America at Large:Those who consider the globalisation of baseball to be a recent phenomenon might be reminded that as far back as 1935 a team of Major League All Stars conducted a barnstorming tour of Japan, writes George Kimball

During one of those games, a 17-year-old Japanese pitcher named Eiji Sawamura struck out four consecutive batters, all of them future Hall of Famers, and then explained his success against Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.

"I hate America, and I cannot make myself like Americans," said Eiji-San.

Pearl Harbor was still half a dozen years away. And, in the pages of his second World War novel Battle Cry, Leon Uris described Japanese infantrymen taunting their American counterparts with shouts of "F*** Babe Ruth!"

We all know how that argument ended.

In the absence of a last-minute agreement, the apparently tattered state of negotiations between the Boston Red Sox and representatives of the Japanese pitcher Diasuke Matsuzaka could rekindle that ancient acrimony. A month ago, the Red Sox outbid all other major league teams by ponying up $51.1 million (€38.6 million) just for the right to negotiate with D-Mat, but unless a deal is struck by midnight tonight the arrangement will self-destruct.

Matsuzaka isn't the first player to strain the terms of the "posting system" which governs transfer fees between the Japanese leagues and their US counterparts, but he could easily be the most expensive.

And by all accounts might be worth it.

He first came to the attention of American baseball interests during a US-Japan All Star series three years ago, when he pitched a five-hit complete game in Sapporo, a contest in which he didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning and retired 10 of the last 11 major league stars he faced.

In Greece later that summer, Matsuzaka was the winning pitcher in Japan's 6-3 victory over Cuba in a preliminary round game against the eventual Olympic gold medallists from Cuba. (The Japanese had to settle for the bronze in Athens.) D-Mat was also the Most Valuable Player in the inaugural World Baseball Classic last spring, with three wins and no losses, including another over Cuba in the final.

Matsuzaka has accumulated a career record of 108-60 (with a 2.95 Earned Run Average) in the Japanese League, and earned $3 million last season. Even the lowball offer on the table from Boston (reportedly $7 million a year for four years) would more than double that figure.

Matsuzaka had long expressed a desire to test his skills by performing in America, and at the conclusion of the past season his Japanese team, the Seibu Lions, granted his wish when he was "posted". The Red Sox bid topped those of all comers, including the arch-rival Yankees.

Under the rules of the posting system, the Red Sox had 30 days of exclusive negotiating rights to reach an agreement with D-Mat. Today is the 30th. If they can't come to terms, Matsuzaka must return to Seibu, the Sox get their money back and the Lions will be out $51.1 million.

Matsuzaka is represented by agent Scott Boras, whose name is anathema to many major league executives. Boras is such a tough negotiator that several teams have adopted an unwritten but nonetheless intractable policy of refusing to trade for his clients.

Historically, Boras's negotiating posture has been a disinclination to negotiate at all. He will sometimes remain aloof, refuse to return phone calls, while stirring the waters by playing one team off another with offers both real and imagined. This style is obviously somewhat hampered in a two-party negotiation, since there is no phantom suitor involved in the process.

All things considered, it seems that as much as they value Matsuzaka, the cash-strapped Lions would rather have the $51.1 million. And, having bid an emotional farewell to Japanese baseball - in his final appearance, 36,000 fans turned out at the Seibu Dome to watch him perform in an intrasquad game - returning to the Lions would involve a certain loss of face.

Since the Red Sox are also going to look pretty silly if they can't sign D-Mat, the proceedings are being monitored with a certain Schadenfreude by partisans of the Yankees.

The Red Sox's initial offer was ridiculously low for a pitcher of Matsuzaka's reputed skills.

But Boras, according to Boston general manager Theo Epstein, never responded with a counter-proposal, and on Monday Epstein was joined by the Red Sox triumvirate ownership, John Henry, Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner, in California, where Boras lives.

"We're on Scott Boras' doorstep because he hasn't negotiated with us thus far, and we're taking the fight directly to him, the fight to have a negotiation here," said Henry.

Their plan was to bring Matsuzaka back to Boston on the same private jet the Sox brass flew out on, so the player might undergo a physical examination prior to any official signing.

Boras says there won't be a physical unless an agreement has been struck. On Monday night he convened a news conference at his California office and reminded his audience that 26-year-old free agent pitchers of comparable ability could expect to be paid in excess of $100 million over five or six years in today's market.

The Red Sox do not disagree, but their position is that the $51 million posting fee should be factored into their overall investment.

Boras says the final decision will be up to his client. So far his client has been kept thoroughly under wraps, but if the gulf is as wide as both sides say it is, it's hard to imagine getting this thing done in a day.

"One thing is clear," said the agent. "Whether it's now or later, D-Mat will someday be a major league player."