DAISUKE MATSUZAKA Biography - Famous Sports men and women

 
 

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DAISUKE MATSUZAKA

Name: Daisuke Matsuzaka                                                                   
Born: September 13, 1980 Kanita, Higashitsugaru District, Aomori, Japan                   
                                                                                         
Daisuke Matsuzaka (born September 13, 1980) (pronounced                                   
"Dice-K") is a Japanese starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He previously           
played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of         
the 2006 World Baseball Classic and is an Olympic bronze medalist.                       
                                                                                         
He was born on September 13, 1980, in Kanita, Higashitsugaru District, Aomori,           
Japan. Aomori is his mother's hometown. After a month, he then moved to his               
father's home in Koto, Tokyo, so his player profile says he is from Tokyo even           
though he was born in Aomori. After excelling at the Little League and junior             
high level, Daisuke Matsuzaka was admitted into Yokohama High School, a baseball         
powerhouse, in the spring of 1996. By his second year (Japanese high schools             
consist of three years), he had developed into the school's ace pitcher. Despite         
his early success, he would experience a setback that summer when he allowed a           
go-ahead wild pitch in the semi-final game of the Kanagawa Prefecture                     
preliminary round of the National High School Baseball Championship (Summer               
Koshien). Hungry for redemption, Matsuzaka trained fervently during the off-season.       
It was about that time that his fastballs started to regularly clock in at               
around 90 mph (140 km/h) and he was given the nickname, "The Monster". After             
easily pitching his school to the championship of the National High School               
Baseball Invitational Tournament (Spring Koshien), Matsuzaka set his aim on the           
1998 Summer Koshien. He would go on to become a national hero in this tournament         
after pitching in three particularly memorable games, and, eventually, leading           
his school to the championship.                                                           
                                                                                         
Matsuzaka is married to television journalist Tomoyo Shibata, formerly of                 
Nippon TV in Japan, and in 2005 she gave birth to the couple's daughter, Niko.           
Daisuke is nicknamed "The Monster" in Japan and "Dice-K" or "D-Mat"                       
in the United States by the Boston Globe and USA Today.                                   
                                                                                         
Matsuzaka and his wife are expecting their second child at the start of the 2008         
season.                                                                                   
                                                                                         
Matsuzaka made his first major league regular season start for the Red Sox on             
April 5, 2007 in an afternoon game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman             
Stadium. He walked one, recorded 10 strikeouts, and at one point retired 10               
consecutive batters. He allowed only a solo home run on 6 hits while throwing             
108 pitches (74 for strikes) over 7 innings and recorded the win as the Red Sox           
triumphed by a score of 4-1. He was, however, beaten 3-0 by Félix Hernández (who       
pitched a one hitter), Ichiro Suzuki, Kenji Johjima, and their Seattle Mariners           
in his Fenway Park debut on April 11, 2007 and defeated again, 2-1, by the               
Toronto Blue Jays in his third major league start despite striking out 10                 
Toronto hitters in only 6 innings. Matsuzaka still became the only pitcher to             
strike out 10 or more batters in 2 of his first 3 big-league starts since                 
Fernando Valenzuela did so in 1981.