• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 11, 2007

Reebok and Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, fresh from the team's victory in the season opener at Fenway Park, just took the wraps off their latest shoe.

The Big Papi 2M Mid will be available in August, and is scheduled to be worn by Ortiz for the first time in the 2007 MLB All Star Game in San Francisco in July. The silver-and-red shoe features Ortiz' profile on the sock liner, and the company says Reebok designers took inspiration from Big Papi's precisely trimmed sideburns for the lines on the sides of the cleat.

Reebok reached well beyond the usual Boston suspects for the event. While expected guests included teammates Josh Beckett, Jonathon Papelbon and Wily Mo Pena, Super Bowl MVPs Peyton Manning and Deion Branch and celebrity Red Sox fans including Chloe Sevigny and Daddy Yankee were also expected to be on hand for the unveiling.

Last season, Ortiz--who Reebok says wears a size 12 shoe--belted in 54 runs.

Meanwhile, Red Sox teammate Daisuke Matsuzaka has got a shoe revolution of his own going. A Nike spot featuring Dice-K broke last week in Japan, just before his first outing for the Red Sox and is popping on fan blogs. The ad, called "Just do it - Enjoy the Pressure," was made by Wieden & Kennedy in Japan. Nike plans to introduce a Matsuzaka glove in Japan this July.

Baseball experts say it would be tough to overestimate just how big a marketing phenom the 26-year-old might become. The Boston Globe, for example, has reported that rabid fans were clamoring for Dice-K T-shirts even before Christmas. And he's also extended the Red Sox Nation fan base into the Pacific Rim: Dice-K could bring an additional $14 million to Boston from increased tourism from Asia.

But contrary to rumor, there will be no Dice-Kream. Brigham's Ice Cream recently admitted that the buzz that it would replace its Reverse the Curse flavor with Dice-Kream was more or less an April Fool's Day joke.

But the company says it will ditch Curse in favor of something more positive, based on fan suggestions. "We loved the inspiration derived from the Curse Reversed name, but after winning a World Series championship and putting two great baseball seasons behind us," the company says. "It's time to retire anything related to a 'curse' and bestow a new name more fitting to the dream for the team in 2007."