Daisuke Matsuzaka Was Supposed to Break Baseball 

Goes to show how much more we need to appreciate the Ichiro's, Hideki's, and Shohei's

As a Red Sox fan, his 2008 season was the most nerve wracking and uncomfortable season I've ever experienced from a pitcher with a record and ERA as good as his was. It felt like every start he'd be at 100 pitches by the 5th inning with tons of traffic on the bases, but would somehow fight his way through without giving up too much damage.

250 pitches in a 17 inning game is absurd

When Dice K had his surgery, i remember all the discussions about how Japan's high school tournament shortened his career. It's just crazy to me how many pitches these kids throw in these games. Many of these kids say that they don't care if they blow out their arm. They just want to win the tournament. It's admirable, but how many great careers has this tournament shortened or even ruined?

Dice-K was the cover star of MLB Power Pros and had the best pitching stats of anyone in that game, he was absolutely being hyped up as the pitching Ichiro

Glad the video conclusion was positive. As a teenage Sox fan, I was stoked for his arrival, and ultimately remember him for helping win the World Series. Same way we still love Bronson Arroyo and Shane Victorino even though they only had a couple good years -- they did it when it mattered most.

He pitched way too much back in Japan. His arm was dead

Dice-K would walk the bases loaded and somehow ALWAYS get out of it

It's true that he only lasted two years before his arm blew out, but in those two years - he was 33-15, he started 7 playoff games and the Sox won 6 of them, and he helped win the 08 World Series. You know something? Today I'd pay $51 million for that.

Dice K is legend in Boston his 10k game were amazing and seeing fan his name with the strike out board, show how much Boston loved him. He’s still baseball legend.

I saw one of his first starts at Fenway. The place was electric.

I'm glad you mentioned his postseason. Yeah he wasnt having a Bumgarner or Morris like postseason, but a team needs performance from the whole lineup and Matsuzaka did admirably.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is the reason why I’m a Japanese baseball fan. I think seeing him play changed the course of my life, too. I would later live in Japan for three years and make a lot of friends in the country.

I remember visiting Japan in 2019 and having the fortune of seeing Dice-K pitch in one of his last years playing professionally. He was pulled after only 0.1IP and giving up 8ER. Yeah.

This was probably the most hyped athlete of my childhood for me. I thought he was going to be the pitching version of Ichiro. Turns out he had a couple of meh seasons and went MIA. However, we got Dustin Pedroia that year, someone we never expected would be as good as he was. I really hope Pedey stays on the ballot and eventually makes it in the hall. He deserves it.

Being a New Englander and a Red Sox fan at age 12 in 2007, the hype surrounding Daisuke was immense. Everyone was talking about him, even people who weren’t baseball. He was on newspaper and magazine covers, his jerseys were everywhere. The only thing I can compare it to is Tom Brady in terms of his presence in the region.

The 2 baseball games I played the most as a kid both used 07 rosters (Backyard Baseball and The Bigs), so this dude will always be a GOAT to me with that awesome gyro ball

He was definitely a big-game pitcher! Sure Cy Young awards are great but do we really care how they pitched during the season?

12:40 see? They were right to spend on him instead of Zito! Jokes aside, Dice-K is a fucking legend. In Boston, Japan, and everywhere in between.

the hype around DiceK and the Gyro Ball was Through The Roof... fax!!!

Thank you for mentioning the misinformation that surrounded the gyroball back then! Funny that the pitch that was misidentified in 2005 as a gyroball would come back in 2023 as the sweeper slider, and that the pitch called a "backup slider" back then would reemerge in 2023 as the gyro-slider.

Those who are born in 1980 are usually not classified as either Gen X or Millennium. It is nice among Japanese Sociology scholars those folks are called Matsuzaka generation (I am serious). That is how sensationally generationally talented Daisuke Matsuzaka was.

