Pages

▼

March 24, 2009

WBC MVP: Matsuzaka (Again)

Japan defended its World Baseball Classic title and Daisuke Matsuzaka was again named as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was MVP of the 2006 WBC after pitching Japan to victory in the final game.

Dice won all three of his starts and had a 2.45 ERA. In 14.2 innings, he allowed four runs on 14 hits along with five walks and 13 strikeouts. He believed teammate Hisashi Iwakuma should have won:
I'm really thankful about the MVP. I didn't think that it was going to be me at all. I felt that I was lucky, and I felt that it couldn't be compared to Mr. Iwakuma, who pitched today. So I felt that Iwakuma would get the MVP myself.
Dice is probably right. Iwakuma pitched 7.2 strong innings in last night's game -- which Japan won 5-3, in 10 innings -- and ended the WBC with a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings over four games.

It is not inconceivable that Selig et al. would much prefer a MLB player to win the award, rather than a starter for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Matsuzaka had a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings in 2006. His combined WBC stats: 6-0, 1.95 in 27.2 innings.
at

6 comments:

  1. timMarch 24, 2009 at 5:45 AM

    Funny how there's nothing about this on the Globe front page - you'd think what with all the WBC injury coverage they've posted so far, this would be the pinnacle for them. But no, Schilling still dominates the front page, hell, that shitty Mazz article I commented about yesterday telling Sox fans they should be scared about Dice-K is higher up on the pecking order than a little article that says Japan won WBC and Ichiro went 4-6.

    Can tell where their priorities are....

    ReplyDelete
  2. FenFanMarch 24, 2009 at 8:05 AM

    Actually, what I was disappointed in was that the finale was started so late in the evening (9:30 EDT). That's even later than some of these playoff starts! If the USA had been one of the teams then I would have watched at least the first few innings but, instead, I read about it this morning and missed what sounded like a great game (I'm usually up at 5:00 AM on weekdays).

    I listened to Mazz comment on Schill's career this morning on SportsDesk. Does this guy ever prepare for these interviews? Maybe it's the whiny high-pitched voice that sounds like someone's pinching his berries...

    ReplyDelete
  3. andyMarch 24, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    We all marvel over how Dice does so well with all the walks. This is just his game. He is simply good. Can we all agree on that now?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pepe LepewMarch 24, 2009 at 12:55 PM

    Congrats, Dice-K! Hope you didn't make your arm tired.

    ReplyDelete
  5. laura kMarch 24, 2009 at 2:11 PM

    Congratulations, Dice!

    I wonder how much bitching about the WBC there'll be on gamethreads.

    ReplyDelete
  6. andyMarch 24, 2009 at 6:03 PM

    WBC over now. Let's all agree to move on too.

    ReplyDelete