#DARVISH NEXT GAME PROFESSIONAL#

#DARVISH NEXT GAME PROFESSIONAL#

As he entered his senior year of high school, the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets had expressed interest in signing him but Darvish's intent remained to play for a Japanese professional team instead.ĭarvish was considered one of the best high school pitchers in the 2004 NPB amateur draft along with Yokohama Senior High School right-hander Hideaki Wakui (later picked by the Seibu Lions) and Akita Municipal Akita Commercial High School right-hander Tsuyoshi Sato ( Hiroshima Toyo Carp). 2004 draft ĭarvish was scouted by Major League teams, such as the Anaheim Angels and Atlanta Braves, even while in junior high. He pitched 12 games and put up a 7–3 record with 87 strikeouts in 92 innings pitched and a 1.47 ERA in his four national tournament appearances, and posted a 1.10 ERA for his high school career, striking out 375 in 332 + 1⁄ 3 innings (67 appearances). The team lost in the quarter-finals despite stellar outings by Darvish and sidearmer Kenji Makabe (currently with Honda Motor Company's industrial league team). ĭarvish attracted national attention when he pitched a no-hitter against Kumamoto Technical High School in the first round of the 76th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament as a senior on 26 March 2004. ĭarvish led his team to the finals of the 85th National High School Baseball Championship in the summer of 2003, but gave up four runs to Joso Gakuin High School, the Ibaraki champions, in a complete game loss. High school career ĭarvish became Tohoku High's ace pitcher by the fall of his first year (the equivalent of tenth grade in the United States) and led his team to four straight appearances in national tournaments held at Koshien Stadium in his junior and senior years, twice in the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament held in the spring and twice in the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer. He opted to attend Tohoku High School in Northern Sendai, a baseball powerhouse that produced players such as former Seattle Mariners and Yokohama BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki and former BayStars and Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito. He was scouted by over 50 high schools while in junior high. ĭarvish began playing baseball in second grade and led his team to the quarterfinals of the national tournament as well as a third-place finish in the international tournament as a member of the Habikino Boys. His paternal grandfather owned a travel agency in Iran and sent Farsad to the United States in 1977 to attend Berkshire School in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where he played soccer and raced competitively in motocross. His father played for the Florida State University soccer team. On 6 April 2014, Darvish reached the 500-strikeout mark in fewer innings pitched than any starting pitcher in MLB history.ĭarvish was born Farid Yu Darvishsefat ( ダルビッシュ・セファット・ファリード・有) in Habikino, Osaka, to a Japanese mother, Ikuyo, and Iranian father, Farsad Darvishsefat. The next season, he finished second in the AL Cy Young Award vote as he led the Major Leagues in strikeouts with 277 and finished fourth in the AL in earned run average (ERA) at 2.83. In his first MLB season, Darvish finished third in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year balloting. He was considered by many to be the best pitcher in Japanese professional baseball prior to his arrival in Major League Baseball in 2012. In international play, Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japanese national team. Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. 2× Pacific League Mitsui Golden Glove Award (2007, 2008)įarid Yu Darvishsefat ( ダルビッシュ・セファット・ファリード・有, Darubisshu Sefatto Farīdo Yū, born 16 August 1986), more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB).2× Pacific League Best Nine Award (2007, 2009).Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters ( 2005– 2011).

MLB: April 9, 2012, for the Texas Rangers NPB: June 15, 2005, for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

Darvish next game