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Yu Darvish

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Yu Darvish (Template:Lang-ja, Persian: درویش , 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.

File:DarvishOnField.jpg
Yu Darvish

Biography

Yu's father is an Iranian businessman and former Iranian national soccer team member while his mother is Japanese. Yu is their eldest son. Darvish first inspired interest in Japan in 2004 after pitching 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. 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 his suspension, Darvish made his professional baseball debut later in the season.

In 2006, Darvish helped the Fighters win their first Japan Series since 1961, over the Chunichi Dragons. Darvish lost Game 1 to Chunichi ace Kenshin Kawakami, but the Fighters were able to overcome the loss and Darvish pitched the clinching Game 5 at the Sapporro Dome, 4-1. Darvish also won the championship game of the Konami Cup Asia Series 2006, played between the league champions of Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea at the end of the 2006 season. He won the MVP for that series, and is considered to be one of Japan's biggest rising stars.

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