I honestly feel bad for Matsuzaka. He was placed on the DL, had a terrible start to the season, got booed in his last outing, and now back on the DL. Personally I don’t think he deserved getting booed. There was clearly something wrong, booing him isn’t going to help.
That being said, Dice-K was a real trooper about the crowd's reaction. Dice-K is quoted on redsox.com saying “Everybody knows that I haven't been performing well, and as a professional, I have to accept when I get a reaction like that.” I just read that for the first time today, so that makes me like the guy even more. What he said that really made me respect him (also on redsox.com) was what he said after his last outing: "If I keep going like this, I have no right to be part of this rotation.”
How often do you hear a ballplayer say that? Lugo wasn’t doing well, and he was saying how frustrated he was that he wasn’t in the lineup. I don’t blame Lugo, I’d be saying the same thing. Dice-K, on the other hand, admitted that he didn’t belong in the rotation if he didn’t improve (This was before he was placed on the DL). You gotta respect a guy like that.
Keep the Faith.
Keywords: Boston Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka
