Matsuzaka Fever!

Dice K has been news in Japan since the Red Sox signed him. This has been great for me, as now, I can turn on the TV and see my old friends the Red Sox almost every day.

When I first arrived, the Yankees and the Mariners dominated American baseball news. Ichiro can be seen on TV even on variety shows which is a lot of fun. Aside from a stint on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, American baseball players are really only seen talking after baseball games. It can be quite funny to see Ichiro eating strange food or gambling on TV for his Japanese fans. He is incredibly popular and one of my young students dreams of going to Seattle just to see him play!

My hope is that Dice K fever will make Boston the place to go in America for Japanese tourists. I love talking about personal experiences with students and I feel like baseball has brought us closer. I will proudly rock my Red Sox cap when the weather agrees (even though most Japanese women only sport baseball caps at the stadiums) and I think it will be appreciated. Even better, I will be able to watch sports updates on the news here in Japan. Tonight I watched good old Curt Shilling practice his Japanese for the media. It was funny to see it and understand his mispronunciations, but totally cute as well. Hopefully someday I'll meet Daisuke Matsuzaka and be able to introduce myself properly as a fan. In the meantime my father and I are on the lookout to find the next Japanese baseball star to come to America. When my dad visits in April we'll be watching a game for sure.