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MLB. Daisuke Matsuzaka will be the second Japanese pitcher — behind only Hideo Nomo — to make an Opening Day start for a Major League team, and he couldn’t be making history in any friendlier conditions.
Matsuzaka and Sox teammate Hideki Okajima are both back in their home element during the Olde Towne Team’s visit to Tokyo, Japan, which will include a two-game series starting tomorrow against Oakland.
The games will both be at 6:05 a.m. East Coast time, and March 25 will be the earliest date a Major League Baseball season has ever begun, but things seem to be happening right on time for Dice-K and Oki-Doki.
The signing of Matsuzaka was one of the big attractions that paved the way for the Sox’ first barnstorming foray into the Far East, but the 27-year-old righty almost didn’t make the trip. Matsuzaka’s wife was pregnant and her due date was March 19 — which could have potentially put a monkey wrench into the team’s travel plans — but the baby boy was delivered early on March 15 and the hurler is penciled in for tomorrow morning’s opener.
“I am very much looking forward to going to Tokyo, and I hope things work out so that everyone is happy,” said Matsuzaka while still in Fort Myers, Fla. “I feel like all of my focus is on the baseball side of things this spring, and I am very much looking forward to Opening Day.”
Both Matsuzaka and Okajima have enjoyed a hero’s welcome upon returning to their homeland, and Okie — a bit of a stranger in a strange land while adjusting to the United States culture last season — took a group of teammates to a traditional Japanese restaurant over the weekend with a menu that reportedly included horse tongue.
The trip shortened the time frame for Boston’s front office to evaluate players this spring and sets them up for a brutal April schedule filled with games against the Yankees, Indians, Angels and Tigers. But the Sox also appreciate the historical significance of their trip.
“We have a lot of guys that are out of options and there’s more to an organization than the 25 guys that are going to break camp, but we’re dealing with it,” said Sox GM Theo Epstein. “It’s worth going through once every hundred years, if it means we’re going to Japan.”
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