A day after Dice-K declared the Red Sox' training methods as the reason for his injuries (no word on whether he blamed them for his second chin and inability to throw a pitch down the middle), the team is striking back. And, as is the custom in Boston, they're doing it through the media. First, Tony Massarotti hits him, relaying that the team is "downright angry" at him, and that "the truth is that the Red Sox were tired of Matsuzaka's high-maintenance act a long time ago, but they kept their mouths shut and put up with it because Matsuzaka won games."
Then Dan Shaughnessy, who has long been a trusted messenger for the Sox, says "the Sox are steamed. Matsuzaka talked out of turn, infuriated his bosses and his teammates, and unwittingly took the focus away from Hall of Famer Jim Rice on the night the slugger's number was retired . . . It is reasonable to wonder if Matsuzaka will pitch again for the Sox this season. Or ever."
One wonders if Dice-K fully understands the influence the Boston media has on what happens on that team (and what influence team management has on the media). It's slow season in Beantown. The Bruins and Celtics are on hiatus and Patriots' camp is not yet at full speed. Between that and the Sox struggling of late, there is no way in hell that someone who talks out of turn the way Matsusaka did yesterday isn't going to be the subject of an epic beatdown.
Side note to all of this -- offered by longtime reader MooseinOhio: "I wonder if Scott Boras will continue comparing Stephen Strasburg's contract demands to Dice-K's as the evidence that is being put forth, and will continue to be put forth, on how Boston overpaid for his services continues to mount."
Good point.
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I am curious how this all plays out. Do you guys really believe the Sox are done with Dice-K? Maybe Dice-K goes to Toronto now for Halladay. Unlikely with his contract but i wouldn't be surprised if Theo offers him to Toronto now. Whats the age old expression, sell high. And Dice-K's worth may be on the verge of plummeting faster than the housing market.
I've been reading the Boston Globe for as long as Shaughnessy has been writing for them. I would hardly call his critical attacks on past management teams being "their messenger". If fact, he's written so infrequently about them in the past 2-3 years that I thought the Sox ownership had exiled him to Pat-Celtic-Bruin-Revolution land.
Dike-K? Can they trade him? Doubtful. Sell him back to a Japanese team for a large loss, but call it a win-win? After all, if Dice-K won in Japan and trained the way he liked training, and isnt' winning here and is complaining it is because of the change is training regimine, wouldn't that make the most sense? He can go back to being a national hero and the Sox can find someone who wants to be there and put them in the rotation.
Seems the most viable option available before this turns into a complete replay of the Manny debacle of ...pck a year.
Sayonara, Matsuzaki Dice-K, we'll be happy to watch you win - in Japan.
You post $51 million for the guy, pay him another $50 million, put up with his agent, Scott Boras, and this is what you get. I would say Halladay is now quite a bargain at any price. I just hope he stays in Toronto and everyone is miserable.
He's cooked in Beantown, he'll NEVER be able to pitch there again; even if the Sox for some reason still wanted him to. Baseball fans there NEVER forget a thing.
Dice-K has pretty much sold himself down the river here in Boston. Myself, I'm a big baseball fan, but I won't watch the Sox when he is throwing-- I'd rather go out and mow the lawn!!
Dice-K's value to the team is more than his pitching; as an icon in a totally baseball-obsessed culture, he has opened up a whole new market for the Red Sox. This is why they paid the $51 mil, not for his projected performance. They will not risk losing that market by trading or trashing him.
The Japanese are a proud people. They expect Dice-K to show the same dominance here as he did back home, and they take his performance very personally. We all know the media picks and chooses among quotes and facts to support their stories. Certainly Daisuke made these comments, but we have no way of knowing when and how he said them... and we certainly do know that the Japanese people would rather point the finger at the Red Sox for his failures as opposed to thinking less of their beloved star or their own training methods. I'm sure this story was very very popular in Japan, which of course is any reporter's goal.
One thing this incident demonstrates: that Dice-K has some maturing to do as an athlete. Most players encounter failure earlier in their careers, unsually sometime between AA and their rookie year in the bigs, and this is a crucial part of a player's development. Every once in awhile, a player is so dominant that he doesn't encounter serious emotional challenges until injury or conditioning issues affect performance. These elite athletes often react like spoiled children... so used to being on top that they can't accept responsibility for failure, because they have so little experience with it.
If anyone can handle the interpersonal awkwardness of this kind of betrayal, it's Tito. The Red Sox and Dice-K will move on... and when Dice-K starts pitching like the sub-ace he's supposed to be, we fans will move on, too.
Dice-K really stepped in it now! We all know how loyal the Boston media is to the Sox. Once you diss the Sox, everyone in that town is out to get you.
The Sox and the Hoodie. Don't cross em or you're in deep $hit!