Yankees give Tanaka a win in Major League debut

Tanaka looked good today. Too bad he had to sell his soul to those damned Yankees ...

edojin, okay, so you don't like the Yankees. To each his own. But would you mind explaining what your second sentence means?

Selling their souls to the devil. That's what I said about Randy Johnson when he joined the Yankees. And I said the same thing about Mark Texiera (I forget how to spell his name ... is that it?) And I say it about everybody else who goes to the team I grew up hating ... just like my friends and relatives around me ... Sorry ben4short ... but that's the way it is ... more minus points from you of course ...

Maybe if Toronto had been a little more patient the outcome would have been different. He pitched well, but thry were seinging at everything.

edojin, you make no sense at all, sorry to say.

Ok, so you hate the Yankees. Fair enough. But have you ever thought of the possibility that Tanaka doesn't? It was clearly his first choice, so why on earth would HE be selling HIS soul to a team that YOU hate? Your anti-Yankee venom has obviously gotten the better of your logic.

@ben Jeez do you have to take it so seriously? It's an expression for goodness sake. Yea he sold out to get the big bucks and the 'glamour' of the Yankee uniform. If he was serious about winning he wouldn't have joined them. Rather St Louis, Texas, Boston etc

Good start. Think he will surprise many teams as the season progresses.

If Tanaka stays healthy, Yankees may have a chance to win AL East division easily,

@Sue Jones: If he was serious about winning he wouldn't have joined them. Rather St Louis, Texas, Boston etc

St, Louis, Rangers and Red Sox were not competing to sign Tanaka. Only wealthy teams like Dodgers and Angles were not interested, either. Rangers have Yu, So, Yankee got him. Yankee could afford to sign him. All Yankees have eyes on WS champ.

I liked the welcome Melky gave him. What was it, the third pitch of his major league career?

Well, Mariner was interested but could not compete to sign against Yankees. However, The opening at AL 3 games at at Anaheim, Mariners won three games. Last year, Angels was good at home but not on tour. So, Mariners have chanc to win West, then if Yu get healthy, AL championship games get excited with Tanaka. Tanaka boom created a new phrase, Sport announcers say Tanak Time. Better to hear this than Tsunami during watching baseball game.

New York Times had a pretty reserved article about him today, comparing his character unfavorably (so far) to that of Hideki Matsui.

@nandakandamanda: He was with Angels after Yankees and he was familiar in California. You wrote about his character. Following charity he did. It was reported in Time Asia that Matsui personally donated $500,000 towards charity relief for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He also donated $620,000 to relief efforts for victims of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 in the Tōhoku region of Japan. .

When he did 2 home run in a game (2 for 4), we angels fans were excited.

It is too early to judge Tanaka yet but we remember Matsui;s donation made American people to see what is Fukushima situation, Then tsunami became an English word.

He makes watching Yankees more tolerable. Thanks!

It is too early to judge Tanaka yet but we remember Matsui;s donation made American people to see what is Fukushima situation, Then tsunami became an English word.

Uh, no. Just no.

Nice first game/first win for Tanaka. But with 7 runs you had better win. Kuroda pitches well but only gets one run in support. In fact the Yankees have only scored 7 runs in their other 4 games combined. Nice to see Ichiro play well, when he was given the chance. He gets 5 hits in 2 games and then Girardi puts him on the bench, Sporatic hitting and a weak bullpen might make for a long season for the Yankees.