Can you say Matsuzaka? You’ll have at least six years to learn how if you’re a Red Sox (or Yankees or Devil Ray or Blue Jays or Orioles) fan. The Red Sox have signed the hottest thing to come out of Japan since the Sony Walkman or Godzilla (the remake that ate New York of course, which is a satisfying symbolic image) to a six year, $52 million deal. Yep, $52 million is a lot of money to pay a guy to throw a ball about, but at this point my outrage is pretty much spent. Call me when the first billion dollar deal is signed.
In the meantime Curt Schilling is learning Japanese, the better to impart the accumulated wisdom of the pitching guru to his new teammate. And Sox fans are salivating at the best starting pitching rotation since, well, there was the 2004 World Series season and before that…. It’s been a while. For the record, right now the rotation is Matsuzaka (it’ll take a while for my fingers to learn to type it), Schilling, Jonathan Papelbon, and Tim Wakefield. Wait, is there a fifth yet?
Yeah, the Sox are still trying to find a closer and Manny Ramirez is still hanging around and the infield is a shaken up, but, man, I might be looking forward to this season with more hope than I have since ‘04.
Welcome Daisuke! I will eat much sushi and drink much sake to your honor. Just don’t take it personally when the boos rain down on your first bad outing. That’s just Boston.
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