This past weekend I’ve been helping Aaron set up a new blog called “East . . . a windup chronicle of Baseball, Culture, Art, and Politics from the Pacific Rim.”
He posted today about Yu Darvish, a new 20-year-old hotshot Japanese pitcher who has an Iranian father and a Japanese mother. He’s the ace for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
He’s got his own site, and his own fan site.
I think he just might be the first pro baseball player of Iranian ancestry ever!
If he makes makes it to the US he will probably be the first player of Iranian decent. According to the Basball Almanac, there has Never been an Iranian-Born player in MLB.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/first13.shtml
-Noah