Daisuke Matsuzaka

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. Daisuke is nicknamed "the Monster of the Heisei Era" (平成の怪物, heisei no kaibutsu) in Japan and "Dice-K" in the United States by The Boston Globe and USA Today. 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).

Daisuke Matsuzaka
松坂 大輔
Matsuzaka with the New York Mets in 2014
Pitcher
Born: (1980-09-13) September 13, 1980
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
  • 7× All-Star (1999–2001, 2004–2006, 2018)
  • Japan Series champion (2004, 2017)
  • Eiji Sawamura Award (2001)
  • Pacific League Rookie of the Year (1999)
  • 7× Mitsui Golden Glove Award (1999–2001, 2003–2006)
  • Best Nine Award (1999–2001)
  • Comeback Player of the Year (2018)
  • 3× NPB wins leader (1999–2001)
  • 2× NPB ERA leader (2003, 2004)
  • 4× NPB strikeout leader (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005)

MLB

  • World Series champion (2007)
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Japan
World Baseball Classic
2006 San Diego Team
2009 Los Angeles Team
Olympic Games
2004 Athens Team
Asian Baseball Championship
1999 Seoul Team
2003 Sapporo Team

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

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.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.