Daisuke Matsuzaka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Current sport event This article documents a current sports-related event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
Olympic medal record
Men’s Baseball
Bronze 2004 Athens Team

Daisuke Matsuzaka (松坂 大輔 Matsuzaka Daisuke?, born September 13, 1980 in Tokyo, Japan), pronounced "DICE-kay ma-TSU-zaka", is a Japanese right-handed pitcher who plays for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League, and is currently under contract negotiation to become the starting pitcher for the Major League's Boston Red Sox starting 2007 season.

His fastball ranges from 90-96 mph (145-154km/h), with some late movement. He also throws a splitter, changeup(or a forkball), slider, and a screwball-like pitch with almost the same delivery.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life and Career

Daisuke Matsuzaka graduated from Yokohama High School in Japan in 1998. Matsuzaka became a national hero in 1998 when he pitched Yokohama High School into the Koshien Tournament. In the quarterfinals of that year's Koshien national high school baseball tournament, he threw 250 pitches in 17 innings against P.L. Gakuen. The next day, he played in the outfield but recorded a save. In the final, he threw a no-hitter, the second ever in a final. This performance garnered the attention of a great many scouts. After his graduation, he was taken by the Seibu Lions with the first pick of the 1998 draft.[citation needed]

[edit] Professional Career in Japanese Major League Baseball

In his first professional season in 1999, he had 16 wins and 5 losses as the team ace, and was voted Rookie of the Year.

Matsuzaka spent a considerable portion of his 2002 season on the disabled list, which does not count towards his service time.

In 2003, Matsuzaka logged 16 wins and 7 losses. He won the Pacific League ERA title with a 2.83 mark. Matsuzaka also played for Japan's National Baseball Team, and pitched against South Korea.

[edit] 2004 Olympic Games and the World Baseball Classic

He participated in the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece and was a key player in Japan's acquisition of the bronze medal. Matsuzaka pitched for Japan in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Matsuzaka was named tournament MVP after posting a 3-0 record, including a decisive win over Cuba in the tournament's championship game.

[edit] Major League transition

On October 24, 2006, Scott Boras was announced as Matsuzaka's agent to represent him in any contract dealings in the American Major Leagues. On November 2, Matsuzaka was officially granted permission by the Lions to pursue a career in Major League Baseball via the posting system.

On November 14, the Boston Red Sox had won the bidding rights to Matsuzaka with a bid of $51,111,111.11.[1] [2] The Red Sox have 30 days to sign Matsuzaka to a contract. If a deal cannot be completed, Matsuzaka will return to the Lions and the bid will not be paid to the Lions. Through the posting system, Boston outbid other teams including the Texas Rangers, the New York Mets, and the New York Yankees. His agent, Scott Boras, refused to consider the posting fee as part of the contract negotiations, while the Red Sox have offered Matsuzaka less than market value because of the added expense they have gone through to gain the right to negotiate with him.[citation needed]

In a 11 December press conference for the Japanese media and the Associated Press, Boras gave an update regarding the allegedly stalled negotiations, at one point expressing that Matsuzaka "is worth well in excess of $100 million."[citation needed] On December 13, Matsuzaka headed back to Boston, and signed with the Sox for a 6-year, $52-million deal, with escalating options that could bring it up to $60 million.[3]

[edit] Trivia

  • Matsuzaka is the pitcher most associated with gyroball, admitting he is trying to throw it, and has thrown it in a game.[4]
  • Japanese born in the 1980 fiscal year (from April 2, 1980 to the following April 1, 1981) have been called the Matsuzaka generation (松坂世代 Matsuzaka sedai?).
  • His height is 6 foot with weight of around 187 [[|Pound (mass)|lbs]].

[edit] Career statistics (through 2006)

Year Team W L IP H ER BB K ERA WHIP
1999 Seibu 16 5 180 124 52 87 151 2.60 1.17
2000 Seibu 14 7 167.2 132 74 95 144 3.97 1.35
2001 Seibu 15 15 240.1 184 96 117 214 3.60 1.25
2002 Seibu 6 2 73.1 60 30 15 78 3.68 1.01
2003 Seibu 16 7 194 165 61 63 215 2.83 1.18
2004 Seibu 10 6 146 165 47 42 127 2.90 1.42
2005 Seibu 14 13 215 172 55 49 226 2.30 1.03
2006 Seibu 17 5 186.1 138 44 34 200 2.13 0.92
TOTALS 108 60 1402.2 1140 459 502 1355 2.95 1.17

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Matsuzaka departs for U.S. to meet agent"
  2. ^ "Red Sox's winning bid for Matsuzaka: $51.1 million"
  3. ^ Matsuzaka signs
  4. ^ Searching for baseball's Bigfoot. Yahoo! (March 13, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/i/Daisuke_Matsuzaka_aefb.html"
In other languages