"When Daisuke Matsuzaka landed at Tampa International Airport en route to his first spring training in 2007, there were 17 photographers, 10 cameramen and 12 reporters (all Japanese) who demanded an impromptu press conference at baggage claim.

Four years later, the $103 million man operates in relatively peaceful obscurity. About a dozen Japanese reporters and cameramen interviewed him yesterday, and those numbers should thin considerably once infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka makes his ballyhooed debut with the Twins down the street in Lee County this week.

Dice-K is yesterday's news. Now entering the fifth season of a landmark six-year contract that briefly inspired Matsuzaka-mania, he's long passed the days of being considered the Japanese Pedro, a gyroball-throwing franchise savior who'd give the Red Sox a foothold in the Far East and a tenfold return on their investment.

Now Matsuzaka is the fifth starter on a World Series contender that frankly could reach the promised land if he quit tomorrow. He's not being counted on for much after four occasionally brilliant but frequently frustrating seasons.

He's perilously close to being Just Another Guy, which, as it turns out, isn't actually a bad person to be.

"I prefer less (attention)," Matsuzaka said through his new interpreter. "It makes things easier."

The Red Sox believe he could benefit, too. Manager Terry Francona is quite forthright in his assessment of Matsuzaka's first four years, but also in the hope he sees for his fifth."