Playback ’05] “Scullery maid” and “scorer”… “Opening Day” of the Rookie Dalvish and his team
What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were popular at the time. This time, we will introduce the article from the April 15, 2005 issue, which was published 20 years ago : “The Pacific League’s ‘Disturbing Rookies’ Start in the Third Army… Rakuten’s Ichiba and NIHAM’s Darvish’s ‘Lonely Opening Day'”.
On March 28, this year’s professional baseball season opened, but 20 years ago, in 2005, a historic event took place in the Pacific League: for the first time in 50 years, a new baseball team, Rakuten, joined the league, and a major reform of the baseball world took place. On this historic opening day, two rookies, Yasuhiro Ichiba (22 at the time) and Yu Darvish (18), both of whom had caused a stir, had a near miss. （Descriptions in parentheses are taken from past articles. (All ages and titles are those of the time.)
Two golden rookies who had a near miss in the opening game
Ichiba (hereafter “Ich”) Ahhh, he’s not very bright. Why do I, the golden rookie of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, have to attend the second team’s game against Nichi-Ham in Kamagaya, Chiba? When I first joined the team, I was supposed to be the starting pitcher. But now I’m treated as a “third-team” pitcher who can’t even play in a second-team game on opening day. ……
Darvish (hereafter referred to as “Da”): That’s true for me, too. I joined Nichi-Ham after being hailed as a star at Koshien and the No. 1 pick in the draft, but I can hardly play a game here in Kamagaya (home base of the second team).
I. You were a high school student who smoked cigarettes while playing pachislot, so it’s no wonder you got suspended!
The main reason is that I have a right knee injury. Please don’t misunderstand me. You’ve already been released from house arrest. I was in the front row at the training session for new players, and I have reflected on what I did! I think the reason why Ichiba-san dropped out of the second team was because he used up all his nutritional expenses and became malnourished, don’t you agree?
This was a “fictitious exchange” between the two that appeared in this magazine at the time. Ichiba was one of the best right-handers at Meiji University, and was considered the centerpiece of the draft. In fact, he had been offered a spot with the Giants, but it was discovered that he had received 2 million yen from the Giants under the guise of “nutritional expenses. His offer to join the Giants was rescinded, and he also left the baseball club at Meiji University. The Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe and the owners of Yokohama and Hanshin, who were later found to have received the money, also resigned. Ichiba ended up joining a new team, Rakuten, as a free agent.
Darvish, on the other hand, was the most popular high school draft candidate, and was described as “the biggest monster since Daisuke Matsuzaka. Darvish was drafted first overall by Nippham, but in February 2005, he was sent back to the team’s dormitory in Kamagaya, Chiba, from Okinawa, where he had been camping, after it was reported that he had been smoking in a pachinko parlor despite being underage. He was sentenced to indefinite house arrest and to engage in social contribution activities during the period of house arrest.
At that time, Ichiba, who had changed his pitching form in camp and failed to show results in open games, was working one-on-one with a coach to correct his form before the start of games. Darvish, who had been suffering from a right knee injury since the previous December, was working hard on stretching.
Ichiba keeping score, Darvish doing chores.
On March 26, 2005, in a game at Kamagaya, the two were both working hard at what they were assigned to do, and did not actually talk to each other. When this magazine interviewed them on site, it was found that during the game, Ichioba was the scorer and Darvish was diligently doing his chores on the bench. What would they have talked about if they had had a conversation? Let’s listen again to the “imaginary conversation” of that time.
I wonder what you are doing behind the net?
I. You can tell by looking at it. I keep a scorebook. I just learned how to do it, but I don’t know how to write it down because I never kept such a thing even in junior high and high school.
I must be the highest paid scorer in the history of professional baseball. But you were serious until the game was over, weren’t you?
I was wondering what you were doing during the game, and I found out that you were doing “chores. You returned the batter’s bat to the bench and painted pine tar on the grip. I’m impressed. I’m impressed.
But, I guess we can’t help it if we do this kind of thing for each other. ……
I. Ah, I want to go to the mound soon. I can’t wait to get on the mound for the first team. Remember me then!
Ichiba made his first start with the first army in April.
As expected of golden rookies, the day came quickly when both pitched on the mound for the first team.
Ichiba made his first start for the Ichigunshi on April 12, 2005, against Softbank, but gave up four runs and was the losing pitcher. He was temporarily promoted to the second team, but was promoted again and earned his first win in September. In his first year as a pro, he pitched in 23 games, going 2-9 with one save. From 2006, he was a member of the starting rotation, but in ’08 he failed to produce and did not win a game.’ He was traded to Yakult in the spring of 2009 and retired in ’12 after receiving a notice of retirement.
Darvish was promoted to the first team in June and made his first start on June 15 against Hiroshima, and also got his first professional win. After that, he became a fixture in the starting rotation, pitching in 14 games and going 5-5. He also pitched his first complete game. In 2006, he made his first appearance in the starting rotation and pitched in 25 games, posting a 2.89 earned-run average and a 12-5 record in his second year. From that year to 2011, Darvish continued to win in double digits for six consecutive years, and in 2012 he joined the Texas Rangers of the big leagues. He continued to be active in the big leagues after that.
The current locations of these two “controversial rookies,” who did not even play in the opening game of the 2005 season, are far apart, but it is true that they were both working behind the scenes on the same field that day.
PHOTO： Toshiaki Ichihara