If you notice a trend with a lot of these Japanese pitchers, they come over here with a legendary splitter, for a year or 2 it works until the league figures out that they don't throw it for strikes. The spin on a splitter compared to a fastball, depending on the grip, can be recognized, it's the arm speed and release point that makes it hard to lay off. Once batters recognize it, they lay off. That's one of the reasons Kevin Gausmans splitter is so good, he can throw it for strikes. If you notice later in his career Tanaka started throwing sliders early in the count to set up either the fastball or splitter and became a big game pitcher even as he got older. What makes Ohtani so effective, when he throws strikes, is he throws 100 at the knees then the splitter stays on the same plane. We haven't seen someone from Japan throw that hard before. It also helps that he has a great slider. That's why the 3rd pitch is so important

Well, Seibu Lions fans are very grateful for Daisuke and Boston Red Sox. I mean, Seibu Dome was built with the posting fee by Red Sox for the right for Matsuzaka. That $51,111,111.11 posting fees. and they forever grateful with Red Sox for that.

3:14 And shortening his Career by 5 years. That's inhuman.

The season he came into the MLB he was already a legend. I had just started getting back into the sports card community. And as fast he burst onto the scene was as fast as he disappeared from highlights and commentary. Speaking of 2007 rookie pitchers, Tim Lincecum had the same happen to him, but he had three rings (in five years) and it’s a bummer. Lots of players have similar stories. But when it happens to a huge superstar there’s always the “what if” factor that gets debated for decades.

It's rather tragic how much the injuries messed with him later on. After recovering from surgery, he was only a shadow of ehat he used to be and took quite a long time to regain his footing even after he returned to Japan.

Dude, Nomo throws the forkball

I was there for his debut in KC! He’ll forever be one of my favorite Red Sox players

Daisuke came in and delivered at every level he ever played at. Some of the greatest superstars ever never got to experience the level of winning Daisuke Matsuzaka had. His accomplishments are something to behold.

He was better than Kei Igawa, that's for sure.

I vividly remember when Daisuke came over from Japan. It was indeed incredible hype. He lived up to it too for the most part. His first two seasons were great for a new player coming from a foreign league. Some people that don’t follow baseball closely don’t realize they play a high level of baseball in Japan. Daisuke was a legit high level starter. As stated in the video, his clutch performances in the playoffs, World Series, and WBC are more than enough to be proud of as a player. He didn’t turn out to be an all-timer, but he it was a successful career.

Thanks for this 😊

Dice K took like 20 minutes between pitches. I'm afraid that's all I really remember about him.

Haven’t even started the vid yet but I always love any Dice-K recognition ❤️

We loved him in Boston. Was worth every penny.

A gyro ball is 100% a slider that “backs up.” You’ll hear announcers say that term every now and then. If a pitcher has a sharp slider with high spin rate, it dives away from hitters. But release it slightly earlier? The ball spins like it’s going to break, but doesn’t. Good hitters recognize the “shape” of the pitch in the seams of the ball coming in, and if you’re guessing for a pitch to break away and it stays straight, it “backs up” on you as you’re diving out over the plate. This, when executed on command, would be a lethal pitch in an arsenal because it would be indistinguishable from a slider, making both the slider and gyro more effective. I’ve never seen a player able to intentionally throw a gyro though. The nastiest ones happen completely by accident when the pitcher lets the slider go too early and it slips out of the hand. This is why Dice-K’s gyro videos looked like sliders and why he said he rarely threw it in games or only did by accident.

I remember after his first start against a miserable Kansas City team the media was ready to put him into the Hall of Fame.

Throwing a gyroball isn't as hard you may think. I learned how to throw it back in high school because I thought it was neat, but I understand why it isn't really a viable pitch. Other pitches do what it tries to do and better.

