Post by Fish Troll on Feb 14, 2007 23:39:03 GMT -5
Departing words
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff
Daisuke Matsuzaka surprised Sox officials as he left the training facility when he turned to speak briefly with the reporters who had hung around to record his departure for posterity.
His biggest revelation? His locker in camp is between catcher Jason Varitek and Hideki Okajima, the other Japanese pitcher who is on the Sox big-league roster.
Matsuzaka expressed great satisfaction about lockering next to 'Tek, who has been sent videos of past Matsuzaka outings to study, and also spoke by phone with Dice-K after he'd signed with the club. Varitek is Matsuzaka's favorite player, according to Dice-K's agent, Scott Boras, who coincidentally represents Varitek, too.
"I will try to communicate with Varitek as much as possible in order to have a good relationship,'' Matsuzaka said, as translated by Gaku Tashiro, veteran reporter for Sankei Sports, whose colleague, Dai Yuasa, was part of the Dice-K stakeout. "I want to play catch with him soon, but maybe Mr. Okajima will be my first partner.
"I am learning teammates' names and faces right now. By talking to Varitek, I would like to know my teammates deeply.''
George Kottaras, the new catcher in camp who was doing catching drills when the Sox were looking for someone to play catch with Dice-K, had nice things to say about Matsuzaka.
"He seems like he is a great guy, just playing catch with him,'' Kottaras said. "He's smiling at me, we were having fun with it. We just went out there to do a job.''
Most communication, Kottaras said, went through a translator. Matsuzaka spoke once in English, when he said "sorry" after one of his throws nearly got away from Kottaras. The catcher, meanwhile, tried out a couple of phrases of Japanese he'd picked up when he was with the Padres and two years ago caught Japanese pitcher Akinori Otsuka.
Read more comments from Kottaras in tomorrow’s Globe.
By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff
Daisuke Matsuzaka surprised Sox officials as he left the training facility when he turned to speak briefly with the reporters who had hung around to record his departure for posterity.
His biggest revelation? His locker in camp is between catcher Jason Varitek and Hideki Okajima, the other Japanese pitcher who is on the Sox big-league roster.
Matsuzaka expressed great satisfaction about lockering next to 'Tek, who has been sent videos of past Matsuzaka outings to study, and also spoke by phone with Dice-K after he'd signed with the club. Varitek is Matsuzaka's favorite player, according to Dice-K's agent, Scott Boras, who coincidentally represents Varitek, too.
"I will try to communicate with Varitek as much as possible in order to have a good relationship,'' Matsuzaka said, as translated by Gaku Tashiro, veteran reporter for Sankei Sports, whose colleague, Dai Yuasa, was part of the Dice-K stakeout. "I want to play catch with him soon, but maybe Mr. Okajima will be my first partner.
"I am learning teammates' names and faces right now. By talking to Varitek, I would like to know my teammates deeply.''
George Kottaras, the new catcher in camp who was doing catching drills when the Sox were looking for someone to play catch with Dice-K, had nice things to say about Matsuzaka.
"He seems like he is a great guy, just playing catch with him,'' Kottaras said. "He's smiling at me, we were having fun with it. We just went out there to do a job.''
Most communication, Kottaras said, went through a translator. Matsuzaka spoke once in English, when he said "sorry" after one of his throws nearly got away from Kottaras. The catcher, meanwhile, tried out a couple of phrases of Japanese he'd picked up when he was with the Padres and two years ago caught Japanese pitcher Akinori Otsuka.
Read more comments from Kottaras in tomorrow’s Globe.
www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/02/a_dicek_sandwic.html
