Chances are you were snug in your bed Thursday morning when Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish was introduced on the global stage. That's OK. Japan is one win away from advancing to the semifinal round of the World Baseball Classic, and should it get there. Darvish will get another start in the Classic, this time at a much more civilized hour in the Western hemisphere.Take it from me, you shouldn't miss him the next time he toes the rubber.
Daisuke Matsuzaka used the 2006 WBC as a platform to become an international superstar. He went 3-0 and was named MVP of the tournament. A little over a year later, he was helping the Red Sox to their second World Series title of the decade after being sold by the Seibu Lions for $51 million.
Darvish is poised to follow in his footsteps, but it seems possible he could be an even bigger star.
Matsuzaka is a legend in Japan, but even with a celebrity wife (TV journalist Tomoyo Shibata), his spoils on the mound are what make him famous, not necessarily how he goes about it. Darvish is instantly memorable before he even tosses a pitch. He is half-Iranian. He also goes by Farid, which means unique in Persian or Arabic. It's hard to think of a better descriptor.
Darvish is lanky, with an abnormally long neck. He pitches solely out of the stretch despite the fact that he's logged more than 200 innings each of the last two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball. He has an explosive fastball with late life and an array of breaking pitches, though he only really showcased one -- a tight slider -- in Japan's 4-0 win over China Thursday morning.
He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NPB Draft, and he led the Nippon Ham Fighters to their first Japan Series title in 45 seasons two years later, but he's also been at the center of national incidents, first when he was caught smoking underaged in a Japanese arcade and later when he posed nude for a magazine spread. That's a far cry from Matsuzaka, who made his name at the Summer Koshien, Japan's high school championship, by tossing a shutout, a 17-inning, 250-pitch victory and a no-hitter in succession as his team won the title. (Don't worry, Darvish pitched a no-hitter in the Koshien too.)
Darvish is already a rock star in Japan, and he's only 22, four years younger than Dice-K was when he hopped the Pacific Ocean to become a member of Red Sox Nation. It's unlikely that he'll be posted as quickly as Matsuzaka was, and indeed Darvish has steered clear of discussing a transition to Major League Baseball so far.
But the allure of a potentially record-setting bidding war might be too hard for the Ham Fighters to ignore. And if it is, Darvish could easily eclipse the Land of the Rising Sun's other national treasure currently on loan at Fenway Park. Here's hoping, at least.
