Born July 13 1979, Igawa sought to strive as a proffesional ball player, and he did... in Japan. Drafted in 1998 by the Hanshin Tigers, whom he played for until 2006 and had a very succesfull career. Somehow he led his league in strikeouts 3 of those years, and was elected to Japan's All-Star team. Though Igawa's success in Japan was great, his true purpose in life had yet to come.
The Yankees were watching something that Kei Igawa did correctly in Japan... apparently, and signed him to a Major league contract just before the 2007 season. Many believe that this was just a signing to possibly counter the Red Sox signing of Daisuke Matsuzaka, of course that wasn't true... of course...
Kei Igawa performed up to expectations in 2007...durring spring training... but when the season came around, we saw a new side of the K-man.
What Yankee fans don't know, is if Igawa hadn't been a Yankee on April 7 2007, would Alex Rodriguez be a Yankee today. I say this because durring that game, Alex Rodriguez hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th. According to Alex Rodriguez, that homerun really got him settled into New York, and took alot of pressure off of him to succeed in 07.
Igawa gave up 7 runs in 5 innings durring that game, who knows... i'm not one to play God, but... had the Yankees not signed Igawa, A-Rod would not have hit the grand slam, and maybe would not have won the 07 MVP and possibly could have decided not to resign with the Yankees after opting out of his contract.
Now Yankee fans, i know you don't like Kei Igawa, with good reason; however, think of him in a different light now. Kei Igawa's total suck gave us 10 more years of Alex Rodriguez, arguably the greatest player of all time.
So thank you Kei Igawa, a true Yankee! (I know... I just blew your mind)
4 comments:
well thats one way to look at it lol...and in other news "Pavano slips on latest pay check, out for 5 years"
Interesting take on the situation. Whatever it takes to keep him hitting homers in the Bronx.
Tht's definitely something to think about. You've definitely made me not dislike Igawa as much. Who knew he contributed so much to one of the Yankees' greatest victories--that of course being A-Rod lokced up for 10 years.
that game on April 7th is second to only one game. The game that had Jeter diving into the stands, Tony Clark upper deck home run, walk off hit by Jon Flahrety.
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