Yū Darvish
Yu Darvish (born August 16, 1986 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese baseball starting pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. At 19 years of age, he is widely heralded as a potential ace for the Fighters, as well as Japanese baseball. Darvish is listed as 6'4" tall (195 cm) and 175 pounds (85 kg). He throws a low-90s (91-93 MPH) fastball, along with a sinker, slider, changeup and knuckle curve. Though his curveball is noted to be of high quality, his command and control remain as areas that require further development. His frame also shows potential for further speed on his fastball.
Biography
Yu's father is an Iranian businessman and former Iranian soccer star [1] who played for the Iranian national team while his mother is Japanese.Yu's mother and father met in the United States while the two attended university [2].Yu is their eldest son.
Darvish dominated the news when he was signed by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the NPB in 2004. He received further press when he was caught smoking in a pachinko parlor on an off-day at his first Spring Training in 2005, despite being underage for both activities. The incident led to his subsequent suspension from his team and high school, as well as being ordered to give volunteer work. Despite this, he made his professional baseball debut later in the season.
Darvish had inspired interest in Japan since he pitched a no-hitter at the Koshien National High School Baseball Championship in his senior year for Tohoku High School, the school that also produced Major League and Japanese All-Star Kazuhiro Sasaki. He is considered to be one of Japan's rising stars and is one of the most prominent Japanese mixed-race stars. [3]