For the late pitcher Hideki Irabu, the surname Irabu had come from Hideki's mother. It was her surname, and Hideki's stepfather, Ichiro Irabu, had been a common-law husband.
Still, he treated Hideki as his own, raised him and encouraged his love for baseball. He had set up a routine of rigorous exercise to strengthen his body and his pitching arm, including a drill where he tied a rubber tube to a pole and tugged on it using his throwing motion to strengthen his arm and back muscles.
Throughout his days at Jinsei Gakuen High School in Kagawa, Hideki would awake every morning at 5:30 without fail to exercise and run.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.