Daisuke Gets Win #1

Daisuke Matsuzaka got his first MLB win today and looked impressive...as if we here in Red Sox nation had any doubts!

He went 7 innings giving up 2 runs and 6 hits with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. At one point he retired 10 in a row...oh yeah, that includes striking out the side in the 4th.

I know this outing was just the beginning of his career here, and the skeptics will remind us that it was only one win, but after watching him pitch today I, for one, think all those millions that went into signing him was money well spent.

"The Boston Red Sox paid $51 million just to negotiate with the sensation from Japan...And in Kansas City? A few hours before game time, more than 18,000 tickets remained for sale at the box office at Kauffman Stadium. Seats in the 40,785-seat stadium start at just $8."
-Andrew Ryan, Boston Globe, April 5, 2007

$8 to see Daisuke's first game in the bigs? I'll bet you dollars for donuts that tickets to see Matsuzaka's Fenway debut next Wednesday will cost at least 10 times that, and that's for SRO in deep right, forget about grandstand.

After the game I spoke to my friend SirKenLord (who, by the way, directed this pretty amazing documentary on the annual Koshien Tournament in Japan). He spoke to me of Matsuzaka's 1998 heroic performance in the single-elimination high school tournament that year, throwing 250 pitches over 17 innings in the quarterfinals then throwing a no-hitter in the finals to win it all. SirKenLord said Matsuzaka was his hero.

We like heroes here in Boston. Especially ones in Red Sox jerseys.