Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka Both at Fault, But Hardheadedness Doesn't Help

It was apparent that there were going to be some social and cultural differences when the Boston Red Sox signed Daisuke Matsuzaka out of Japan three years ago and shipped him over to the United States. You know, different country; different language; forks instead of chopsticks. Such things can be difficult. But did we ever guess those differences would come down to the performance and maintenance of New England’s favorite $103 million (and change) man? Not that I remember. There’s no nuclear war about to commence in the Red Sox clubhouse between Matsuzaka and staff, but lets just say that Dice-K hasn’t been the yin to Boston’s yang. With Matsuzaka spending much of the 2009 season thus far on the disabled list, the Red Sox have not been happy with Matsuzaka’s preparation—and his decision to pitch in the World Baseball Classic this past spring—and in return, Dice-K hasn’t been happy with how the Red Sox management has forced him into th...