Paul, I hear this morning on the radio that the Red Sox have
signed Matsuzaka for what amounts to $15 million a year. I
mentioned the pitcher in my column on the World Baseball Tournament
last March:
"Japan's superb starting pitcher, Daisuke (I think of him as
Duke) Matsuzaka, regularly brought a hummer of a fastball to the
plate at 95 miles per hour. And he could throw nasty breaking
pitches. He was named the tournament's most valuable player, and no
wonder."
How long will it take before local sportcasters start
pronouncing his first name right? Gil Santos, as you noted, says
"Dice-Kay." It's Die-Soo-Kay. In golf, announcers had no trouble
with new player Daisuke Maruyama. In fact, golf announcers noted
carefully that one should say Die-Soo-Kay, not Die-Soo-Kee. The
latter is an endearment for a woman.