"Classic" Cases

After yesterday’s strange start from Daisuke Matsuzaka (5 2/3 IP, 8 Ks, 0 BBs, but 10 H and 5 ER), Red Sox followers from Provincetown to Portland can safely say that the Dice Man just isn’t himself this season.

The pitcher who went 18-3 last year now sits at 1-4 after six starts with an ERA at 7.33. This comes on the heels of a spring where he won the second World Baseball Classic MVP in as many tournaments. Matsuzaka went 3-0 and led Japan to another WBC title in March.

But what did it do to his preparation for the regular season, the one he plays for, and gets paid $6.5 million per season from, the Red Sox? It’s tough to pinpoint exactly what the early WBC start did, but there is one certainty: it wasn’t a good thing.

Dice-K gave up 5 runs in the first his second start of the season in Oakland. He never came back out to pitch the second frame and was placed on the disabled list a few days later with shoulder fatigue.

Anyone who understands what ERA means understands that pitching in the WBC had an adverse effect on Matsuzaka. But let’s look at the bigger picture. Out of the 6 major leaguers sent by the Red Sox to the WBC, three got injured (Dice-K, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia), one was so bad he was sent to the minors (Javier Lopez), and one may never be the same again (David Ortiz).

The only one left unscathed was Jason Bay, whose stint in the tournament was short he wasn’t gone from the Sox for much longer than a weekend.

The question here is not what the tournament did to five of these players, but what it might mean for players’ participation in the future. You could use the Sox as Exhibit A of why GMs, coaches and owners hate sending their players to a competitive international tournament well before they’ve undergone the proper preparations to start a season.

Of course Youk and Pedroia are now back in the lineup, Ortiz could have dropped off regardless of what he did this spring, and Dice-K could correct himself at some point. All had issues to start the season and it raises the question that at what point to teams decide to withhold their players from WBC for fear of starting the season in a hole that could prove insurmountable.

I’m not sure if clubs can legally keep players from participating, but I betcha one thing: they don’t want them to.

--Nick

Why Opening Day Rules

“Ladies and Gentlemen…Welcome to Fenway Park.”

It’s that time again. Dust off the mitt. Getcha cap out. Open a beer. Crack a peanut.

I can smell the Italian sausage and caramel Cracker Jacks from here.

It’s everyone’s favorite holiday: Opening Day. And for the first time in a while, we open at Fenway (which probably explains the 40-degree temperatures and freezing rains. Cool.)

I won’t get hyperbolic today because it’s a bit too cliché, but I will say this: Opening Day still rules. Here are five reasons why:

5) Day Games: Like it or not, baseball is made to be played in the day. Having games start at 1 or 2 is good not only to kill your work productivity, but it’s also an excuse to take the day off, or get the kids out to a game. Day games let you starting watching baseball from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. if you live on the East Coast. And you can’t complain about that.

4) Aces Wild: You have tons of aces going on the first day of the year. Today we have Beckett, Shields, Sabathia, Santana, Lee, Webb, Oswalt, Zambrano, Peavy, Halladay, Liriano, Hernandez, and Verlander. Wooo.

3) Fantasy baseball: You’d had your draft(s) weeks ago by now. You’ve made a few trades, scoured the waivers and set and reset your lineups until you got your team just right. You’re gonna win the championship. How could you not with this squad?? Today is the first day you get to put your boys to the test.

2) Baseball Tonight: The return to prominence of the greatest sports highlight show in the land begins today. Ravech, Gammons, Kruk, et al, are back and ready to give you web gems, diamond cutters, and most importantly, BOMBS. Get Out.

1) The End of Winter: The best and most important reason we still revere Opening Day. Forget March 21/22, THIS is the official end of winter right here. Once baseball is back, you know green vegetation, sun burns, ice cold drinks, short skirts and great weather are in your immediate future.

Play Ball.

---Nick