The alarm went off promptly at 8 am wednesday morning and Dice-K mania officially began.

After the brief 10 minute drive to the park from the hotel, my father and I scurried into the gift shop to buy our tickets for the Fenway Tour. It was extremely tough to count the amount of people on the tour, but it is safe to say over half were hometown supporters of newly acquired Daisuke Matsuzaka.

So the day went on and before we knew it five o’clock rolled around and the gates were opening and Fenway was ready for the madness. The crowd was anxiously awaiting the first pitch and so was the media, as just about 350 media members were present for this monumentous occasion that would be broadcast all across America and Japan.

Nestled into our State Street Pavillion seats on the roof of the infield, the atmosphere was stunning as Dice-K took the mound for his warm up throws. The crowd of over 36,000 watched closely as he heated up the captain’s glove with every warmup fastball, curveball, slider and who knows maybe even a “gyro” ball as he boasts a repertoire of six pitches I am told.

When the game had begun Dice-K seemed poised and just as Matsuzaka entered his motion, it was as if lightning struck Fenway, the amount of pictures being taken of the first pitch being thrown to Ichiro was simply astounding. Quickly getting ahead 0-2, he wasted three straight pitches before Ichiro grounded right back at him, forcing Dice-K to make the easy toss to first base for the out.

There we go the jitters were out of the way and now a game could be focused on. The bid for a Matsuzaka no hitter was quickly broken up however with a single in the first. But on the other side of the diamond, young 21 year old right-hander Felix Hernandez was quickly brewing up a gem. Inning after inning he was setting down the Red Sox in order. Before i knew it 7 innings had passed, the sox were down 3-0, Dice-K had been replaced after a decent outing, giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs, while Hernandez was working on a no-no.

Not so fast however, leading off the eigth, the fresh face of JD Drew drove a single up the middle that ended the youngster’s bid for the first no hitter of 2007 in the majors. The single proved to be harmless however with no other player on the Red Sox being able to muster a hit off the kid. He went the distance only giving up the one hit and no earned runs for his second consecutive outstanding outing of the year.

The mania surrounding Dice-K faded in the crowd as he took his first loss of the year, and hopefully his last(crossing fingers).

Opening day was a blast that i thought could not be matched, but boy was i wrong, Dice-K mania was just as crazy and whenever he pitches in the friendly confines of Fenway Park i encourage every member of Red Sox nation who has a chance to come see this magical pitcher from the land of the rising sun.

Written by Jordan Adams