"There were several hundred reporters and dozens of television cameras at Fenway Park in 2006 when Daisuke Matsuzaka was introduced to Boston. His arrival from Japan was one of the biggest baseball events of the year.

Matsuzaka even took the field on a cold day and threw a pitch to John Henry as agent Scott Boras looked on nodding in approval.

At 11:45 a.m. today, Matsuzaka stood in the middle of the Red Sox clubhouse and spoke to eight reporters about the reconstructive elbow surgery that could well end his career with the team after five largely disappointing seasons. Teammates passed by without glancing up. No team executives were present."