Dawn of a new season in more ways than one

This feels . . . foreign. The Sox are on the other side of the world, celebrities in a strange land, bringing Major League Baseball to a country where the sport is revered. While even the most devout seamhead must admit that football is America's most popular sport, baseball is truly still the national pastime of Japan. And so a Boston-based baseball Nation rises to watch the Red Sox in the land of the rising sun.

"I think a lot of our fans will get up early to watch," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "This is special. We just have to embrace it and come up with a win. Whatever skepticism there was has gone away, just seeing the way they think of baseball here. It's been very worthwhile."

In a fateful twist - he is, after all the reason the Red Sox are here - Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch the first game for the Red Sox. Josh Beckett's back spasms and the early arrival of Daisuke's second child conspired to put Matsuzaka on the mound in the land where he is as legendary as Michael Jordan is in the US.

Matsuzaka first earned fame here by dominating the national high school tournament (think NCAA Final Four), then brought more honor to his country by being named MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. It cost the Red Sox more than $100 million to secure his services after his 2006 Seibu season, and tonight he pitches again in his motherland, with a World Series ring after only one season in Boston.

"It has been a while since I've heard the Japanese fans cheering," said Matsuzaka. "I want to stay in the game as long as I can. I'm honored to be the Opening Day starter, and because Japanese fans are also looking forward to it, I want to do the best I can."

The long-range task for Matsuzaka and his teammates is simple: Win another World Series. Finding themselves in the unusual position of top gun, the Sox are odds-on favorites to win again. After years of finishing behind the Yankees, the Franconamen broke through in the AL East last season and now the New Yorkers are chasing the Bostons.