...and on the 80th day, the Diceman pitches

Matsuzaka throws 2 scoreless innings in first mound action since signing his mega deal

What better way to kick off the launch of this ground-breaking new blog than to report on the premiere of Boston's newest $103 million Asian import, Daisuke Matsuzaka?

The long-awaited MLB debut of the man known as Dice-K was a rousing success, if you consider shutting down the Boston College Eagles varsity squad an impressive barometer for future major league domination. Of course no one's claiming that based on a 7-batter outing in which the 26-year-old phenom threw only 25 pitches, 19 of them for strikes. Especially after the first batter of the game, junior Johnny Ayers, smacked Matsuzaka's first official major league pitch for an official solid double, a disheartening start for the man who had the eyes of two nations, Japan and Red Sox, scrutinizing his every move.

More than 100 media credentials were issued for this historic event, and everywhere the doughy hurler went he was observed with the intensity of paparazzi outside of The Ivy.

But the good-natured Diceman appears to be either oblivious of, or unbothered by, all the attention, and his initial performance on the mound backs up that assertion. Although it was against a bunch of wide-eyed kids, many of them not old enough to drink the beer that Matsuzaka hawks in his homeland.

Boston won the game, 9-1, but the score, stats, and sentences do not begin to tell the story of this game. No, the sight of Boston's $103 million dollar investment throwing strikes, soaking up the environment, and pleasing Boston's management, fanbase, and a country of millions was all anyone needed to see to realize the Matsuzaka Era was off to a terrific start...

...versus frat-party-attending panty-raiders, but still.

Read some professional reactions to Dice-K's debut here, here, and here.

*Photos courtesy Getty Images