Daisuke Matsuzaka

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Daisuke Matsuzaka
松 坂 大 輔
Daisuke Matsuzaka USA.jpg
New York Mets - No. 16
Pitcher
Born: September 13, 1980
Aomori , Aomori Prefecture , Japan
Strikes: Right Throws: Right
Debut in Major League Baseball
April 7,  1999  with the Seibu Lions
MLB statistics
(until August 15, 2014)
Win-loss    56-43
Earned Run Average    4.46
Strikeouts    713
Teams

Awards

Daisuke Matsuzaka ( Japanese 松 坂 大 輔 , Matsuzaka Daisuke ; born September 13, 1980 in Aomori Prefecture ) is Japanese baseball player in Major League Baseball . He currently plays as a pitcher for the New York Mets , previously he was with the Cleveland Indians , Boston Red Sox and the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Japanese professional league . In 2006, he was named an MVP when Japan won the World Baseball Classic , and with the national team, he won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics .

biography

Childhood and school days

Matsuzaka was born in his mother's homeland in Aomori . One month after his birth, his family moved to his father's home in Kōtō in Tokyo , where he is also registered . The name "Daisuke" was popular with baseball fans in 1980 after the pitcher Daisuke Araki ( 荒木 大 輔 ) made his successful debut at the Koshien tournament.

After Matsuzaka had already played excellent baseball in elementary and middle school ( junior high school ), Matsuzaka attended Yokohama High School from April 1996 , which has a great baseball tradition and has trained a number of professional players. In his sophomore year he became the starpitcher of his school. In the semifinals of the qualification for summer Kōshien in the same year he had to cope with a setback when he let the opposing team score because of a wild pitch . Absolutely determined to make up for his mistake, he trained particularly hard in the off-season, and during this time his fastball developed, which he can regularly accelerate to around 140 km / h. His nickname became the " Heisei Monster" ( 平 成 の 怪物 , heisei no kaibutsu ).

With his team, Matsuzaka then won the spring Kōshien 1998 and did everything possible to pitch his school to victory at the following summer tournament. With three legendary appearances, Matsuzaka became a nationally celebrated hero for the first time and brought the Yokohama High School to victory.

3 days at the summer kōshien 1998

In the quarterfinals of the Summer Kōshien, Matsuzaka threw 250 pitches in a 17-inning victory over the PL high school ( PL 学園 ). In the game the next day, Matsuzaka started as left fielder, at the start of the eighth inning his team was 6-0 behind, but was able to catch up in the eighth four runs . While his team was able to turn the game around with four more points in the last inning, Matsuzaka came into the game as a reliever and prevented the opponent from further runs with 15 pitches. In the final of the tournament, he threw a no-hitter , the second in the history of Kōshien. Matsuzaka became known not only among the national baseball audience, but also among the scouts of the professional teams .

Baseball players who were born in the same academic year as Matsuzaka (between April 1, 1980 and March 31, 1981) and who played in high school at the same time, are now known as the " Matsuzaka generation " ( 松 坂 世代 , Matsuzaka sedai ). These include Tsuyoshi Wada (Rookie of the Year 2003), Toshiya Sugiuchi (Sawamura Award 2005) and Nagisa Arakaki (Strikeout Champion 2004).

Before the professional team draft in 1998, Matsuzaka announced in the press that he only wanted to play for the Yokohama BayStars or the Yomiuri Giants and would use the Gyaku-Shimei system ( 逆 指名 制度 ; for players of the first two draft rounds). He was named in the first round (in which there was no predetermined draft order among the teams at the time) by the Seibu Lions , the Yokohama BayStars and Hokkaidō Nippon Ham as the first choice. The Lions won the drawing. After weeks of talks and a dinner with Lions manager Osamu Higasio , who had played as a pitcher for the Lions for 20 years and gave him the ball from his 200th win , Matsuzaka put aside his negative attitude.

