sportsgal	Female BOSTON, MA
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        "Matsuzaka Mania" used to describe the excitement that surrounded a pitching superstar. Now the only madness is derived from the confounding fall from grace of a Japanese ace.

        Daisuke Matsuzaka's catastrophic 1-5 record and 8.23 ERA hit Boston like a freak natural disaster, leaving Sox fans dazed and desirous of an explanation. They walked away from each of his eight starts slack jawed. What happened to Special K? they asked each other. We want vintage Diceman, circa 2007. We want the Matsuzaka who met the All-Star break at 10-6 with a 3.84 ERA; who was fifth in the League in strikeouts and sixth in Ks-per-inning. It was unsettling to watch his brilliance fade to frustration.

        And as with any trauma, the next step after shock was finding someone or something to blame. In Boston the villain quickly took shape of the World Baseball Classic. There was something safe and easy about finding fault in the WBC. We didn't have to hate Dice because he simply worked too hard and pitched too well. Hell, we didn't even have to root against our own country because he was throwing for Japan. The kicker was that the WBC had no mouth with which to defend itself. Perfect! fans said. A faceless, inanimate, global event-thing that we can curse out for ruining our rotation.

            So Dice-K was whisked to Fort Myers for a rehab assignment with no timetable. The media reported that the objective was to strengthen his shoulder and as Francona added, "work on the whole body." It was the prudent thing for the pitcher to do and for the rest of the Red Sox, it was a move that may have been past due.

            Today, the only one who's complaining is Daisuke.

            Boston.com's "Extra Bases" blog reported that Matsuzaka "recently criticized the Red Sox in the Japanese media, blaming his struggles this season on the team's throwing and training regimen." Once again, the pitcher has rocked my world. Reading his statement has sent waves of discomfort through my formerly contented nay-saying of the World Baseball Classic. He's blaming us? I thought. But we're the ones who want him to do well! It felt like a betrayal of sorts. Thinking back on the frustration of his endless outings--the walked-in runs, the strain on the bullpen, and the dents in my living room due to hurling the remote at crappy drywall--I'm trying to process the fact that Matsuzaka wants me to aim that aggravation at Theo, at John Ferrell, and at Terry Francona.

        At Tito.

        “He looks great. It’s obvious he’s worked hard,’’ the Sox manager told the Globe. I wonder if this outpouring of support came before, after, or during Dice-K's toss of Francona's body under the bus. “If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan,” Matsuzaka said.

        Should we believe him? Should we believe that the pain of his eight starts was actually self inflicted? Regardless; something has to give. So will the Red Sox change their training tactics or will they simply change their pitching staff? I suppose that only time will tell.

        Let’s just hope that in the meantime, the absurdity of Matsuzaka Mania doesn’t really drive us all mad.