It’s currently 81 degrees in the city of Palms Park – an absolute beautiful day for a ball game. The only problem is, the Red Sox and the Sea Dogs are playing on the road!

I was able to meet up with good friend and last year’s trainer for the Sea Dogs, Masai Takahashi. His new job title is Assistant Trainer for the Red Sox. He was nice enough to introduce me to Daisuke Matsuzaka and the three of us had a nice conversation. I asked him how many interviews he’s done so far and through Masai he told me with a smile “A Lot.” Good sense of humor.

I caught up with Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester, both are looking forward to the upcoming season. Lester gave me a bit of advice about talking with Dice-K. He said “Don’t be surprised if somebody from the Japanese media interviews you…I guess anybody who talks with Daisuke is instantly interviewed. To my disappointment, members of the Tokyo News wanted nothing to do with a radio guy from Portland, Maine.

During batting practice this morning, Lester had a long conversation with Matsuzaka and then was bombarded by 60 reporters 20 minutes later.

I’ll have more reports during the day!

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