Yes, he has started his career with two 10 K games out of three.

Yes, he has a flair for the dramatic and is a great showman.

Yes, he was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic.

But, Daisuke Matsuzaka is no Pedro Martinez. Not even close.

I think that people in Boston are conveniently choosing to forget how good Pedro Martinez was in his prime between 1997 and 2002. In 1999, Pedro's ERA was  2.07... The League average ERA was 5.07. That is almost unfathomable.

Pedro's fastball routinely hit 96-97 Miles Per Hour. He had the best change-up in the league. And his curveball was devastating. Matsuzaka has several "plus" pitches but none of his pitches are as dominant as any of Pedro's top three pitches were.

Dice-K reminds me more of a young Mike Mussina than he does of Pedro Martinez. Believe me, that is no insult. Mussina throws three different fastballs (two seamer, four seamer and cutter), he throws a splitter, he throws a change-up and he has a phenomenal knuckle-curve that falls off the table. Similarly, Dice-K throws three different fastballs (two seamer, four seamer and shuuto), a great change-up, a slider and a pretty good curve-ball.

In short, Dice-K beats you because he can throw a bunch of pitches and he can throw them for strikes. Hitters are off balance because they never know what is coming.

Pedro was perhaps the most dominant pitcher during his prime that baseball has seen since the days of Koufax. He was better than Clemens. Better than the Big Unit. Better than Maddux. Better than Smoltz.

So, do me a favor. Stop comparing Dice-K to Pedro. It just ain't far. But I'll take a Mussina in his prime any day of the week.

OTHER RANDOM RED SOX RAMBLINGS:

Manny Ramirez will hit. Let's not get too concerned about his batting average around the Mendoza line and one homerun. He did the same thing last year and put up his usual 300 BA 35 HR 100 RBI.

Let's not get too excited over Josh Beckett just yet. He may be 3-0 with a sub 2.00 ERA, but he did exactly the same thing last year, before posting an ERA over 5.00 at the end of the year. If you Sox fans remember, Beckett was 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA on April 21 going into a start against the Blue Jays. He was cruising along in that game before intentionally hitting a batter (Aaron Hill) and then giving up a gopher to Vernon Wells to blow the game. He then got lit up in a start against Cleveland which started a percipitous downward spiral.

Free Wily Mo. Wily Mo Pena's homerun against Toronto was perhaps the most majestic shot hit in this young season. The kid's got power and plays a decent centerfield. Let's get Coco Crisp's anemic bat out of the line-up and give Ortiz and Ramirez some much needed protection.

Finally a good bullpen? The Sox have assembled a gaggle of good arms for this year's bullpen. Okajima has a fall off the table splitter; Donnelly has some much needed moxie; Papelbon is looking to become his generation's Rivera and is doing a great job; Pineiro has a decent arm; And Kyle Snyder and JC Romero aren't terrible either. Let's give Theo some credit for finally getting a bullpen in order.

Lugo a Go-Go- I kept hearing that Julio Lugo would be a huge step downward from Alex Gonzalez defensively. He may not be Gonzalez, but he ain't bad. Lugo tracks fly balls better than any shortstop this side of Derek Jeter. And his range to his left exceeds even Gonzalez. If he could get some more consistency with his throws, he'll be pretty good defensively. And did I mention that he swings the bat twice as well as Gonzo? I didn't? Well, he does.

Managerial Genius - Let's give Terry Francona some much deserved credit. With the Sox up 4-1 against the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) last Friday, Tito brought in bullpen ace Jonathan Papelbon in the 8th inning with Vlad Guerrero at the plate and two men on base and one out. Papelbon overmatched Guerrero and induced a Garret Anderson fly-out to end the threat. Francona should be given credit for not waiting until the 9th to bring in the dominant stopper. The Sox ended up scoring six times in the bottom of the 8th, to make the game a 10-1 laugher. If not for Francona's decision, the momentum may have changed drastically.