On the night that Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish would be making his Major League debut, the ball club introduced a new hot dog named after the Japanese pitching sensation.
This isn’t the first time that the Texas Rangers have honored one of their players with a culinary creation. Their latest came during spring training this season when the Rangers announced the newest item on the game-day menu—a $26 dollar, two-foot long, two-pound hot dog referred to as “The Boomstick” in honor of Ranger slugger, Nelson Cruz. In fact, on Opening Day, 191 Ranger fans were surprisingly willing to shell out the dough to try one of these.
As if that wasn’t enough, tonight they debuted yet another food item to be sold at the Ballpark at Arlington: The Yu Dog, in honor of their new star pitcher and his first game with the Rangers.
Paying homage to Darvish’s Japanese heritage, the Yu Dog is a hot dog wrapped in a fried wonton (though it would seem that wontons are part of the Chinese, not Japanese culture), then covered with beef teriyaki and wasabi mayonnaise. It is topped with seaweed salad and sesame seeds.
As fans inside the stadium were probably lining up in droves, rushing to try one of these new hot dogs (or probably not), Yu himself had his mind on other things.
As the pitcher took the mound against the Seattle Mariners for his first ever start in the Major Leagues, things didn’t go very well. At least at the beginning.
Yet fter giving up five earned runs in the first two innings of the game, the right handed hurler settled in and racked up his first major league win.
I can imagine that though things started a bit rocky, Yu has to be feeling pretty good tonight, unless perhaps, he tried one of the hot dogs himself.
Though Darvish is certainly no stranger to fame (in Japan he is considered a superstar), you know you’ve arrived in America when they name a food after you.
UPDATE: Many fans took to Twitter after Yu’s debut commenting on the new “cuisine,” wondering if it crossed the line or not. What are your thoughts?
