BOSTON -- The instant that the bidding rights for Japanese pitching sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka officially went to the Red Sox at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the Boston sports airwaves suddenly developed a one-track mind.

In case you needed a reminder that Boston is -- and always will be -- a rabid baseball town. It was there for all to see, hear and read when Matsuzaka came under the grasp of the Red Sox, who have 30 days to negotiate a contract with their possible ace of the future.

NESN -- the sports cable network which televises Red Sox games -- preempted regularly scheduled programming for a live Hot Stove show reveling in the news regarding what had suddenly become the most popular four-syllable sports name (Mat-su-zak-a) in Red Sox Nation.

Host Tom Caron had Boston Globe beat writer Gordon Edes live in studio, and also had a phone interview with Sox general manager Theo Epstein from the GM meetings in Naples, Fla.

Edes gave viewers some insider perspective, revealing that his sources billed Matsuzaka as "a better pitcher than Hideo Nomo in his prime," and also noting how the righty once fired a 250-pitch complete game in high school.

As for the Red Sox, they won't have much to say on the matter until Matsuzaka officially becomes their property. Epstein, at his press conference in Naples, read the following statement on behalf of the club:

"We are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. We have long admired Mr. Matsuzaka's abilities and believe he would be a great fit as a member of our organization. We look forward to meeting Mr. Matsuzaka and beginning the next step of this process with him and his representative, Scott Boras.

"Out of respect for Mr. Matsuzaka, the Seibu Lions, Japanese professional baseball, and Major League Baseball, we will have no further comment at this time."

One pitcher who would eagerly welcome Matsuzaka to the Boston rotation in 2007 is Josh Beckett, who led the Sox with 16 wins in '06.

"I'm excited about it," Beckett said from his ranch in Texas. "I just want to win a World Series, that's the bottom line. That's what we're shooting for. Anybody that helps. I don't know much about him, but [the Red Sox] sent some scouts out, and I know most of our scouts are pretty good."

A potential rotation of Curt Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Jonathan Papelbon and Tim Wakefield was enough to whet the appetite of Red Sox fans on this November night.

Typically during this time of year, the "Planet Mikey" weeknight talkshow hosted by Mike Adams on WEEI 850 AM is a smorgasbord of talk ranging from the Patriots to the Celtics to the Bruins to Hot Stove issues. But on this night, it was all Matsuzaka, all the time.

Producers cleverly played Japanese music in the background while Adams dissected the bold bid and proclaimed, "We have baseball on the table tonight".

Callers ran the gamut, with some fretting about the exorbitant cost and others saluting the Sox for throwing caution to the wind.

The homepage on Boston.com (which is the Web site for the Boston Globe) led with the Matsuzaka bid. The headline was "Konnichiwa!" -- which means hello in Japanese.

There was a link on the site that stated "Sox on the clock." A click of that link showed a mug shot of Boras and a running timer in days, hours, minutes and seconds of how much longer the Sox have to strike a deal with Matsuzaka.

Bostondirtdogs.com pasted a Red Sox uniform on to an action photo of Matsuzaka, giving Sox fans a glimpse of what they hope to see in April.

That image will have to suffice for now, as Epstein and Boras will soon begin the process of trying to turn it into reality.