““Dice-K” and durability go hand-in-hand.  As a teen in Japan, he once threw about 500 pitches (and a no-hitter) in a tournament.  Now he’s chewing up innings — and hitters — for the Red Sox.  In 2008, he went 18-3.”

Although in 2007 and 2008 he pitched over 370 innings and went 33-15, since then he has only pitched 250 innings and is 16-15.

2009 Topps Series 1:

1. #311 Kelly Shoppach
2. #228 Scott Rolen
3. #206 Johan Santana/Tim Lincecum/Jake Peavy (League Leaders)
4. #221 Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay/Daisuke Matsuzaka (League Leaders)
5. Turkey Red #TR30 Christy Mathewson
6. Topps Town Gold #TTT25 Daisuke Matsuzaka
7. #315 Hiroki Kuroda
8. #141 Mark Teahen
9. #44 Geoff Jenkins
10. #175 Jeff Samardzija

I find it odd that Daisuke Matsuzaka’s Topps Update Season Highlights card is classified by Beckett as a true rookie card.  He already had a regular base card released earlier in the year by Topps that is also considered a true rookie card.  Does that mean the 2010 Topps Update “Rookie Debut” cards are also considered true rookie cards?

“Matsuzaka was solid his first seven MLB starts, but the Red Sox knew he was the real deal when they witnessed his mastery of the defending AL champs in his first complete game.  The rookie threw nearly 70% of his pitches for strikes in the six-hit gem.”

2007 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH8 Trot Nixon
2. #UH50 Jason Smith
3. #UH326 Milton Bradley
4. #UH327 Justin Upton (Rookie Card)
5. #UH210 Daisuke Matsuzaka (Season Highlights) (Rookie)
6. Red Back #UH128 Brad Thompson
7. Red Back #UH69 Claudio Vargas
8. Barry Bonds Home Run History #748 Barry Bonds
9. #UH312 Joba Chamberlain (Rookie Card)
10. #UH244 Brad Penny (All-Star)

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #575 Clayton Kershaw
2. #566 Dontrelle Willis
3. #511 Chad Qualis
4. Ring of Honor #RH51 Carlos Ruiz
5. Gold Border #548 John Danks (Serial#1131/2009)
6. Topps Town #TTT49 Daisuke Matsuzaka
7. #643 David Freese (Rookie)
8. #454 Carlos Silva
9. #420 Scott Baker
10. #647 Manny Parra

“With an eight-pitch arsenal, Daisuke has been a hit in the U.S. since joining Boston in 2007.  Prior to Game 5 of the 2008 ALCS, he’d gone 25 consecutive postseason innings without allowing a home run.”

Dice-K’s pitching tanked after leading Team Japan to victory during the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.  He pitched a 3-0 record and 2.45 ERA during the Classic, but only went 4-6 with a 5.76 ERA in the full season that followed.

2009 Topps #330 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2009 Topps series 1:

1. #41 Mike Mussina
2. #100 David Wright
3. #323 Vicente Padilla
4. #330 Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. #162 Mike Cameron
6. Topps Town #TTT24 Jay Bruce
7. #97 Willie Harris
8. #33 Jose Guillen
9. #142 Brad Penny
10. #156 Carlos Pena

“No pitcher was a greater part of Boston’s winning formula in 2008 than Daisuke, who pitched them to 23 wins in his 29 starts.  He was the first Red Sox to win 18 of his first 20 decisions, then finished 18-3 for a WIN% of .857 that was the third-best (15+ wins) in team history behind Bob Stanley (.882 in 1978) and Joe Wood (.872 in ’12).”

This season has been a bit of a struggle for Dice-K.  Opposing batters have been hitting .378 against him, resulting in a 1-5 record and a 8.23 ERA.  Let’s hope he’s not coming down with a case of Steve Blass Disease, because I hear it’s incurable.

2007 Topps #572 Alex Escobar

2007 Topps archives, to be added to my collection:

1. #568 Carlos Guillen
2. #572 Alex Escobar
3. #473 Gustavo Chacin
4. #574 Brandon McCarthy
5. #575 Seth McClung
6. #578 Dustin Pedroia
7. #582 Scott Thorman
8. #583 Joe Inglett
9. #589 Brad Wilkerson
10. #591 Toronto Blue Jays (Team Card)
11. #594 Angels (Team Card)
12. #595 Cleveland Indians (Team Card)
13. #599 Kansas City Royals (Team Card)
14. #600 Ryan Zimmerman (Topps All-Star Rookie)
15. #603 Los Angeles Dodgers (Team Card)
16. #605 Bruce Bochy (Manager)
17. #608 Sam Perlozzo (Manager)
18. #616 Fredi Gonzalez (Manager)
19. #617 Ned Yost (Manager)
20. #623 Alejandro De Aza (Rookie)


2007 Topps #630 Daisuke Matsuzaka

21. #624 Jeremy Brown
22. #627 Andy Cannizaro (Rookie)
23. #629 Levale Speigner (Rookie)
24. #630 Daisuke Matsuzaka (Rookie)
25. #633 Juan Perez (Rookie)
26. #635 Juan Lara (Rookie)
27. #636 Mike Rabelo (Rookie)
28. #638 Cesar Jimenez (Rookie)
29. #641 Hideki Okajima (Rookie)
30. #642 Sean Henn (Rookie)
31. #644 Jared Burton (Rookie)
32. #647 Juan Morillo (Rookie)
33. #651 Jason Michaels/Travis Hafner (Classic Combo)
34. #654 Ivan Rodriguez/Fernando Rodney (Classic Combo)
35. #657 Alex Rodriguez/Derek Jeter (Classic Combo)