After graduating from high school, he was taken by the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Saitama Seibu Lions with the first pick of the 1998 draft, although both the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks of the North American Major Leagues also recruited him. At first, Matsuzaka stated that he wanted to play for the Yokohama BayStars, and, if he could not, he would then go to work for a company and after which choose the team of his choice through the reverse-draft ("gyaku-shimei") system. That changed however, when the manager of the Lions, Osamu Higashio, an accomplished pitcher in his own right, met with Matsuzaka for dinner. At the dinner, Higashio gave Matsuzaka his winning ball for career win number 200. Matsuzaka accepted it and allowed himself to be drafted by the Lions.