Games in Japan? Count Sox in
Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino acknowledges that there is a chance the team could open the 2008 season in Japan, giving Japanese fans a chance to see native son Daisuke Matsuzaka perform in a major league game. Certainly, he said, the club is willing to do so.
The precedent is there. The Seattle Mariners, with Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki then beginning his third year with the team, opened the 2003 season in Tokyo against the Oakland Athletics. A year later, the New York Yankees, with star Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui starting his second season, opened the schedule in Tokyo against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
"We have made clear our willingness to play international games, international openers," Lucchino said. "The international committee of Major League Baseball is aware of our willingness. Whether it's 2008 or 2009, should they be looking for clubs to play in Tokyo or other international games, the Red Sox are eager to be considered."
Lucchino is a member of the international committee, along with other owners or CEOs such as Sandy Alderson of the Padres, Fred Wilpon of the Mets, Jeffrey Loria of the Marlins, Charlie Monfort of the Rockies, Kevin McClatchy of the Pirates, and Paul Godfrey of Toronto. The committee is chaired by Paul Archey, Major League Baseball's vice president of international affairs. All, Lucchino said, have a keen interest in baseball's international development, an interest shared by commissioner Bud Selig.
There have been three other occasions when major league teams have played regular-season openers outside the borders of the mainland United States and Canada. The Padres and Rockies played a game in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1999; the Mets and Cubs were the first to play in Tokyo, in 2000; and the Rangers and Blue Jays played their 2001 opener in San Juan.
Lucchino has said that MLB had interest in playing games in Europe, and expressed the Sox' interest in being a participant. "It's all happening, but not happening at lightning speed," Lucchino said of taking baseball to Europe, citing a lack of suitable facilities and other logistical issues.
There were no openers held outside of the United States in 2005 or last year, when the inaugural World Baseball Classic was staged. With Matsuzaka, widely viewed as Japan's best pitcher after eight seasons with the Seibu Lions, the Sox would seem an ideal team for baseball to send back to Tokyo.
"I'm fascinated by the Japanese world, the culture and the history, as any curious American would be," Lucchino said.
Lucchino is aware, he said, that Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is a big baseball fan. "I've been apprised of that by the consul general," Lucchino said.
Last November, during a tour of Japan by a team of major league stars, five players visited with the prime minister at his palatial offices. One, Mets third baseman David Wright, noted that the Mets needed starting pitching and jokingly asked whether Abe could make a call on the team's behalf to Matsuzaka. At the time, Matsuzaka had not yet been posted by his Japanese team.
Asked whether Abe might be a guest when the Sox open their 2007 home schedule against Ichiro and Seattle, Lucchino replied: "He has an open invitation to come to America's most beloved ballpark."
