Think back to February 15th when Japanese phenom, Daisuke Matsuzaka had this to say about playing catch with Tim Wakefield:

(Question in Japanese: Have you found a throwing partner here? Have you found someone you like to catch with?)

The easiest person to throw with is Mr. Okijawa. I want to maybe catch with Wakefield – I want to try to catch his knuckleball.

A few days later, Wakefield said he would be willing to teach Dice-K the knuckleball. So on Saturday, Wakefield was breaking in a new catcher, Matsuzaka. They were playing catch when Wake decided to break out the knuckler.

Matsuzaka wasn’t in a full catcher’s crouch per se, nor was he wearing any gear. At first he was standing, then he was in a half-crouch trying to get his glove on the darn thing. Most of the time, his feet were going one way, while his glove hand went the other.

Then Matsuzaka would break out in a huge grin and laugh after he finally caught the ball. No doubt, Wakefield was giggling on the other end, although he’s probably seen worse.

After the session ended, Matsuzaka and Wakefield bowed and shook hands. Before the workout concluded, Dice-K walked over toward the fence where Japanese photographers were filming his every movement and attempted to recreate what just happened. He was animated, using his hands to try to describe the movement on Wakefield’s pitch.

Later, he told the Japanese press he was “awed” by the pitch, and that it “moves on a whim.”

“All of the balls didn’t come back the same way,” Matsuzaka said through a translator. “The movement on the ball is different every time.”

He told Japanese reporters the ball went so slowly he could see the stitching of the laces.

Once a very good hitter, Matsuzaka was asked if he thought he could get a bat on the ball. His answer? “It’s impossible.”

Matsuzaka has expressed an interest in learning how to throw the pitch, to go along with his half-dozen others, but the mechanics don’t quite fit with his delivery.

“I can’t throw that pitch,” he said, shaking his head as he listened to the translation.

I would have paid any amount of money to see that happening at Red Sox camp. I’ve caught knuckleballs before but I know that they were nowhere near as good as Wakefield’s. On another level, I think this is a great thing in the transition to the Red Sox for Matsuzaka. He is showing he can be just one of the boys and with the Red Sox you need that. Gone are the “self proclaimed idiots” but there is still a cohesive group in the clubhouse.