When you use Google Translate to search in Japanese for Texas Rangers rookie Yu Darvish, you see that this player is a true oddball. From the nude photos to the frequent articles that focus on his spring training, there are many weird (奇妙な) facts about this new player.
1. Sexy photos of Darvish
According to Google Translate, Yu Darvish is "ダルビッシュ" in Japanese. When you use Google to search for ダルビッシュ, you soon see a list of interesting links on the first page. In particular, there seems to be a lot of popularity surrounding Darvish tastefully posed in the buff.
2. Who is 'Brother Dal'?
Interestingly, most of the information about Darvish are listed under the key phrases baseball (野球) and "Brother Dal" (ダル). Dal is frequently used as Darvish's nickname in Japan. Oddly, there is no clear reference to the history or definition of this nickname.
3. Fighting for a hot dog
In Japan, Darvish has been a major part in the success of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (北海道日本ハムファイターズ). Just like the name implies, this is about pork and other food products. Nippon Ham is a food processing company that owns Darvish's former team. Their website shows many pictures of an old ball park favorite: hot dogs.
4. Hokkaido and Arlington have a lot in common
The Nippon Ham Fighters play most of their games at the Sapporo Dome. If the name Sapporo sounds familiar, this is likely due to the American popularity of the Sapporo beer company. In other words, hot dogs and having a cold drink are key traditions found at both of Darvish's ballparks.
5. Yu Darvish is 'Filthy McNasty'
The New York Times wrote a report in early December of 2011 that the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were proud to announce that their star player was moving from Japan to the Texas Rangers. When you browse the video section for Yu Darvish videos, you soon see a large number of fan-composed compilations of his best plays.
However, the titles of some of these must have been lost in translation for American readers. For example, Darvish's best moments earn him the odd name of "Filthy McNasty."
6. Dal's Iranian heritage
The Darvish family actually has two sports stars. His father, Farsad Darvishsefat, was a well known soccer star for the Iran National Team. On Darvish's official webpage, some of the products that he sells are related to his Iranian heritage.
For example, his Nippon Ham Fighters jersey bore the number 11. Darvish says, "eleven means glory in Persian." He also sells a Damask rose organic perfume and cites that Iran is known as the "Land of Roses."
7. The rainbow connection
Darvish's main advantage on the field is definitely his wide variety of pitches. When you translate pages about Darvish's pitches, you start to see the word "rainbow" a lot. This is due to Japanese fans linking Darvish with a Seibu Lions baseball player named Koki Fujiwara that is often called "Rainbow Fujiwara". Part of the reason they are linked is due to their height. Darvish and Fujiwara are some of the tallest Japanese baseball players at 195cm to 196cm (6'5").
8. Thoughts blog for Darvish
Due to his popularity, there is a Japanese blog dedicated entirely to Davish's thoughts. Regardless of the refined nature of the blog, the first thing that American's will notice is the hilarious picture of an over-dramatized Darvish rapt in thought. At the "Thoughts of Yu" blog, you will see that there is an iPhone app designed especially for this player called, "Bible of useful breaking ball Darvish."
9. Gauze divorce scandal
During the 2012 MLB spring training session with the Rangers, Japanese reporters are filling the sports pages with references to Ranger's part owner Charley Pride. On the other hand, there is an ongoing scandal involving Darvish and his dissolved marriage to celebrity Eiko Gauze. One of the main focuses of the Japanese press is his bizarre tweets to his ex that are lost in translation to both Japanese and American audiences.
10. More weird Japanese Yu Darvish references
To read more about what Japanese Darvish fans think about his move to the Rangers, use Google Translate to read an article by Plus-Blog.SportsNavi.com. There, you can translate the page into English and read over 20 comments regarding "Dal Mania" in Surprise, Arizona. You can also search online for "Yu Darvish weird" in Japanese. The term is "ダルビッシュ 奇妙な" and you can select for Google to translate all search results into English.
1. Sexy photos of Darvish
According to Google Translate, Yu Darvish is "ダルビッシュ" in Japanese. When you use Google to search for ダルビッシュ, you soon see a list of interesting links on the first page. In particular, there seems to be a lot of popularity surrounding Darvish tastefully posed in the buff.
2. Who is 'Brother Dal'?
Interestingly, most of the information about Darvish are listed under the key phrases baseball (野球) and "Brother Dal" (ダル). Dal is frequently used as Darvish's nickname in Japan. Oddly, there is no clear reference to the history or definition of this nickname.
3. Fighting for a hot dog
In Japan, Darvish has been a major part in the success of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (北海道日本ハムファイターズ). Just like the name implies, this is about pork and other food products. Nippon Ham is a food processing company that owns Darvish's former team. Their website shows many pictures of an old ball park favorite: hot dogs.
4. Hokkaido and Arlington have a lot in common
The Nippon Ham Fighters play most of their games at the Sapporo Dome. If the name Sapporo sounds familiar, this is likely due to the American popularity of the Sapporo beer company. In other words, hot dogs and having a cold drink are key traditions found at both of Darvish's ballparks.
5. Yu Darvish is 'Filthy McNasty'
The New York Times wrote a report in early December of 2011 that the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were proud to announce that their star player was moving from Japan to the Texas Rangers. When you browse the video section for Yu Darvish videos, you soon see a large number of fan-composed compilations of his best plays.
However, the titles of some of these must have been lost in translation for American readers. For example, Darvish's best moments earn him the odd name of "Filthy McNasty."
6. Dal's Iranian heritage
The Darvish family actually has two sports stars. His father, Farsad Darvishsefat, was a well known soccer star for the Iran National Team. On Darvish's official webpage, some of the products that he sells are related to his Iranian heritage.
For example, his Nippon Ham Fighters jersey bore the number 11. Darvish says, "eleven means glory in Persian." He also sells a Damask rose organic perfume and cites that Iran is known as the "Land of Roses."
7. The rainbow connection
Darvish's main advantage on the field is definitely his wide variety of pitches. When you translate pages about Darvish's pitches, you start to see the word "rainbow" a lot. This is due to Japanese fans linking Darvish with a Seibu Lions baseball player named Koki Fujiwara that is often called "Rainbow Fujiwara". Part of the reason they are linked is due to their height. Darvish and Fujiwara are some of the tallest Japanese baseball players at 195cm to 196cm (6'5").
8. Thoughts blog for Darvish
Due to his popularity, there is a Japanese blog dedicated entirely to Davish's thoughts. Regardless of the refined nature of the blog, the first thing that American's will notice is the hilarious picture of an over-dramatized Darvish rapt in thought. At the "Thoughts of Yu" blog, you will see that there is an iPhone app designed especially for this player called, "Bible of useful breaking ball Darvish."
9. Gauze divorce scandal
During the 2012 MLB spring training session with the Rangers, Japanese reporters are filling the sports pages with references to Ranger's part owner Charley Pride. On the other hand, there is an ongoing scandal involving Darvish and his dissolved marriage to celebrity Eiko Gauze. One of the main focuses of the Japanese press is his bizarre tweets to his ex that are lost in translation to both Japanese and American audiences.
10. More weird Japanese Yu Darvish references
To read more about what Japanese Darvish fans think about his move to the Rangers, use Google Translate to read an article by Plus-Blog.SportsNavi.com. There, you can translate the page into English and read over 20 comments regarding "Dal Mania" in Surprise, Arizona. You can also search online for "Yu Darvish weird" in Japanese. The term is "ダルビッシュ 奇妙な" and you can select for Google to translate all search results into English.
