[新聞] Coming to America

[decorum (Brave New World)]

最後幾段，看了會讓人心驚肉跳：Matsuzaka 在先發前一天的
牛棚練習，常常要丟150球左右，野茂提早報銷也可能和早先被
日職操壞有關。


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/468293p-394095c.html

Coming to America

Already 'as famous as Bill Gates' in Japan,
Matsuzaka ready to bring his legend to big leagues

BY ADAM RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER


TOKYO - Inside the lobby of the prime minister's office building Thursday
afternoon, a local television reporter holds a poster-sized photo of the top
pitcher in Japan and quizzes David Wright.
"You heard of Matsuzaka?" the man asks in English.

"Oh, yeah," Wright replies. "Of course. Of course."

Soon, America will be hearing a lot from the ace righthander, who Kenji
Johjima describes as "probably as famous as Bill Gates." That's pretty big,
considering the Seattle Mariners catcher and former Pacific League rival now
plays in the Microsoft founder's backyard.

Twenty-six-year-old Daisuke Matsuzaka intends to play major league baseball
in 2007, and may be calling New York home. The Mets and Yankees are expected
to submit sealed bids - perhaps as much as $20 million - by the 5 p.m.
Wednesday deadline just to try to secure exclusive negotiating rights with
Matsuzaka and agent Scott Boras during a 30-day window. If the top
major-league bidder and Matsuzaka can't come to an agreement on a contract,
the pitcher must return to the Seibu Lions, who won't collect that
eight-figure posting fee.

"When I was in elementary school, there was always interest from that time.
So if I could be chosen to be part of major league baseball, of course I'd be
very happy. Also from my high school days I had an ambition to go to America
as well," says the 6-foot, 187-pound Matsuzaka, dressed in a black suit and
tie at a Seibu Lions press conference. The proceeding, entirely in Japanese,
draws 200 reporters at the Takanawa Prince Hotel. Peter Miller, a Major
League Baseball Players Association representative, who has lived in Japan
for 25 years, and who is the son of former players union chief Marvin Miller,
whispers the translation to four American reporters who stand to the side in
the ballroom after breaking away from a workout of MLB All-Stars touring
Japan to attend.

Says Jim Allen, a baseball writer for the Tokyo-based Daily Yomiuri
newspaper: "He was 9 years old when Hideo Nomo went to the majors. So he
represents this generation of players who grew up watching Japanese players
on television in the major leagues. This is a new phenomenon."

Matsuzaka became a hero in Japan at age 17, in the Koshien national
high-school baseball tournament that compares in fervor and interest to the
NCAA men's basketball tournament in the United States. In the quarterfinals,
played at the home of the Hanshin Tigers, a Wrigley Field-like stadium, down
to the brick, ivy-covered wall (though it has an all-dirt infield), Matsuzaka
threw a 17-inning, 250-pitch complete game against P.L. Gakuen - double the
number of innings and pitches a major-leaguer would throw on the most taxing
of days.

One day later, Matsuzaka started in left field against Meitoku, and his
high-school career appeared innings from being over with his Yokohama team
trailing, 6-0, as it entered the bottom of the eighth. But Yokohama scored
four runs that half-inning and Matsuzaka took the mound for the ninth,
requiring only 15 pitches to hold Meitoku at bay. Yokohama then advanced to
the finals with a three-run ninth.

Matsuzaka tossed a no-hitter against Kyoto Seisho in the finals, cementing
his legacy.

"He's a superstar a long time ago," notes Toshi Kato, a former Seibu Lions
assistant for seven years, who played against Matsuzaka in junior high
school, when he says the future ace had a sumo-like build, with long arms.

Kato recalls Matsuzaka frequently watching major league baseball on
television before practices and games with the Seibu Lions. The ace admires
Nolan Ryan and Pedro Martinez, and particularly Chien-Ming Wang, because of
his successful transition from Taiwan to the Yankees.

"He always says, 'I want to be like him,'" Kato says.

Sensing an impending move to the United States, Matsuzaka has been quizzing
Kato about the country for a couple of years. Matsuzaka had no idea where
Boston was located, so Kato informed him of the cold weather there. Kato,
privately rooting that Matsuzaka lands with the Dodgers, recommended a West
Coast team, which would be more conducive to another love - golf. (Matsuzaka,
off the power of his muscular legs, can drive a golf ball 300 yards.)

Kato, who works at a Wal-Mart-type store on a U.S. Army base here, even took
Matsuzaka to the facility and introduced him to American cuisine at the
pitcher's request.

"I took him to a Burger King," Kato says. "I said, 'When you go to Burger
King, just order a Whopper. No reason. Just Whopper.' The first time he said,
'Oh, that's big.' The next time, drinking, he just tried Gatorade, Powerade."

