7 Responses to “Must click link: Belth on Hiroki Kuroda”
IIATMS MASTHEAD
Co-Founders and Editors Emeritus
Jason Rosenberg, Larry Koestler,
Moshe Mandel, Brien Jackson
Editors-in-Chief
Michael Eder, Stacey Gotsulias, Matt Imbrogno
Writers
Tamar Chalker, William Tasker, EJ Fagan, Mike Jaggers-Radolf, Brad Vietrogoski, Domenic Lanza
SNY
SNY
In Mo We Trust
Liked the signing when I saw it and I like it even more after I read that article. He will slide in nicely behind CC at the two spot for us. With the amount of effective innings Kuroda should supply, it will help take some pressure off Pineda and Nova who wont be counted on as much.
Honestly? This pic:
http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/wordpress/wp-conte…
almost makes the whole thing worthwhile, no?
"Kuroda was strong and durable but wild and was often relegated to pitching in practice. During bullpen sessions, his coach Hidemasa Tanaka told the catcher not to catch any pitch that wasn’t a strike. Kuroda had to retrieve each errand toss and then sprint back to the mound to make the next pitch."…sound familiar?
Great link, great story. Thanks, Jason. I feel a lot better now.
The Belth article is v nice indeed .reminds one of what sports writing once was . As to Kuroda , "a humble man and not afraid , reminds me of Lou Gehrig
Great piece. I was surprised to learn that he initially intended to return to Japan this year, but made an exception to try to win one with the Yanx. Also found this part interesting (hopefully this doesn't scare anybody because based on the rest of the piece, it seems like he can deal with it):
“The pressure is more than double [playing for the Yankees],” says Yamakawa, who told me that Kuroda went to a doctor last summer when he was having trouble sleeping at night. Unbeknownst to his teammates Kuroda spent two nights in the hospital. The doctor said that stress was keeping him awake. “But he is good at switching his mind when he’s on the mound,” Yumokura said.
Though apparently he loved Martin, which could be a good thing: "… the pitcher will be reunited with his old catcher Russell Martin. “He was sad when Martin left,” says Yumokura. He said that ‘Martin is the only catcher for me.’”
Hello There. I found your blog the use of msn. That is a really smartly written article.
I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to
read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post.
I’ll certainly comeback.