Gyrations will be on full display
Matsuzaka ready to take mound in game that counts
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The media was told there would be no access to the Red Sox here Tuesday. No admittance to their simulated game and offday workout. No interview availability.
That didn't stop intrepid Japanese scribes and television crews. On a chilly morning they staked out the grassy knoll across from parking lots beyond the Royals' famous outfield waterfalls. And there, just a few feet in front of I-70 eastbound where trucks wheeled toward St. Louis, the cameras recorded Daisuke Matsuzaka throwing a few pitches from the Kauffman Stadium mound.
It has been this way since the Red Sox won the rights to the Japanese righthander with a record $51 million posting fee last winter. Since then, there's been Dice-K ice cream, Dice-K-tinis at the Ritz-Carlton, a Sports Illustrated baseball preview cover story, gyromania, and yesterday CNBC aired footage of a Matsuzaka
Today, Matsuzaka finally gets the baseball in a game that counts. Weather permitting (it'll be cold for sure, maybe worse), he'll make his major league debut just after 2 p.m., Boston time. Baseball-crazed folks in Japan will set their alarms for 3 a.m. Friday to catch the first pitch.
America's national baseball media has landed here and hundreds of Japanese reporters are here for the momentous occasion. One shudders to imagine what it will be like next week when the Sox come home and Matsuzaka faces Ichiro Suzuki in the second game of the Fenway season.
Sox publicist John Blake was asked what he expected when the media descends on Fenway for Monday's workout day. The beleaguered Blake, a man with more than a quarter-century of experience in major league baseball, had a one-word answer: "Chaos."
In the wake of Curt Schilling's woeful outing Monday (think Schill might be just a little jealous of the new guy?), the Sox found themselves in a fabricated "must-win" Game 2. Then Josh Beckett went out and silenced the Royals in a 7-1 win on a night when a sane man would rather go 15 rounds with the late Sonny Liston than attempt to hit a 95-mile-per-hour fastball with a wooden bat.
Despite all of this, Sox manager Terry Francona was not asked about Beckett or the bogus urgency of the game. He was asked about Dice-K. Over and over.
How's he going to handle Frostbite Falls this afternoon?
"We thought about talking to him about it, but we hate to put that in his head," said Francona. "They have to have some cold weather over there. They've got snow-covered mountains."
Matsuzaka pitched in a dome with the Seibu Lions. And Sox pitching coach John Farrell reminded us, "The pitcher is always the warmest guy in the ballpark."
Communication is another issue. Red Sox assistant trainer Masai Takahashi will be in the dugout through the season and Francona and Farrell will confer with Takahashi before taking their message to the mound.
"My Japanese has improved a lot since the start of spring training," said Farrell. "We tried a few things when we were in Philadelphia over the weekend."
Matsuzaka last week made it clear that he will not talk to the media the day before he pitches. Despite this edict, he was approached by several Japanese reporters yesterday and made a few comments.
Sox publicists explained that he was answering questions about illegal payments to amateur players back home. He did not discuss today's start.
"Like all of us, he's looking forward to a quality start," said Farrell. "He's shown great consistency with his work this spring. And he's demonstrated a tremendous amount of poise and mound presence. He's been pitching on the big stage since high school and it shows."
Big stage, indeed. Matsuzaka was the hero of the Koshien high school tournament in Japan . He was MVP of the World Baseball Classic, won by Japan last spring in San Diego. Now this. The gyroball comes to the major leagues.
Asked to compare Matsuzaka to a present or former big leaguer, the pitching coach said Dice-K reminds him a little of David Cone.
Both are average-sized righthanders with multiple pitches, great leg drive, and infinite poise. The 26-year-old Matsuzaka could do worse than to match the body of work by Cone.
But we all know that fans are expecting something north of Cone from Dice-K. Something along the lines of Pedro Martínez or Sandy Koufax would probably satisfy the masses.
American gyro. Don't miss it. On the mound in Kansas City today and coming soon to a ballpark near you.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com. 