Perhaps he'll throw the Gyro

Wow! It was fun to watch Dice-K's press conference Thursday. If you haven't seen it, you can check it out here. Even with the grand ol' language barrier, it was evident that Matsuzaka is charismatic and likeable. For example, when asked if he would throw the so-called gyro ball, this was his response:

"[Giggles] How should I answer? [Giggles] I knew this question was coming today. And I was preparing some optional answers for this particular question. Should I say, 'I have that [pitch].' Or I could say, 'Which particular [pitch] are you referring to?' [Giggles] Overall, if I have the chance, I will pitch that ball."

Here are few more highlights from the press conference:

• What would his first Major League pitch be? "I would like to pitch a fastball. That will be my first [pitch] to throw. I would like my first batter, if he is listening, please try and not hit the ball."
  

• How would he deal with the pressure of his large contract? "The scale of the contract does not determine how I play baseball I feel responsibility a little bit, but I am not pressured. I have received a lot of expectations all my life but I always remember the most important thing for me is to play ball and have fun. And I have done so and I will keep doing so and by doing so I will meet everybody's expectations."

• Dice-K had dinner with Ichiro in the off-season and they "talked about life in the United States."

• He is learning English: "In order to get along well with my teammates, communication is very important, and I would like to learn English -- and I am learning English as we speak."

• A new pitch? Matsuzaka might try to learn the knuckleball from Tim Wakefield: "If I can keep my form and can still pitch a knuckleball, it would be very advantageous for me, I tried it in Los Angeles and it didn't work out so well. So for now, I will keep that on the side."

The Matsuzaka Press Conference 2/15 [NESN.com]
"Matsuzaka shows his lighter side" [MLB.com]
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