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.