Professional career in Japan

In his first use as a starter in the 1999 season against the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Tokyo Dome , Matsuzake scored his first win. He threw his first strikeout in the first inning with a fastball of 155 km / h. Later in the game, he was attacked by an opposing batter who felt himself being demonstrated by an inside high throw from the 18-year-old. A team-mate protected him and threw insults at the batter. The first home run against Matsuzaka was achieved by Yasuaki Taho of the Hanshin Tigers in a game during spring training. The first home run in a regular game he allowed Michihiro Ogasawara of the Nippon Ham Fighters.

On May 16, 1999, he met as a rookie for the first time the star-outfielder Ichirō Suzuki from Orix Blue Wave . In three at bats, Ichirō received three strikeouts and one walk . Matsuzaka later said that this was the first time he felt he belonged in professional baseball. As a small revenge, Ichirō scored his 100th home run in July of the same year against Matsuzaka.

In his rookie year 1999, Matsuzaka was the starter of the All-Star Games for the Pacific League . Expectations were high and the media speculated how many strikeouts he would get; Masatoshi Hamada from the comedy duo Downtown even appeared as a guest on the television broadcast and cheered him on. But Matsuzaka only managed two strikeouts against Takuro Ishii and Takanori Suzuki before Yoshinobu Takahashi of the Giants stole a flyball into leftfield.

At the end of Matsuzaka's rookie season in 1999, he had 16 wins and 5 losses as the best pitcher of the rotation of his team and was named Rookie of the Year ( 新人 王 , shinjin'ō ) and was the first rookie to get into the Best Nine ( ベ ス ト ナ イ ン ; Prize from Sports Journalists) and honored with the Golden Glove ( ゴ ー ル デ ン グ ラ ブ 賞 ; Fielder Prize equivalent to the Gold Glove ). Rookie of the Year of the Central League was the pitcher Kōji Uehara with 20 wins; together the two became the dominant pitchers of their respective leagues for years.

As part of his contract, Matsuzaka also got tickets to the 1999 World Series at Yankee Stadium . Even then, he wanted to play in the major league one day . His favorite pitcher was David Cone , and he was also impressed by the performance of Roger Clemens in the fourth game of the series.

In the two following seasons, 2000 and 2001, Matsuzaka had records from 14–7 and 15–15. In 2001 he won the Sawamura Award for best pitcher.

Matsuzaka spent much of the 2002 season on the Disabled List . Although he was ready for the Nihon Series 2002, in which the Lions competed against the record champions Yomiuri Giants, he had not yet regained his form. In the away games (without DH ) he was initially taken into the lineup as the seventh batter; but he could neither show his hitter qualities, which are above average for a pitcher, nor his usual strength on the mound. He had to allow two home runs in the first game and in the fourth and last game, in which he was used as a reliever when the score was 2-2, the Giants scored the decisive run against him to lead, won the game (6-2) and the Championship (4-0).

Matsuzaka found shape back in the 2003 season with 16 wins and 7 losses. At 2.83 he had the best ERA in the Pacific League . For the national team, he pitched in qualifying for the Olympic Games in Athens against the team of South Korea .

Awards and records in Japan

  • Rookie of the Year: 1999
  • Sawamura Award: 2001
  • Best Nine: 1999, 2000, 2001
  • Golden Glove: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
  • Participation in the All-Star Game: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 (MVP), 2005, 2006
  • Most wins in the Pacific League: 1999 (16), 2000 (14), 2001 (15)
  • Most strikeouts in the Pacific League: 2000 (144), 2001 (214), 2003 (215), 2005 (226)
  • Best ERA in the Pacific League: 2003 (2.83), 2004 (2.90)

2004 Olympic Games and World Baseball Classic

When baseball tournament of the Summer Olympics in Athens Matsuzaka was a key player in the Japanese national team. After Japan finished the group stage first, the team lost the semi-finals to Australia and eventually won the bronze medal in the third-place match against Canada.

