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March 23, 2008
Daisuke Matsuzaka will become only the second Japanese pitcher to pitch a season opener for his team Tuesday. Hideo Nomo did so three times -- once with Detroit in 2000 and twice with the Dodgers in his second stint with the team (2003 and 2004).
Matsuzaka will also be just the second pitcher --excluding American-born pitchers -- to start a season in his native country. Canadian-born Ryan Dempster opened the season for the Florida Marlins in Montreal in 2002.
Hideki Okajima, who pitched Sunday, took his bullpen mates to a traditional Japanese restaurant, where they dined on a number of exotic menu choices, including beef tongue...Boston's season opener with the A's Tuesday night -- March 25 -- will represent the earliest start in major league history...It will mark the sixth straight time and 12th time in the last 13 years that the Sox have opened on the road, though never, obviously, this far from home...The last time the Sox and A's met to open the season was in 1998, which marked Pedro Martinez's first regular season appearance for the Sox.
Posted by Peter Phipps 
at 11:34 AM | Permalink
