Word: matsuzaka
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India's Prime Minister was in Tokyo Thursday for a historic summit, and although he was accorded the rare honor of addressing Japan's legislature, he couldn't make the front-page lead of the country's national newspapers. That territory belonged to Daisuke Matsuzaka, a 26-year-old pitcher whose six-year, $52 million contract with the Boston Red Sox (plus another $51 million Boston paid to Matsuzaka's old team, the Seibu Lions, just for the right to negotiate with him) is the most lucrative deal ever for a player coming out of Japan. That...
...Matsuzaka burst into national prominence as a teenager in the 1998 Japanese high school baseball championship. The single-elimination Koshien tournament, as it's called, captivates the country every summer - to call it Japan's March Madness would be an understatement. Matsuzaka single-handedly led Yokohama High to the title, pitching much of the tournament and tossing a no-hitter in the championship game. As a pro with the Lions, Matsuzaka continued to dominate from the mound, winning a title and leading his country to the inaugural World Baseball Championship (WBC) last spring...
...Daisuke Matsuzaka has never thrown a pitch in the majors, but that didn't stop the Boston Red Sox from paying the Seibu Lions $51.1 million just for the right to negotiate with the Japanese sensation. The righthander has even inspired some suspicious lore: his "gyroball," a supposedly unhittable sinking fastball (it sounds like a ruse). So buyer beware: while a few highly paid Japanese imports, like Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees, became All-Stars, others have memorably struck...
...underpaid and underrepresented. They are expected to endure brutal workouts, which include dawn-to-dusk training camps held in the freezing cold, and to obey petty rules that are more befitting a military academy. During this off-season, after several traffic violations, 20-year-old pitching standout Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions was punished by being confined to his home and forbidden to do any endorsements...
...pressure is on Japan to produce a medal in what has become the country's national sport. The young ace is expected to start in preliminary-round games against the U.S. and South Korea. If Japan's Olympic squad battles itself into contention, the temptation will be to pitch Matsuzaka as often as possible. After all, the whole country remembers his performance at Koshien, and nothing would excite fans more than an encore...