Daisuke Matsuzaka will soon get his chance to dominate the Major Leagues, as he did Japan's Pacific League for eight seasons. AP

By Tom Verducci

This perfect sport we have mythologized as the American Pastime might never have seemed so un-American as it did the night in San Diego in March when the inaugural World Baseball Classic was decided by teams from Cuba and Japan. The United States, with its half-billion-dollar infield (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Michael Young and Mark Teixiera), was nowhere to be found. Our turf, our rules, but no longer, if it ever really was, our game. And it was a great night for baseball -- better, as it turned out, than what proved to be an anticlimactic, largely unmemorable World Series seven months later. The game did a 43.4 TV rating in Japan.

This was the year that the baseball world never seemed so small, thanks to the WBC, an idea and an event so dead-on perfect that the worst part is having to wait another three years for the next one. In this international summit, no player was more important than Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japan's winning pitcher of the championship game, the tournament's MVP and, for reminding us to be less provincial about our sport and even our place as global citizens, my pick for Sportsman of the Year. It is with good reason that Matsuzaka is known in his homeland as Sekai no Ace -- the world's ace.

This year, fittingly perhaps, no major leaguer gained my final consideration. I did dwell long on Buck O'Neil, who may be gone but whose grace and humility must always be remembered. I thought, too, of my team of 10-year-olds I managed, a team (my son included) that went all the way to the Cal Ripken Baseball World Series on the power of teamwork and friendship. It was a summer of pure joy that will stay in my heart.

But whether you are 10 years old or 94, as O'Neil was at his death, your baseball world is changed. The WBC didn't change it. It simply showcased the change, a globalization of the sport, and how well it is being played off our shores.

Matsuzaka, 26, grew up in Japan dreaming of being a major leaguer, an idea that would have been outlandish a generation ago, not only because the cultural divide was greater but also because the perceived talent gap between the majors and the rest of the world seemed so large. No more. Matsuzaka represents the new world order.

Such a pitching legend in high school was Matsuzaka that those of a like age are called "Generation Matsuzaka" in Japan. He proved his greatness in Nippon Pro Baseball, with a career record of 108-60 and a 2.95 ERA, including a 17-5 record and 2.13 ERA for the Seibu Lions this season, fresh off the WBC triumph. He was the best pitcher in the world this year.

And now, with a Red Sox contract seemingly in his immediate future, he will fulfill his childhood dream next season as a major league pitcher. Of course, the dream comes with a contract that might approach $70 million. It is the American dream -- made in Japan.