Not only did top free agent starter Yu Darvish meet with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer yesterday, but he did so for three and a half hours without the help of an interpreter.
1.今日は報道にもあったようにカブスの方達とミーティングしてきました。非常にいいミーティングでした。
自分なりに英語を次のステップに持って行きたくて通訳なしで3時間半ミーティングしました^_^ 最初は慣れてない相手と話す+緊張から言葉に詰まって焦りまくったけど途中からは大丈夫でした。— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) December 19, 2017
2.ただ質問が多かった分発言の機会が多く、かなり脳を使ったためここ10年で一番疲れたんじゃないかってぐらい疲れました。。
また明日も英語頑張ります(^^)
やっぱりビビってできないって引っ込むより、チャレンジした方が上達速いですね。 ドジャースに行って気づけました(^^)— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) December 19, 2017
You can do the Google translate thing on those and get the gist, but something a little more useful on the translation front:
The second part is about how he's tired from speaking English exclusively for 3.5 hours. He says he learned to test himself in a tough situations during his Dodgers stint.
— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) December 19, 2017
Darvish on speaking English in meeting with Cubs: "You develop faster if you challenge yourself instead of freaking out and cowering. I realized that when I went to the Dodgers." https://t.co/zVAROXWDa2
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) December 19, 2017
Cool to have meeting confirmed by Darvish, himself, and get a little bit of a window into the player. I’d imagine that was a challenging meeting for all sides, but I could see it being especially fruitful after they are all more comfortable with the way they’re communicating.
An interesting follow-up:
He indicated that he'd be in another meeting (w/o an interpreter) tomorrow. He didn't specify with whom, though. https://t.co/p7d9fFncOj
— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) December 19, 2017
Is that another meeting with the Cubs, or with another team entirely? Or neither? Hopefully – for our obsessive urges – Darvish remains candid about sharing the particulars.