Dykstra: Burnt Peabody

Not surprisingly, there is plenty to speculate about in Beantown. Curt Schilling, my former Phillies teammate, who carved his way into the exclusive club of Boston heroes with his "Bloody Sock" performance in the 2004 ALCS and World Series, wants an extension of his contract. The Red Sox would prefer to see how his 40 year-old body, which has never been ripped, holds up this season. In response, Schilling has declared that he will test the free-agent waters after the season.

Despite his well-earned ace status, Schill will be sharing the spotlight with rookie hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Japanese sensation who already carries the moniker Dice-K. Recall that the Red Sox paid $51 million just for the opportunity to negotiate a contract with Matsuzaka. That, in and of itself, creates fascination in the American media.

On the other hand, the Japanese media are obsessed with Matsuzaka to such a degree that he has achieved a status usually reserved for international rock stars. Just warming up is treated as a monumental event.

Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch against the Marlins tomorrow in Jupiter, Fla. Accommodating the media may prove to be a daunting task, in that the press box at the stadium has 24 seats. The Red Sox have 93 reporters scheduled to attend the game, 12 from Boston and an astounding 81 from Japan.

Amazingly, the frenzy surrounding Matsuzaka has relegated the magnificent Ichiro, a bona-fide superstar, to mere afterthought status. Regardless of how they slice it, the Red Sox have rolled the "Dice," banking on Matsuzaka to get a lot of K's in the scorebook and generate a lot of $K at the box office.

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