Here is a link to a very interesting article written by Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe. In the article, he talks about all the things the Red Sox have done or are going to do in regards to Daisuke Matsuzaka. The article is six pages long. Here are a few excerpts from it: Goodies for the fans? The Sox have plans, on days that Matsuzaka pitches, to hold back 20-30 tickets and offer the “Matsuzaka experience.” For a premium price (yet to be set, but sure to be lots of yen), fans will be invited to the park early, receive a Matsuzaka Sox jersey, and have dinner at one of the team’s restaurants. I think this is a pretty cool idea. Depending on the price, it would be something I might consider doing. But I am sure this ticket, like all Red Sox tickets, would be very hard to get. Especially the Opening Day ticket, since he is projected to start it at Fenway against Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners. And if the Sox can’t do enough for Matsuzaka, Boras will. The agent says the Sox have pledged to give Matsuzaka a membership at one of the finest country clubs in the Boston area (still to be determined) and a round of golf at five of the most prestigious courses in the country, including Pebble Beach and Augusta National. It’s also in his contract that he has the right to 10 round-trip flights between Japan and Boston for each of the six years of his deal, for family, friends, and his own personal use. I find it interesting that we are finding out about more of the perks in his contract. It was known that he was receiving the 10 flights per year but nothing was said about the golf part. Can’t go wrong with playing Pebble Beach or Augusta. I have only played Pebble Beach on Tiger Woods Golf on Xbox. Maybe Nike will hook him up with a round of golf with Tiger Woods. My guess is that he will get his membership at the Brae Burn Country Club. Tomoyo Matsuzaka is a celebrity in her own right. “I was told in one meeting [with a tourism representative] that I needed to understand something,” Steedman said, “that they are the most popular couple in Japan, a cultural phenomenon, like a Brad and Angelina.” I am not even going to try and make up a nickname for them like “Brangelina.” The team will furnish bats to Matsuzaka, who won’t need them in a game until interleague play in June, but he’s on his own for gloves and shoes. Last month, Boras said, he negotiated a six-year, multimillion-dollar deal for Matsuzaka with Nike. Will there be a new Dice-K shoe? No plans to manufacture one yet, Boras said. How many homeruns will Dice-K have? I wonder if he has ever batted before. I hope they give him one corked one for batting practice. It was always fun watching the guys with corked bats take batting practice when I worked in the minor leagues. Of course, most of them were pitchers, who had previously done some hitting in college. “Like someone said in one of our meetings: The world is coming to Fenway,” Kennedy said. “We have a huge responsibility here. It’s like hosting an All-Star Game or a World Series. Every time he pitches, it will be a big deal. I have to agree with that statement. The Red Sox have now gone international. You will start to see people in Japan wearing Dice-K shirts and wearing Boston hats. I, for one, look forward to watching Matsuzaka pitch this season. I can only hope and pray that I get to witness him pitch in person. Like I said to start off this post, a really great article about all things Dice-K. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. TechnoratiTechnorati: , , , , , , ,