3/19/2009
Dice-K 2.0? Meet Yu Darvish and his baseball card creating a buzz in the hobby world.

Daisuke Matsuzaka Baseball Cards

Congratulations to Dice-K on an excellent 2008 season! 33 Wins 15 Losses - ERA 3.72

Dice-K cards and memorabilia in the news:
3/7/2008 - Dice-K's 2007 UD Premier AU RC to be Released in '08

2/16/2008 - For the first time, “Dice-K” autograph cards are live in the market.




* Daisuke Matsuzaka first Red Sox game-worn jersey card will be in 2007 Upper Deck Series II, due out in late June.
* Topps Adds Dice-K and Bonds to 2007 Triple Threads Baseball
* Fans clamor for Daisuke Matsuzaka's autographs
 

Upper Deck has released their first rookie card of Dice-K in 2007 Upper Deck Premier - numbered out of 49, 99, and 199. Depending on how low it's numbered they're currently selling (Early May 2007) for $150 to $300. It looks like this:

Daisuke Matsuzaka's first true rookie card has appeared in 2007 Topps Milestones. There are a few different versions of the rookie that we've seen so far from this set on ebay. Card numbers are 170, 171, 172. Looks like they're either numbered out of /150 or a more limited /29 with a darker background. One of the card numbered out of 29 has already sold for $1,000.

Topps Moments/Milestone RC 170 Daisuke Matsuzaka numbered out of /150	Topps Moments/Milestone RC 171 Daisuke Matsuzaka numbered out of /150	Topps Moments/Milestone RC 172 Daisuke Matsuzaka /150

Here's an inexpensive Dice-K rookie. This can be found in a Topps retail 14 card Boston Team set. You can pick these up for just a few bucks.

He also has several cards from Japan and a nice selection of recent cards from his pitching in the World Baseball Classic where he went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Oh yeah, he also was MVP of the tournament!

Matsuzaka is reported to have a strange looking pitch called the gyroball. This pitch supposedly has a rotation like a football spiral and then dive-bombs when it reaches the plate. Some people think the pitch is just a hard slider, either way it will be worth watching for.

Here are some of the cards Dice-K currently has available. We've placed a link to some of the various auctions (not ours) that have recently ended on ebay for each of these cards below.

Wow! 2006 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Baseball Ensemble Patch 3 Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki, Nobuhiko Matsunaka three piece World Baseball Classic game used jersey patch card #EP3-MIM serial numbered 7/15.	Wow! 06 Exquisite Triple Patch 6 Clrs DAISUKE MATSUZAKA 5/25
2006 Upper Deck WBC Collection Jersey DM	2006 Upper Deck Inaugural Images Daisuke Matsuzaka #II30	2006 Upper Deck Future Stars WBC-13	2006 Upper Deck Inaugural Images insert (#II-27)
2006 Flair Showcase World Baseball Classic 24	2006 Flair Showcase Stitches DM	2006 Flair Showcase Stitches DM	2006 SP Authentic Daisuke Matsuzaka Future Watch #/999
2006 Upper Deck SPX All World Team	2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japan 37 Daisuke Matsuzaka