In 2007, I was skeptical over the Boston Red Sox signing Daisuke Matsuzaka at a total cost of $103 million. Big hype. Seventeen different pitches, including the "gyro ball." All that money for someone you never have seen pitch in organized ball in the United States. I think position players have an easier time than pitchers in making the transition from playing in Asia.
In any case, his first year was so-so, followed by a "strange success" in 2008 when he put lots of men on base but, somehow, few of them scored. This April, he got shelled in his first two starts, then went on the disabled list with a "tired arm." (How can your arm be tired after only six innings on the mound?) He came off the DL and was even worse.
Last year, I saw one game at Fenway Park. Executive suite ("luxury box") behind first base, courtesy of friends at Parthenon Consulting. Four tickets, so I hosted friends of mine. Boston's starter was Dice-K. He couldn't find the plate; every time I looked up the bases were loaded. He went seven innings, gave up six hits, walked five - and won, 10-0! A typical 2008 outing for him: tons of base runners, lots of pitches, but few runs allowed as he went 18-3 with an ERA of just 2.90.
Fast forward to 2009. Several weeks ago another friend, Parthenon up-and-comer Max Pinto (Williams '08) scored two tickets and invited me to join him at Fenway. I sat down with the Sox schedule and calculated who we were likely
You can see where this is going. Barring a rainout to move everybody back a day, it would be my main man on the mound. The other hope was that he'd be benched to make way for 77-year-old John Smoltz, whom I love, to join the rotation following a long rehab.
No rainout and Smoltz would get his first start the following week. I thought about my bad luck and then broke the Parthenon Code: the ticket was mine because Dice-K was starting! The company ticket lady would learn of our request, ask the big wigs and hear back: "Who's pitching? Dice-K? None of us want to see that guy throw, so let Fehr go."
Max and I settle into our seats after sampling the fine buffet and downing a cold one. The first Atlanta batter deposits Matsuzaka's first pitch into the bullpen. Next pitch, single. Fourth pitch, Chipper Jones doubles. Then two straight walks to drive in the second run.
Dice-K goes four-full (he was lifted after the first two batters doubled in the 5th), allows eight hits, four walks, six earned runs, and we lost 8-2. "Worst game all year," said the regulars in the box. It didn't help that the Sox hitters were in a slump and managed only two hits after just one the previous night.
Dice-K did, in fact, return to the DL the next day, and predictions are that he'll be there a long, long time. He has the 486th "best" overall stats of all major league pitchers (I'm not making this up) with a 1-5 record, 8.23 ERA, a .378 opponents' batting average, and a 2.20 WHIP. Maybe I'll be able to tell my grandchildren - who won't care one bit - that I saw the last game he ever pitched.
The next night, incidentally, Beckett throws a complete game shutout, which means the Sox' worst and best starts of the season came back-to-back.
But I'm not complaining . well, not much anyway. I got to load up on free food, saw several friends, found an excellent new (to me) hotel right on Kenmore Square, and Fenway is still the best place on the planet to watch a ballgame . even a really, really lousy ballgame.
Dave Fehr writes for The Advocate when the mood strikes. Send feedback to news@
advocateweekly.com.
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