FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The most exciting moment of lunch with Daisuke Matsuzaka? That would have to have been when he became unusually animated while answering a question regarding the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. His arms were flying around and we didn't know what he was saying when suddenly his right forearm bumped hard into the wooden table in front of him. He winced. Only a little. He seemed to be OK.
And so we asked his interpreter, "What was he talking about?"
"He was talking about when Pedro Martínez threw Don Zimmer to the ground," said translator Masa Hoshino.
Media lunch with Dice-K was an idea put forth by Red Sox publicist John Blake and it took place yesterday in a quiet corner of the dining room of the Colonial Country Club, overlooking a man-made pond, a driving range, and multiple luxury condos in the gated community.
A few house rules: No jeans. Collared shirts only. No hats.
"Oh, and no blogging during lunch," insisted Blake.
Dice-K arrived at noon with Hoshino, teammate/countryman Hideki Okajima, and a second translator, Sachiyo Sekiguchi. The players sat opposite one another at the middle of a long table, one translator at the side of each pitcher. The rest of the lunch group consisted of 10 members of the New England media. It is rumored that some of us had to go to
I took a seat to Dice-K's immediate right. It was a little spooky being that close to a $103 million arm.
He wore a long-sleeve, off-white, thin sweater, black pants, and tan moccasins with no socks. On his left wrist, he wore a small bracelet and a watch with a face the size of a silver dollar. No wedding ring (Matsuzaka is married). A little stubble on his chin. His hair was neatly spiked and his average-size hands looked smooth and perfectly manicured.
There was a lot of Japanese being spoken and a lot of laughter between Dice-K and Okajima while we settled in and looked at our menus. Made me wish I knew the Japanese translation of "curly-haired boyfriend." Also made me glad that Curt Schilling isn't yet fluent in Japanese.
When the waitress came around, Matsuzaka said, "Iced tea, please," in English, then "crunchy chicken wrap, cole slaw," again in English.
He has great posture and perfect manners. He kept his napkin on his lap at all times and did not start eating until everyone at the table was served. He drank his iced tea through a straw.
The entire session was on the record and both pitchers politely and patiently answered ( through the interpreters) everything thrown their way.