Matsuzaka is married to Tomoyo Shibata, a 31-year-old Nippon TV announcer,
who is expected to join him in the States. The couple, who became involved
during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and who now have a daughter, became
embroiled in a national scandal while dating, on Matsuzaka's 20th birthday -
Sept. 13, 2000. Matsuzaka drove to Shibata's apartment in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
with a suspended license. His car was towed for being illegally parked. Akira
Kuroiwa, the pitcher's spokesman and a former Olympic bronze medalist in
speed skating, claimed he was the person who had illegally parked the car.
That led to legal trouble for Kuroiwa. Matsuzaka, the '99 Pacific League
Rookie of the Year, meanwhile, was suspended by his embarrassed club.

Now more mature, Matsuzaka is ready for the major-league stage, with a
staggering array of pitches including a 95 mph fastball, a cutter, two
sliders, a curveball and a changeup.

Two years ago, during the last MLB All-Star tour of Japan, Matsuzaka tossed a
complete game in a 5-1 win, the lone run for the major leaguers coming when
Pittsburgh's Jack Wilson doubled home Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford. This March,
Matsuzaka was named MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, after he
limited Cuba to one run in four innings in the finals at San Diego's Petco
Park.

"Since the World Baseball Classic happened before the season, I think it was
tough for the pitchers to really get ready for the tournament. However,
Matsuzaka's fastballs were very effective," says Chiba Lotte Marines catcher
Tomoya Satozaki, Matsuzaka's WBC batterymate. "I think his fastball really
did some damage to the major leaguers. I think he had his regular-season
stuff even for the WBC.

"Every pitch he's got is superb - really good quality. He shouldn't change
his playing style even if he goes to the States. He should keep it as it is
and do what he's good at doing and he'll be okay. His strength probably is
not his control. I don't think he has pinpoint control. However, all of his
pitches are so good that even without the perfect control he can manage."

Says Seibu Lions teammate Kouji Mitsui: "He's got a very fast fastball, but
his changeup is probably the best in Japan as well. In the major leagues,
it's not the usual thing for the starter to want to finish the game. But in
Japan that's a big thing for a starting pitcher. Once you start, you want to
pitch until the end. When Matsuzaka pitches, that's how he is. He wants to
finish his game. As a middle reliever, it's very soothing knowing he's
starting today because maybe he's going to finish the game."

Matsuzaka - whose mother named him after Daisuke Araki, who became a national
high-school baseball tournament star while she was pregnant - has lofty
expectations from his adoring and numerous fans, though he's no sure thing to
dazzle for years in the majors. He threw a 333-pitch bullpen session in
February as part of a strict Japanese training regiment. One former teammate
recalled Matsuzaka regularly throwing 150-pitch bullpen sessions the day
before his starts, leaving some wondering how much he'll have left by the
time he turns 30.

"Nomo came out of the corporate leagues, and he was throwing 200, 250, 260
innings as a 22-year-old, 23-year-old, 24-year-old," Allen says. "If Nomo
hadn't had that workload coming into the pros, he'd still be pitching. He
would be a star right now, probably the ace pitcher on some major-league
team. There was just too much wear and tear at an early age, and that's the
same problem with Matsuzaka."

Still, the Chicago White Sox's Tadahito Iguchi predicts Matsuzaka will emerge
as a star in the majors, just like he is in their native country.

"I think he would be, and I think he has to be, because that's what we look
forward to," Iguchi says. "This is one of our best pitchers, and we want him
to be, and we need him to be, one of the best pitchers in the States, too."

Originally published on November 5, 2006

--
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推 bigsun0709:怪物也是人...希望他能健康的投個10年
→ Poleaxe:習慣了吧  :P
推 rod007:還好25歲就去MLB了
推 elderone:他的投標明天早上截止的樣子。很快就知道他會不會來洋基
推 upscom:投150球 隔天還是照樣雙位數三振+完投 囧
推 bigsun0709:不要第一年超殺MLB 第二年就出現(松坂做Tommy John手術
推 chien533:看來他很想要跟小王當好朋友
推 asdfzx:投150球............這樣不就等於中三日? ><
推 bearlex:前一天150球@@，到美國中四日不能這樣練吧 = =
推 Yajoeso:先把Clemens簽起來吧  松阪應該要在考慮
推 EvilCerberus:能簽老克當然優先啊,問題是他想在家鄉打球
推 Yajoeso:他變自由球員了!!!
推 Owens:松阪說我想變的像王建民一樣!!  小王知名度真高
推 dish:喔
推 ykkfju:野茂當年也是25左右去mlb 看看松阪能撐多久手開始出問題
推 GAIEGAIE:野茂是他的球種太傷手吧
推 roroccc:球種傷手？指叉耶！
推 alko500835:滑球也沒好到哪吧...= =