At the first World Baseball Classic in 2006, an attempt to establish a world championship for the best professional national teams, Japan defeated Cuba in the final. In the 10–6 victory, Matsuzaka pitched four innings in which he only allowed one run. With an overall record of 3 wins – 0 losses and 1.38 ERA in a total of 13 innings, he was named MVP of the tournament. At the World Baseball Classic 2009 , in which Japan was able to defend its title, Matsuzaka was again awarded as an MVP.

Transfer to the Major League

On October 25, 2006, Scott Boras was introduced as Agent Matsuzakas, who should represent him in contract negotiations in Major League Baseball. On November 2nd, he received permission from the Lions to switch to the MLB through the posting system . On November 14, 2006, the Boston Red Sox outbid the Texas Rangers , New York Mets, and New York Yankees with a record bid of $ 51,111,111.11 - the previous record transfer fee in the posting system was around $ 13 million for Ichirō Suzuki - and received the surcharge for Matsuzaka. The Red Sox had to complete contract negotiations within 30 days, otherwise he would have stayed with the Lions. Red Sox manager Theo Epstein said of the record sums offered, the team was very aggressive in the posting process and had the total amount of the transfer and contract amount in mind from the outset; but Scott Boras refused to include the transfer fee in the contract negotiations. On December 11th, Epstein, Red Sox owner John W. Henry and managing director Larry Lucchino boarded a plane to "take on [Boras] directly."

On December 13, those responsible for the Red Sox reached an agreement with Boras and Matsuzaka in a private plane from Henry, in which Boston and Japanese media were also present. In Boston, Matsuzaka completed the medical exam and signed a $ 52 million contract that could total $ 60 million in bonuses. Contract terms include a $ 2 million contract award, a salary of $ 6 million in the first, $ 8 million in the next three (2008-2010), and $ 10 million in the last two (2011-2012) seasons. The contract also contains a specially adapted no-sale clause.

The final agreement was announced at a press conference at Fenway Park on December 14th at 5pm . Some commentators mentioned the confusion caused by the translator Matsuzakas, whose translations were short and sometimes incomprehensible. A clearly understandable statement from Matsuzaka was: "I am very happy and happy to play for the Boston Red Sox."

Matsuzaka's first early year training took place in February and March 2007 in Fort Myers , Florida. He pitched well in the friendlies. Matsuzaka was given the number 18 on his back, the same number he had worn in Japan after his model Masumi Kuwata .

Nicknames in the USA

In the US, Matsuzaka was nicknamed " D-Mat " and more commonly " Dice-K ", which in American terms comes closest to the correct pronunciation of Daisuke (and is also used for other Daisukes). Since Matsuzaka is a pitcher, the letter K has a special meaning in the statistics: A K is a strikeout , of which he throws a particularly large number in good games.

Major League career

Matsuzaka made his first appearance of the beginning in a regular game of the Major League on April 6, 2007 in a day game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium . He walked, pitched 10 strikeouts, and knocked 10 batter out of the game in a row. In 108 throws (of which 74 strikes) the opponents could only achieve six hits and a solo home run. The win for the 4-1 victory was credited to him. On his home debut at Fenway Park against the Seattle Mariners (with his old rival Ichirō Suzuki) the Red Sox lost 3-0. His third start was a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays . However, Matsuzaka was the first major league pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, who managed ten or more strikeouts in two of his first three starts. after the third game, he said in a press conference that he was only gradually getting used to American baseball, which is slightly larger than the ball in the Japanese professional league.

Matsuzaka threw his first complete game in the MLB on May 14, 2007 in a 7–1 victory over the Detroit Tigers ; in Japan he had pitched over 60 complete games. On August 10, 2007, he broke the record of 156 rookie strikeouts for the Boston Red Sox; at the end of the 2007 regular season there were 201 strikeouts in his statistics. With his win on September 28, 2007 against the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox were first in the Eastern Division . His first major league season ended with a record of 15-12 and an ERA of 4.40.