As a braves fan, id love to see the something on Kenshin. Most people forget he was in the league

Daisuke is a legend regardless

Awesome video I was actually at that opening day and his office big league start it was really cool seeing him pitch that pitch I was lucky enough to sit behind home plate and you wzvhouldnt have believed the motion and the way it looked coming out of his hand. 🎉 Thanks again for the awesome content

I needed this video. I always wondered what happened to him.

Such a short lived career but did so much in that time. Loved watching this dude pitch.

Hes crazy in Bigs 2 tho always hated having to face him 😭

Daisuke Matsuzaka wore out his arm playing very competitive SHS and JPB baseball. He never really recovered after the TJ surgery.

I remember some of those red sox years and he had great run support in his starts

Timely enough Matsuzaka talked about this Gyroball thing just days ago in a podcast. He said that he has nothing to do with the naming and it's probably a cutter that sometimes didn't quite cut.

This is the best baseball RU-vid channel I watch, instant queue when I see a video pop up!

I think he would've been a better pitcher today with proper coaching and planning around pitch tunneling or just going after hitters like Darvish does. His arsenal was so good but he was so irritating to watch because he'd do nothing but try to paint corners so he'd end up with 9 strikeouts and 5 walks while barely getting through 5 innings.

At the time I didn't know Matsuzaka was so hyped up I was just glad he showed out for my favorite team

Omg the hype run he had before he become a Red Sox pitcher was crazy, that crazy pitch thag he supposedly made up, what a time to be a young baller

I think sometimes us as fans put to much pressure on guys that come over instead of just letting them play

I remember the overhype as it was during my senior year of high school. People on ESPN were talking about having a separate ROTY award for international rookies; then the award ended up going to his teammate, Dustin Pedroia.

Dude has a great career, nothing to be ashamed of.

6 years/$52 million in salary gone. AND $51.1 million in bidding rights. Huge historical L for the Sox

As a Sox fan I have to say the second world baseball classic is what killed his career. He had spent a year in the mlb with a pitch count and different types of training. He was clearly over pitched in that wbc when he was back in the Japanese system. If he didn’t have a year with a pitch count he might not have needed tommy John just my opinion though

Gyroball, what a name.

I remember the Daisuke hype. As a Yankees fan I was very scared when I learned he joined the Red Sox

long story short: gyroball hype = massive contract from silly Americans

As a Royals fan, his debut came against us, so that must’ve been a red flag

I feel that pitchers who come from Japan are already on the downturn by the time they come over to the states. I also think many of them can't adjust to the 5-man rotations we use. While some had decently long careers (Nomo comes to mind), I really can't think of anyone who was dominant for any stretch of time.

On a family trip to Toronto, we went to a Baseball game as red sox fans. My cousin was wearing a DiceK jersey and a Japanese photographer was very excited to see that and took his picture during pregame

Dice K was an important part of that 2007 team tho, he helped win a championship his very first year one of the best pitchers in baseball. He fell off every year afterwards tho which was disappointing

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a name a will never forget that man sent fear into me when i was a kid watching yankees games

Masahiro Tanaka also deserved a shutout. In his final season in the NPB before playing for the Yankees he had an undefeated season.

Had a ton of hype and was really good at first. Hopefully this isn’t what Senga will be like because he also allows a ton of walks.

Ah Daisuke, I was so hyped for him. Shame he didn't really pan out. Thanks SportStorm.

Whenever a Japanese player seems to be really good, all the «break baseball» talk starts again

Remembering they paid 50mil just to negotiate makes me feel better that the twins paid 5mil to negotiate with Nishioka… at least the Red Sox got a solid if not great starter for a few years. We got nothing of they sort.

now do Masahiro Tanaka plz

Daisuke was better than prime Randy Johnson in Power Pros 2007

Still a superstar 100%

Nomo was amazing!

One of the hardest nicknames in baseball 🔥

RIP to my Dice-K jersey 🤣

I miss pitchers hitting 🥲

What the heck am I watching? That pitch is outrageous

I liked Dice-K I was rooting for him! Not a red Sox fan but I liked watching him pitch!

