Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka will square off tomorrow in an epic battle of Asian heroes that will surely have Japan's financial market come to a screeching halt. Or not, we'll have to wait and see. But still, you don't have to be from Japan, Seattle or Boston to be excited about this matchup. The two players have crossed paths before during Matsuzaka's first two seasons before Ichiro left Japan for Seattle. More times than not, Dice-K has gotten the upper-hand -- according to the Seattle Times, Ichiro has hit just .234 in 36 plate appearances. Needless to say, Ichiro is excited about facing his fellow countryman. And by excited, I mean, really, really excited:
"I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul," he says. "I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger."Is Ichiro going to try to hit off Matsuzaka or hit on him? That's part of the intrigue -- we'll have to tune in to see.
(via MLB Trade Rumors)




