An enterprising bookie could probably make a killing taking wagers on what will be bigger this year: the number of reporters covering Yu Darvish or the number assigned to his former team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
During his years in Japan, Darvish was seen on billboards, nude in magazines, and his life was popular fodder for tabloids. He was a veritable rock star and the more guarded he became, the more insatiable the appetite for tidbits about his life grew.
When Darvish signed with the Texas Rangers, the fervor swelled to new heights, this time with a new partner in crime in the form of the U.S. media, evidenced by the mini-firestorm kicked up simply by the logo on the shirt Darvish wore when he landed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in February.