Do a video about Odubel Herrera.

For RedSox ….don’t forget Koji Uehara🎉

He def was a sight to behold.

Gyroball doesn't spin sideways that's called a slider. Gyroball spins in a spiral not sideways. slider spins this way⬅ and the gyroball spins this way 🔃 . And It doesn't stay straight it drops a lot and breaks late toward the glove side.

great video. subscribed.

He was a good pitcher, but if Randy Johnson didn’t break baseball nobody can or ever will.

Good video

If i had a nickel for every time barry zito was mentioned in this video, id have two nickels. Which isnt much, but its weird that it happened twice.

Japanese pitchers come to the MLB and throw half as much. That’s why majority of them have arm issues after a few years here. Nolan Ryan was right. Pitchers need to throw more.

7:22 interesting newspaper

Good video but only told the results. But it doesn't dive into why. DM had his pitching regimen in happen which allowed him to pitch more then 150 pitches per game. Then after the game, he would throw another 50 pitches in a bullpen session. Boston completely changed that abs wouldn't let him care for his arm as he had been doing since HS. DM was not happy about the restrictions and pitch count and how Boston changed everything. One could speculate that it was Bostons way of caring for arms ruined him. If he had been allowed to care for his arm as he always has, perhaps he would be that guy who changed baseball.

Holy shit I totally forgot about this dude

He was baseball when we believed the gyroball was real

I would never pay 110$ for a shirt a guy signed. Do not get these autograph guys. And why would i want "game worn cleats"? You mean dirty shoes?

I remember the hype surrounding Matsuzaka's eventual arrival to MLB started 2 full years before he ended up actually coming. He was begging Seibu to post him; even going to the Japanese media to further add pressure. In the deep baseball nerd circles I was tangent to at the time, it got caught and translated and slowly made ripples. It all started in the fan circles of the then-only deeply Japanese-connected team, the Mariners. Those ripples started to become waves prior to the 2007 season when the rumor was that he was going to posted that year. It then got delayed and he was posted "on time" -- the season before his what would have been his final mandatory NPB service year before FA. From the chatter and rumors from 06-08, what I recall about most about the hype surrounding Matsuzaka's supposed gyroball wasn't about its supposed crazy movement or any other claims of supposed qualities as a pitch. It was its supposed protection supposedly granted to the elbow from his motion with it. The most common description from the time was akin to "the opposite of a slider". Most ways baseball pitchers will throw a slider is to supinate the hand, forearm and shoulder -- turn the wrist with the thumb finishing outside the arm and/ or on top and the elbow down. Supposedly, Matsuzaka threw his supposed gyroball with the opposite twist. He pronated his arm -- turning the wrist with the thumb finishing inside the arm and/ or on the bottom and his elbow on top/ outside. This, as you described is also just how most people will throw a football. Pronating -- purportedly -- is/ was much healthier for the elbow. It was used to explain why he could do what he did in high school. It was used to explain why he could handle NPB workloads. It was used to explain how he could have a career while heavily using both a slider and a splitter -- the #1 and #2 biggest elbow-killer pitches (supposedly). The supposed logic was that his gyroball was not an actual pitch in of itself, but a mechanics difference in how he threw his pitches. He (supposedly) pronated all of his pitches; including the normally supinated slider.

Isn't a gyroball just a hanging slider?

Yu darvish 😅

I never understand the crazy hype for a player that has already played 8+ years of pro ball before they come to US for MLB. ESPECIALLY A PITCHER. Those guys are all past their prime at that point, and have a TON of mileage on them. They are NEVER going to be as good as they were for more than a season or two. I get the idea of making a lot of money from Japanese fans and all, but it's never worth it in the end, on the field anyway.

6:57 Butunbeknownst

Idk how any Japanese players have success in MLB. The stress and pressure has to be just enormous.

I thought Okajima was more valuable to the Sox during that time.