In his first playoffs in the Major League and the following World Series, Matsuzaka pitched a total of 19 2/3 innings in four starts with 2 wins and one loss (5.03 ERA). When he won the third game of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies on October 27, 2007, he also scored his first hit in the Major League - in the American League, in which the Red Sox play, the pitcher usually comes because of the DH rule Not To Punch -, a 2-run single, making him the third pitcher in history after Cy Young and Babe Ruth in 1918 to score two RBIs in a World Series game. Matsuzaka was also the first Japanese pitcher to win the World Series as a starter. A day later, on October 28th, the Red Sox also won the fourth game of the World Series and thus the championship.

After a short stop at the Columbus Clippers - the Triple-A Team of the Cleveland Indians - Daisuke asked Matsuzaka in August 2013 to terminate his contract in order to join the New York Mets immediately afterwards .

family

Matsuzaka is married to TV journalist Tomoyo Shibata , who used to work for Nippon TV . In 2005 their daughter Niko was born and in 2008 their second child, a boy.

When the two met and started dating in 2000, Matsuzaka, who was then a minor under Japanese law, had to pay a fine and was banned by the Lions for a month after visiting them at night in the (incorrectly parked) car without a license .

Web links

Commons : Daisuke Matsuzaka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Boston.com Staff: "Lost in translation?" . ESPN.com. December 15, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  2. ^ Jack Curry, "A Japanese All-Star Game and a Reunion at Fenway," New York Times
  3. ↑ Matsuzaka departs for US to meet agent . JapanBall.com . November 15, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 15, 2006. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.japanball.com
  4. ↑ "Red Sox's winning bid for Matsuzaka: $ 51.1 million"
  5. ↑ Michael Silverman: Why $ 51,111,111.11? John Henry explains . Boston Herald . December 15, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
  6. ↑ Mike Petraglia: Red Sox no longer need to hide secret . MLB.com . December 14, 2006. Retrieved on December 15, 2006.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / boston.redsox.mlb.com  
  7. ↑ According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe , Bora's initial refusal to negotiate Matsuzaka was a "test case for the posting system." Nick Cafardo: Boras demands way out of line . Boston.com . December 12, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  8. ↑ Matsuzaka's agent Scott Boras told ESPN.com that the contract contained a lot of personal benefits. Matsuzaka gets a masseur, a physiotherapist, a translator and a personal assistant; Matsuzaka also receives 80–90 flights over the term of the contract, as well as special agreements for his wife's travel and accommodation. "Matsuzaka, Red Sox agree to terms"
  9. ↑ Michael Silverman: Matsuzaka has full no-trade clause , Boston Herald . December 14, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2006. 
  10. ↑ Art Martone of the Providence Journal commented, "Matsuzaka's interpreter's command of the English language was shaky, and thus the pitcher's translated comments were brief and, occasionally, unintelligible." Red Sox Nation looks to expand , Providence Journal . December 15, 2006. 
  11. ^ Stan McNeal: "Time for Dice-K to get into action" . Sporting News . February 15, 2007. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 2, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / experts.sportingnews.com
  12. ^ Gordon Edes: Matsuzaka path follows Kuwata's - to a point . Boston.com . March 22, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  13. ↑ Tim Brown: "At the letters: Shooting Dais" . Yahoo . December 18, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  14. ↑ Gordon Edes: Getting dicey with Matsuzaka , Boston.com . December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006. 
  15. ^ "Japanese baseball expert Robert Whiting's Matsuzaka chat" . Boston.com. November 21, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  16. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2006-11-06-matsuzaka_x.htm
  17. ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=271027127
  18. ^ Anthony DiComo: "Mets sign pitcher Dice-K to bolser pitching staff" . MLB.com . August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/12/15/at_home_on_the_big_stage/
  20. ↑ http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2008/03/15/matsuzakas_wife_gives_birth_to_couples_second_child/ .
personal data
SURNAME Matsuzaka, Daisuke
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 松 坂 大 輔 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese baseball player in Major League Baseball
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Aomori Prefecture , Japan