Daisuke Matsuzaka

Daisuke Matsuzaka
松坂 大輔
Matsuzaka with the New York Mets in 2014
Pitcher
Born: (1980-09-13) September 13, 1980 (age 43)
Koto Ward, Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
NPB: April 7, 1999, for the Seibu Lions
MLB: April 5, 2007, for the Boston Red Sox
Last appearance
MLB: September 25, 2014, for the New York Mets
NPB: October 19, 2021, for the Saitama Seibu Lions
NPB statistics
Win–loss record114–65
Earned run average3.04
Strikeouts1,410
MLB statistics
Win-loss record56–43
Earned run average4.45
Strikeouts720
Teams
Career highlights and awards
NPB

MLB

Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Japan
World Baseball Classic
Gold medal – first place 2006 San Diego Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Los Angeles Team
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team
Asian Baseball Championship
Silver medal – second place 1999 Seoul Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Sapporo Team

Daisuke Matsuzaka (松坂 大輔, Matsuzaka Daisuke, [matsɯꜜzaka daꜜisɯ̥ke]; born September 13, 1980) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber[citation needed]. Daisuke is nicknamed "the Monster of the Heisei Era" (平成の怪物, heisei no kaibutsu)[1][2] in Japan and "Dice-K" in the United States[3] by The Boston Globe[4][5] and USA Today.[6] He played for the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Saitama Seibu Lions, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Matsuzaka was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze medalist.[7]

He is the first player to have won both a World Series and a World Baseball Classic, winning the 2006 World Baseball Classic with Team Japan and the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox.[8]

  1. ^ Ellsesser, Stephen (September 27, 2006). "Marines rough up Matsuzaka; Lions fail to grab No. 1 seed". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  2. ^ "Lost in translation?". The Boston Globe. December 15, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  3. ^ Brown, Tim (December 18, 2006). "At the letters: Shooting Dais". Yahoo!. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference whitingchat2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Edes, Gordon (December 7, 2006). "Getting dicey with Matsuzaka". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  6. ^ Nightengale, Bob (November 7, 2006). "Auction for Japanese pitcher Matsuzaka may be pitched battle". USA Today. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  7. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (March 21, 2006). "World Baseball Classic: News". World Baseball Classic. Archived from the original on November 12, 2006. Retrieved November 12, 2006.
  8. ^ "ワールドシリーズとワールド・ベースボール・クラシックの両方で優勝を経験した選手一覧", Wikipedia (in Japanese), December 11, 2019, retrieved December 17, 2019.