Follow-up on the Monster known as Matsuzaka

A few days ago, I asked who was bigger when he left the motherland, Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki or Daisuke Matsuzaka. Looks like we have an answer, thanks to correspondent Sylvia Maria Gross:

Most of the reporters told me that Matsuzaka was much more special in Japan than the other two because he was the hero at Koshien, the high school championship. I have some clips of some of hte Japanese reporters saying that. It seems like he's more of a darling than the others.

Seems pretty definitive to me. SMG's Dice-K radio story can be heard here and here. Worth checking out, especially for the crazy shirtless Japanese fan who's obviously freezing.

UPDATE: A very interesting article: "Is the MLB destroying Japan's national pastime?"