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Hard to believe, but the Major League Baseball season begins early Tuesday morning (6:05 ET, ESPN2) in Japan when the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox - WagerWeb.com +400 favorites to win the Series this year - face the Oakland’s.
And as if most opposing teams didn’t have enough of Red Sox Nation here in the U.S., Boston basically will have homefield advantage on Tuesday because national hero Daisuke Matsuzka is pitching for the champs.
The stage was set for Matsuzaka to pitch the opener when Red Sox ace Josh Beckett suffered a back injury during the spring.
"I am happy to return to Japan as a member of the world championship team," said Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40 ERA in 2007). "I am honored to be selected as the Opening Day starter."
Because the Red Sox would usually still be in Spring Training at this point, Sox manager Terry Francona will keep an eye on Matsuzaka's workload. Six innings and 85-90 pitches could be a reasonable estimate for a man who once threw 250 pitches in a high school game.
"There's no doubt, it's Opening Day, and he’s pitching in the country where he grew up. He's going to have a little more adrenaline," said Francona. "We'll certainly keep an eye on the amount of innings, pitch count."
Matsuzaka was 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his lone start against Oakland in 2007 with eight strikeouts in seven winnings.
Dice-K will be opposed by Oakland’s Joe Blanton. As if having to face Matsuzaka wasn't enough, Blanton will be making the first Opening Day start of his career and his debut as Oakland's probable ace."I'm pitching against him but not facing him," Blanton said. "I'm facing the hitters so I just go out there and pitch my best and try not to worry about the other stuff."
Since making his debut as a starter in the 2005, Blanton has been a model of consistency for the A's, winning 42 games over three seasons while making at least 32 starts each year.
Blanton, who went 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA last season for Oakland, said he has had more than enough time to adjust to the conditions in Tokyo.
"After we got here we've had two games and another day to practice," said Blanton (0-1, 4.66 ERA in three starts vs. Boston last year). "So I think the timing for Tuesday is pretty much perfect."
Prior to taking on the Red Sox, the A's swept two games at the Tokyo Dome against the Nippon Baseball League's Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers. Of course, Boston also went 2-0 against those Japanese teams.
Boston’s Francona said rookie center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, effective as the leadoff hitter in last year's World Series, probably will bat toward the bottom of the order in the opener.
"You put a young player a little bit at risk when you put him right at the top of the lineup early on," Francona said. "I know what he hit last year. It was impressive, but you're still trying to develop guys."
Ellsbury batted .353 in 33 regular-season games and .438 in the World Series sweep of Colorado.
Oakland, meanwhile, will be without starting 3B Eric Chavez, who didn't make the trip after having two shoulder surgeries and one back operation in the last six months. He’s likely to be sidelined a while.
Boston and Oakland return to the U.S. for three more exhibition games, and then they wrap up this “four-game” series in Oakland on April 1 and 2. The teams were 4-4 against each other last season.
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