Daisuke Matsuzaka

Daisuke Matsuzaka (born September 13, 1980, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who became a star player in both Japan and the United States. In 2007, his first season of Major League Baseball (MLB), he helped the Boston Red Sox win a World Series championship.

Before Matsuzaka made the move to the American League Red Sox, he had already attained legendary status in Japan. A star pitcher from his youth, he led Yokohama High School to the 1998 Japanese National Invitational High School Baseball Tournament championship, pitching a no-hitter in the title game. Upon his graduation that year, the 6-foot (1.8-metre), 185-pound (84-kg) right-hander was selected by the Seibu Lions (later called Saitama Seibu Lions) of the Pacific League as the top overall draft pick. Matsuzaka earned Rookie of the Year honours in 1999, finishing the season with a record of 16 wins and 5 losses. In his eight seasons with the Lions, he compiled a win-loss record of 108–60 and threw a total of 1,355 strikeouts in 204 games.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Matsuzaka helped the Japanese baseball team capture the bronze medal. He further raised his international profile with his dominating performance at the first-ever World Baseball Classic in 2006, where he was named the tournament’s most valuable player after going undefeated in three starts and giving up just four hits during Japan’s 10–6 victory over Cuba in the championship game. The MLB bidding war after the 2006 season was intense and ultimately was won by the Red Sox, who agreed to pay the Seibu Lions more than $51 million for the negotiating rights to Matsuzaka and then signed the pitcher to a six-year contract worth another $52 million.

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Such a large contract brought hefty expectations, which at times Matsuzaka—or Dice-K, as he was soon dubbed—struggled to meet as he tallied a mediocre regular-season record of 15–12, with a 4.40 earned run average (ERA). His gutsy play in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the World Series, however, quieted critics who had commented on his regular-season record and on his shaky starts at the beginning of the playoffs. The rookie came up with a pair of clutch performances in the postseason when his team needed him most, winning both the decisive seventh game of the ACLS against the Cleveland Indians and game three of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies, which made him the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game.

Matsuzaka had a strong second season in 2008, compiling an 18–3 regular-season record and a low 2.90 ERA. Prior to the start of the 2009 baseball season, he again played for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, once more leading it to a first-place finish and being named the tournament’s most valuable player. However, his play there apparently strained his pitching arm. He fared poorly in his early 2009 starts; his ERA mushroomed; and he spent considerable time as an inactive player on the disabled list. The injury-plagued Matsuzaka started just 55 total games from 2009 to 2012, compiling a cumulative 5.53 ERA over those seasons.

Matsuzaka became a free agent following the 2012 season, and he signed a minor-league contract with the Cleveland Indians in February 2013. He was released the following August having never joined Cleveland’s major-league roster and was quickly signed by the New York Mets. He appeared in 34 games for the Mets—primarily as a relief pitcher—and signed with Japan’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the off-season. His play was limited by injuries, however, and in 2018 Matsuzaka joined the Chunichi Dragons. He posted a 6–4 record with a 3.74 ERA in his first season with the team and was named Nippon Professional Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year. After the 2019 season Matsuzaka rejoined the Saitama Seibu Lions, but he missed the following season due to cervical spine surgery. His recovery proved difficult, and he retired after the 2021 season.