Talk:Hideki Irabu

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[edit] Irabu a flop?

Does anyone know why Irabu was really a flop? I too remember it being a big deal when he came to the majors, but...well... I forget why. Was it because he was one of the earlier Japanese players, and playing for the all important Yankees?

Part of it was the whole Yankee Mystique. But he was an extrodinary pitcher in Japan, often being compared to Roger Clemens. He was predicted to be even better than Hideo Nomo was at the time of his arrival, but he just had a hard time adjusting to the majors. He also had some personal problems, like self esteem issues (from childhood: father was an american serviceman in Japan) plus some stints with drinking. It's a shame. He did have talent. Morisato_40

As I recall he was a real fireballed, reaching up to 103MPH on the radar gun. He was supposidly the hardest thrower this side of the galaxy, and they expect him to just blow everyone away with a fastball no one would be able to hit. He lacked the conditioning/variety of pitches/control and as a result had a fairly high walk-to-strikeout ratio, especially for a strikeout pitcher like him.

[edit] "Fat pussy toad"

As I recall, Steinbrenner's infamous put-down of Irabu cause quite a dilemma for sportswriters, since the modifier he used for "toad" was not the vulgar term for female genitals, but rather rhymed with "fussy" (i.e., suggesting he was full of pus). That's not a commonly used word, and there's no widely accepted way of spelling it. I think most went with "puss-y". I'll try to update the entry, but I can't find any references.