only three relief appearances last season, going 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA.

 

Greinke, who went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in six spring games, will be making his first start since Sept. 30, 2005. He allowed five runs over seven innings in a 5-2 loss to the Red Sox on Aug. 23, 2005 in his only appearance against them.

 

It sucks that I'm gonna miss the fisrt hour or so of this game because of school but it should be a great debut for Daisuke. He'll be facing an easy lineup today and he should be able to easily dominate this afternoon. I'm guessing a final score of 5-1, Red Sox. We'll win the series which should provide a little momentum for the next few games.

 

GO DAISUKE! :clap:

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ORS All-Star

ORS

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Marlon/Marlin mojo:

 

http://www3.telus.net/textures/images/brando_apoc.jpg

 

 

Horror is a weapon. I remember a time when I was with Special Forces. We went into the small Japanese village to inoculate the children for Polio. We gave them shots in their right arms, but not this one kid. He refused. He said his arm was special, and he showed us. He took a ball and he threw it...threw right through a mortar building. He took another and threw with a corkscrew motion like a pig's tail. The weight of the moment hit me, like a ton of bricks. I cried...I..I...wept like some grandmother. And then I realized, like I was shot....like I was shot with a diamond bullet.....right through my forehead. The brilliance. The brilliance of this arm. I knew right away he would grow up to pitch in the Major Leagues, and I thought of what would happen to the hitters....The Horror.....The Horror......

 

Dice-Man Cometh!!!!

schillingouttheks All-Star

schillingouttheks

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I'm going to post my game thread layout again because 1) I enjoy doing it and 2) we won yesterday, so why change a thing?

 

Game Info:

Date: Thursday, April 5th, 2007

Teams: Boston Red Sox (1-1) @ Kansas City Royals (1-1)

First Pitch: 2:10pm EDT

Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

TV: NESN

Starting Pitchers:

http://pics.forecaster.ca/mlb-player/6423.gifhttp://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/TALKSOX/VS.GIFhttp://pics.forecaster.ca/mlb-player/3081.gif

 

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/bos.gif#18 Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-0, --)

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/kc.gif#23 Zack Greinke (0-0, --)

 

Mojo of the day:

http://www.costaricadestination.com/images/marlin-jump.jpg

MORE MARLIN/MARLON MOJO!!! Nothing to do with Matsuzaka, but it worked yesterday! GO SOX!

ANiMAL Draft Eligible

ANiMAL

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damn, i wasnt expecting to be able to watch this game, but now since i have extra innings, i think skipping practice is a good option to take
MANNYHOF24 Worcester Red Sox

MANNYHOF24

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I hope Dicek dominates today in the nasty cold weather. We should be able to put up some runs against Greinke today. I predict Manny will go yard, and Matsuzaka will pitch 7 innings walking two, striking out 9 and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits.
riverside sluggers Boston Red Sox

riverside sluggers

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The Matsuzaka era starts today!

 

Zack Greinke (1 game vs Boston, 0-1 record with a 6.43 ERA---Career at Kauffman Stadium in 33 games, 8-14 record with a 4.47 ERA)

Julio Lugo, 2 for 5 (.400 avg) Triple, RBI, Walk

Kevin Youkilis ---

David Ortiz, 1 for 4 (.250 avg) Double, RBI

Manny Ramirez, 0 for 3, Walk

J.D. Drew, 2 for 3 (.667 avg)

Mike Lowell ---

Jason Varitek, 1 for 3 (.333 avg) HR, RBI, K

Coco Crisp, 5 for 21 (.238 avg) Double, Triple, RBI, 2 Ks

Dustin Pedroia ---

///

Eric Hinske, 3 for 6 (.500 avg) Doubles, Triple, RBI, 2 Ks

 

Daisuke Matsuzaka (Major League Debut)

 

EDIT: Check out the Matsuzaka commericial for Nike that of course is only airing in Japan. God this kid is getting me psyched to the max :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhE4mnb4Ow

seabeachfred FCL Red Sox

seabeachfred

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I'm kind of pissed that the game's at 2. I'm going to be in school...and then I have baseball practice.

 

Does anyone know when they post the games on mlb.tv? Is it right when the game ends?

 

Usually an hour or two after the game ends. It seems to vary by where the games are played from what I've seen the past few years.

 

BTW, you got my antenna up when you said you played baseball. College or HS? I managed baseball teams for 30 years before I decided to work on my golf game.

BoSox21 Portland Sea Dogs

BoSox21

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has there ever been a more anticipated game this early into the season?

 

id say MAYBE the home opener in '05 with the ring ceremony but people mainly looked forward to the ceremony itself more than anything

Sox fan in Tex FCL Red Sox

Sox fan in Tex

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Is MLB TV not working for anyone else? I've only had MLB Extra Innings before, and I know you had to wait until about five minutes before first pitch for it to start showing the pre-game stuff.
Red Sox 4 Life Prep Ball

Red Sox 4 Life

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Is MLB TV not working for anyone else? I've only had MLB Extra Innings before' date=' and I know you had to wait until about five minutes before first pitch for it to start showing the pre-game stuff.[/quote']

 

Mine is working. :dunno:

ANiMAL Draft Eligible

ANiMAL

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i think it is, last year it was normally the home team, excpet sometimes i got NESN with some away games; like 1 game out of 3 i would say i got NESN
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