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| A monument to visit Darvish installed near the back screen of the outfield of the Econpindle at Nippon Ham's home stadium. Darvish visited Esconfield for the first time last month. I watched the training of the juniors in my home team and worked out lightly with my senior. Photo capture = Nippon-Ham Fighters SNS |
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| Darvish visited the Nippon Ham training ground for the first time since leaving for the Major League. Darvish posed on the mound of Eskonfeld in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, on the 8th. Photo capture = Nippon-Ham Fighters SNS |
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| Photo capture=Nihonham Fighters SNS |
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"I've seen several stadiums in the Major League, and this is the best stadium. It's not empty words, it's really 'number 1'. The screen or the glass is very open and clean."
Darvish Yu (38), who has a total of "203 wins" in the U.S. and Japan, posted this after visiting Econfield Hokkaido, the home ground of the Nippon Ham Fighters, on November 8th. Darvish, who first visited his old team's new stadium, watched the closing training of the Nippon Ham players. After the official training of the team, he played catch and warmed up with Naoki Miyanishi (39), his senior for a year. He met Nippon Ham ace Ito Hiromi (27), who was with the Japanese national team at the World Baseball Classic in 2023, and took a commemorative photo on the mound.
The Nippon Ham club posted the message 'WELCOME to ESCONFIELD DARVISH YOU' on the large screen at Esconfield. He welcomed the return of 'Superstar' who has not forgotten his old team.
Darvish had earlier stopped by a goods store in Esconfield. I bought items and souvenirs for my exercise. Fans in the store cheered when they saw Darvish appearing unannounced. In other words, they gave surprise gifts to those who visited the stadium in the offseason.
Darvish stayed with his two sons at a hotel in Esconfield. In other words, he experienced the latest retractable dome stadium, Scon Field, which opened in 2023.
The Nippon-Ham club announced on the 28th that it had set up a monument to commemorate Darvish's visit to Esconfield. Created next to Will Art, the 50th anniversary of the team's founding near the back screen at Sconfield. A photograph of Darvish wearing the uniform '11' during his time at Nippon Ham is included in the monument. Darvish played for the Nippon Ham and Texas Rangers with '11'. Darvish left and Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers) inherited '11'.
Darvish is a top star who has gone through Nippon Ham with Ohtani. A native of Osaka Prefecture, Darvish attended Sendai Tohoku High School in Miyagi Prefecture. In 2005, the year after Nippon Ham moved from Tokyo to Sapporo, he joined as the first draft pick.
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| Darvish showed special affection for Nippon Ham even after leaving for the Major League. He said a long time ago that he wanted to return to Nippon-Ham and retire. Photo capture = Nippon-Ham Fighters SNS |
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| Darvish trained lightly with Miyanishi, his senior for a year, after the official training at Nippon Ham, and took a commemorative photo with Ito, his junior member of the national team. Photo capture = Nippon-Ham Fighters SNS |
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Darvish played seven seasons until 2011 and went to the major leagues through the posting system. He won 93 games (38 losses) in seven seasons. He won the MVP award twice and won the Sawamura Award in 2007. During Darvish's performance, Nippon Ham reached the top of the Pacific League three times. In 2006, he defeated the Chunichi Dragons to lift the Japan Series trophy.
Nippon-Ham left Sapporo Dome, where Darvish played. Esconfield was built and relocated in Kita Hiroshima near Sapporo. Sapporo Dome owner Sapporo City's heavy-handed attitude became a problem. By 2022, Nippon Ham had shared the Sapporo Dome with Konsaldore Sapporo in the professional football J-League.
Darvish also helped the team when he left for the Texas Rangers in the Major League. Beyond Daisuke Matsuzaka, he left the highest amount of posting ever, $51,703,411. He has added 110 wins in the Major League and 203 wins in total.
Even after leaving for the Major League, he showed special affection for his former team. He sent a video message when the Nippon Ham player retired. I also post pictures of me working out while wearing a Nihonham hat.
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| Darvish's pitching during his time at Nippon Ham. He won 93 games for 7 years from 2005 and recorded an ERA of 1 point for 5 consecutive years. Sports Chosun DB |
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Meanwhile, a professional basketball B-League game was held at Sconfield on the 28th. 19,147 people entered the game, which was proposed by the Nippon Ham club to the Hokkaido club in the first division of the B League. It set a record for the largest number of spectators in Japanese professional basketball history. After Nippon-Ham's departure, Sapporo Dome was in an operational crisis. Consaldore Sapporo, which is used as its home stadium, has dropped to the second division.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
