Daisuke Matsuzaka (born September 13, 1980) 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.
Baseball players who were born in the 1980 academic
year (from April 2, 1980 to the following April 1,
1981) have been called the Matsuzaka generation
(松坂世代, Matsuzaka sedai?) in Japan.
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" (怪物, kaibutsu?)
in Japan and "Dice-K" or "D-Mat" in the United
States[20] by the Boston Globe and USA Today.
Matsuzaka and his wife are expecting their second
child on March 19 of 2008.
