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December 15, 2011, 8:48 pmBeing the center of attention is the default setting for Yu Darvish.
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters traveled commercial, and that?s supposed to be standard in Japan. Getting out of the plane and moving through the concourse, Micah Hoffpauir and Bobby Scales watched the paparazzi snap pictures. Fans swarmed their famous teammate to ask for autographs at the airport.
As Scales put it: Could you imagine the Cubs walking through O?Hare every road trip?
The Cubs are among the teams that submitted a blind bid before Wednesday?s deadline. This is for the right to negotiate with Darvish, even if the sense is that it could just be due diligence, like checking in on Albert Pujols and not completely ruling out Prince Fielder.
Word could leak out earlier, but the Fighters have four business days to consider the highest bid. The final answer is due by Dec. 20.
If the final bill is close to the more than $100 million it cost the Boston Red Sox to import Daisuke Matsuzaka five years ago, then Darvish automatically becomes one of the game?s most intriguing players, a marketing and promotional force.
The Japanese media had Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan pinned against an elevator bank at Milwaukee?s Pfister Hotel during the owner/general manager meetings last month. They needed something on Darvish.
Foreign reporters surrounded Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos last week at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. There was curiosity and gossip about Darvish in the lobby at the winter meetings.
Whenever Darvish arrives on American (or Canadian) soil, he may not be in for total cultural shock, but the 25-year-old pitcher will face a series of adjustments.
Hoffpauir ? who spent nearly a decade in the Cubs organization before heading to Japan last season ? described a style of play that almost sounded like soccer.
?The No. 1 difference (between) American (and) Japanese baseball,? Hoffpauir said, ?is (that) Japanese baseball is very, very concerned about scoring one run. They?ve got to get that first run on the board and I (had) never in my life seen (that before).
?If our leadoff hitter gets on in the top of the first inning, our two-hole hitter ? nine out of 10 times ? is bunting and everybody in the stadium knows it and it?s not even a question. That?s just the way it is. If we have the opportunity to get (him) into scoring position and take two shots at it with our No. 3 and 4 guys, then we?re going to do that every time.?
If Darvish doesn?t live up to the hype, he will have to deal with a backlash that may seem jarring. Scales ? who got called up to Wrigley Field in 2009 and 2010 ? described Japanese culture as ?very reserved, very respectful.?
?People drink in the stadiums in Japan,? Hoffpauir said, ?but you don?t have the constant heckling. You don?t have people being booed and stuff like that. It seems to be more of a positive-type atmosphere. The fans everywhere are great.?
Hoffpauir had been there only a few weeks when he felt the Tokyo Dome Hotel shaking. A tsunami and earthquake would devastate the country last March. Still, overall he enjoyed the experience and picked up his option to return to Japan next year.
Hoffpauir was joined by his wife Tiffany and their daughter Addyson, who?s now three years old. They ate more McDonald?s than they probably wanted, but that was a place where you could point at what you wanted.
The Fighters had two interpreters for their four American players. Scales ? a midseason replacement brought over from Triple-A Iowa ? used a Slingbox to watch University of Michigan football games. But with the time difference, he was usually falling asleep in his hotel room by the time his school started the second half.
Off the field, these are the little things that Darvish will have to get used to in a new country, all while learning the game ? new league, new teammates, deeper lineups ? at the highest level. Even professional athletes can?t stay always stay in the bubble.
Hoffpauir is convinced that Darvish will approximate a No. 2 major-league starter as soon as he reports to spring training. The Japanese ace has strung together five consecutive seasons with an ERA below 1.89. What else is left to prove there?
At least Darvish ? who?s reportedly in the process of divorcing his wife, a high-profile actress ? shouldn?t be blinded by the flashbulbs and TV lights. He performed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic. This is his world.
?He will have no problem with the media,? Hoffpauir said. ?He?s dealt with that all of his career.?
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