The Rangers won the American League pennant both of the past two years, but they sank in the World Series both years. For many, Yu is seen as the savior.
Throngs of media and fans swarmed around Darvish throughout the day last Thursday, his first appearance on the field in uniform. It was just the beginning of pre-season, but it was the first time Texas fans could see and hear his fastball as it swooshed by.
Also on hand, were Farsad and Ikuyo Darvishsefat, Yu’s parents, who met while they were going to the same college in Florida.
They flew from Japan to witness their son’s first day in training camp. They departed Sunday, but will be back when Darvish makes his major-league debut in April. He is part of a five-man starting pitching squad and is expected to make his first appearance in the third game of the season.
“I’m just really worried,’’ his mom, Ikuyo Darvishsefat, told USA Today. She said she was “anticipating what he’ll do adjusting to American baseball and if he can live up to expectations.’’
The expectations are surreal. Darvish left Japan hailed as the greatest pitcher in the history of that nation’s baseball. He arrives in Texas tapped as no less than the man who will win the World Series championship for Texas for the first time ever.
“It seems like people forget about the rest of the team,’’ said Rangers starter Derek Holland, Darvish’s throwing partner. “Yu is a good pitcher, but don’t forget about the rest of the team.’’
Said Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux: “This is not the Yu Darvish camp. He’s part of camp.’’
Japanese fans have a lot wrapped up in Yu’s future in Texas. A few recent Japanese acquisitions by US teams have been flops. “Darvish is our last great hope,’’ said Gaku Tashiro of Sakei Sports in Japan. “The media is here to see if Darvish can succeed at this level. If he fails, it will mean that no good Japanese pitcher will have success here [in the US].’’
Darvish was unveiled last Thursday at training camp in Surprise, Arizona. He threw warm-up pitches for five minutes in the bullpen, then came out to the mound and threw 19 pitches against two minor league batters.
American reporters asked—naturally—what he liked about his new home. He was a polished responder: “A lot of organic food. I can go to restaurants and not be recognized. I like everything about the United States.”
Darvish’s playing name is shortened from Darvishsefat, according to his father, who was born in Iran, educated in the United States and now lives in Japan. The name was shortened because Japanese had trouble with the long moniker.
Darvish has had a rock-star reputation in Japan ever since junior high school. He racked up an impressive 93 wins to 38 losses with a 1.99 ERA (earned run average, the key statistic for pitchers) for the Nippon Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional team that was very unimpressive before Darvish arrived.
Yet, he wasn’t satisfied with Japan’s Pacific League, wanting to see how he could stack up with the finest pitchers in US Major League Baseball.
“He wanted to go to a bigger stage, and bigger competition,’’ said his father. “I don’t think the attention will bother him. Since junior high, he’s been with the media. No disrespect, but he’s not here to satisfy the media. He’s here to win.’’
Darvish, 25, understands English fairly well, his dad said. He expects Yu to pick up the language quickly, and has even told the Rangers he doesn’t want a full-time interpreter.
“He’s a mixed-race kid, he’s been around a lot of foreigners,’’ Farsad told USA Today. “It’s no big factor or stress. He’s always had a lot of American or foreign players with him.
“He just wants to be one of the guys, and not be a superstar. That’s why he wants to stay away from the media a little bit. It’s not being rude, but this is about the Texas Rangers, not him.’’
Farsad said he doesn’t talk to his son much about baseball. “That he gets adjusted and used to the culture [in the United States] is my concern.”
Yet, ever since Darvish was a kid, he was different. He threw the ball so hard in dodge ball that neighborhood kids wouldn’t play with him. His dad played soccer, but Darvish never wanted part of it. “I tried playing soccer with him,’’ the father said, “but he would pick up the ball and throw it back.’’
Now, the Rangers are paying him handsomely, $60 million over six years, to throw the ball back—hard, with deception, and full control.
Dad Darvish didn’t cotton to baseball when he lived in the US. He took to American football and became a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. “I was a Cowboys’ fan,’’ said Farsad, who went to high school in Massachusetts.
“I’ve always wanted to see one of their games. That stadium looks so big. I want to go inside and watch, just as a fan.’’ He could find himself on the Cowboys’ sideline this fall, a nice little perk for being the dad of the new king of Texas baseball.