There is no underestimating the significance of Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka. In a land of prodigious baseball legends, Matsuzaka has indelibly etched his name amid the pantheon of greats at only 26 years of age.
His legacy, it seems, was sealed in the womb. When his mother was pregnant, she was watching a pitcher named Daisuke Arak dominate batters at the Koshien high school baseball tournament. Koshien is the most significant annual sporting event held in Japan and an integral part of national folklore.
Mrs Matsuzaka decided to name her unborn son after Arak, and 17 years later, her Daisuke would shine at Koshien.
Pitching for Yokohama High School, Matsuzaka threw an unheard of 17 innings in helping his team win their quarter-final. The next day he played the outfield but still came in to pitch one inning in relief. A few days later, in the finals, he threw a no-hitter. It was simply the most dominating individual performance ever seen at Koshien and Matsuzaka could have stopped playing then and there and his legend would still have been secure.
But he did play again, spending eight years as the ace of the Seibu Lions and leading Japan to victory at the first World Baseball Classic in 2006 while winning the tournament's most valuable player award.
As Major League Baseball prepares to open the 2007 season today, there are a number of compelling stories. Barry Bonds is only 22 home runs behind Hank Aaron's mythical record of 755, a mark which should fall this year if the government does not get to Bonds first because of his role in an ongoing drugs investigation.