Matsuzaka -- He's Got The Glitz

From the sterility of their flying saucer like dome, to the plastic
green of their playing field to the bleached blue lining of their milk
white uniforms to the out-of-date cartoon character on their emblem. They
are just dull.

A bunch of fleet footed fielders who run and catch as well as anyone,
but play offense with the charisma of cardboard. Lots of singles. Lots
of men left on base. The line-up doesn't scare people and it doesn't draw
fans either. Buried in the lackluster of the team's vanilla attack, even
shortstop Kazuo Matsui, one of Japan's best ballplayers, fails to capture
the media regard he deserves.

On the mound, the pitching staff rates as perhaps the best in the land.
And perhaps the most boring. Interchangeable right-handers with excellent
control and not much pizzazz. Not a real star, not a pure power pitcher
among them.

With, of course, one fabulous exception...

Daisuke Matsuzaka. Who, in just his second year, carries the flair,
the fire and the favor of the entire Seibu team.

And in all likelihood their pennant hopes as well.

Matsuzaka, to be fair, is not responsible for much of the madness that
surrounds his every move. The press crowned him its darling while he was
still in high school and then, when his rookie season exceeded expectations,
Matsuzaka media fever shot beyond the boiling point. At present, the mercury
shows no signs of dropping whatsoever. To his credit, the 19 year old has
handled success surprisingly well -- thanks mainly to the twin blessings
of a cherubic grin and a 95 mile an hour fastball.

Now the question is how will Matsuzaka handle the sophomore jinx?

Probably with the same mastery he has handled every challenge since
his championship days at Yokohama High. If pressure was going to crack
Matsuzaka, it would have happened a long time ago. While Fumiya Nishiguchi
is still the designated "ace" of the Lions staff, the focus of the nation
changes each time the boy wonder takes the mound. Talk about pizzazz! Matsuzaka
by himself has more fans than some entire teams! Whenever he pitches, Seibu
is guaranteed the daily double -- both a packed house and equal TV news
time with the Giants.

Yet, despite all the mind numbing hype, Matsuzaka continues to throttle
the opposition. Last year, at age 18, he led the league with 16 wins in
a season that saw Seibu fall one breath short of a berth in the Japan Series.
And this with very little batting pop behind him.

Lions hitters can't possibly be so bad two years in a row, which means
a pitching effort equal to last year's should propel Matsuzaka near 20
wins and a probable shot at the Japan Series championship.

But that's only one of the laurels that could await him. Matsuzaka is
also the top arm on Japan's Sydney Olympic team, the first time professionals
have ever been allowed to compete for the baseball gold. If Matsuzaka can
lead the Japan team to a world title against other pros, he will jump in
status from national hero to Japanese legend -- in the very same month
he becomes a legal adult.

And ... if he brings home the gold and THEN takes Seibu to a Japan Series
Championship -- especially over the Giants -- the press may have to invent
new words to describe him. What comes after "legend!?" This fall we may
all find out.

That discovery and the resulting attention is more than welcomed by
the yawny Lions. Plus the entire Pacific League. For the first time since
... well, since ever ... the shabbier league has a star to rival anyone
on the Giants or anybody else in the prestigious Central League. Ichiro,
Nomo, Ochiai, Nomura, Kaneda -- you can go back into Pacific League lore
as far as you want -- there has never been anyone with the glitz of Matsuzaka.

In fact, if Matsuzaka can keep it up, the resulting fever might one
day re-arrange the entire pecking order of Japanese baseball.

Let's face it. There would be nothing bland about that at all.