Igawa gets clobbered in season debut

Saturday 10th May, 05:57 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

10 Comments

capone at 08:14 PM JST - 10th May

this guy sucks...he should be on the next flight back to tokyo...on his own dime
some14some at 10:13 PM JST - 10th May

Igawa: Ano furusato e (koshien kyujou) kaero ka na...kaero ka na... Tigers: kaite koiyo kaite koi yo...... Yes, he should fly back to Japan by first available flight.
Ninjazilla at 12:19 AM JST - 11th May

Man he is like Irabu all over again but worse
northlondon at 02:12 AM JST - 11th May

It's not like Igawa is a really poor pitcher. He was Hanshin's ace not so long ago. Although we all know the Yankees overpaid for him and got Igawa as a second best thing after missing out on Matsuzaka, some of the comments on here about Igawa and Matsuzaka are over the top. These guys are top of the range professional baseball players and things don't always work out, especially going to the goldfish-bowl that is MLB. Igawa is having a rough time in the US, but don't start saying he sucks. The Yankees (and Boston with Matsuzaka) did their homework and Igawa is a decent pitcher.
pathat at 10:30 AM JST - 11th May

northlondon: It does not make any difference if Igawa was a top-flight pitcher in Japan or not. The fact is that he has been terrible in the U.S. into his second season now and the Yankees have gotten virtually nothing for their investment. Boston did its "homework" with Matsuzaka; the Yankees had a knee-jerk reaction when they lost out on the bidding for Dice-K by overbidding for Igawa and had unrealistic expectations for him.(Brian Cashman has made a lot of mistakes with starting pitchers: Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright come to mind)

If you watched Igawa in Japan over the years, it was obvious to any knowledgeable observer that he was past his peak as a dominant starting pitcher his last year, or maybe two here. I recall Bobby V saying something along these lines, too.

My guess is that he will be traded to some crappy big league team soon-with the Yankees picking up the tab for the majority of his unpaid salary-to see if he can resurrect his career.

Unless Igawa turns it around soon, which I highly doubt, he should be considered a complete flop like Hideki Irabu was.
capone at 05:11 PM JST - 11th May

northlondon: dude, he's sucked every single time they've put him out there...what other evidence do you need ? he is definitely not top of the range in talent...in salary, yeah, but it ain't my money
northlondon at 06:07 PM JST - 11th May

I'm not disagreeing with the fact that Igawa has struggled in the Major Leagues and that the Yankees expectations of him were unrealistic. But I have a healthy respect for any sportsman or woman who have got to the top of their sport and Igawa did that and became ace pitcher for Hanshin Tigers. I cannot accept people saying that a pro sportsman such as Igawa 'sucks' just because his form has fallen in the states.

The same goes for Irabu. He was a top flight pitcher but things did not work out for him either in the Major Leagues.

I just do not accept people saying that certain sportsmen 'suck' and are no good, just because a stint in MLB did not work out, not when those sportsmen clearly have been very decent professional pitchers.
capone at 12:16 AM JST - 12th May

you almost had me there, but...no, he still sucks
westurn at 12:15 PM JST - 12th May

Umm North buddy... Igawa sucks ! Plain and simple ! The Yankees got worked on that deal and I imagine they will not go to that well again anytime soon. hey should be content with their one Japanese import to sell tickets, Matsui.

Personally though, I can't imagine the amount of shame Igawa must feel while inside the Yankee clubhouse. Especially when compared with the other Asian import "Wang" who at 6-1 is tearing up the AL and was just awarded the "pepsi clutch" honor for April ! Poor Igawa, he's embarrassing himself... again !
capone at 12:23 PM JST - 12th May

japanese pitchers don't do well in the Majors because most hitters in japanese baseball tend to be dinky slap-hitters, and that inflates the stats of most pitchers here