The New York Yankees' latest recruit Masahiro Tanaka dominated Japanese baseball, if not Japan's entire sports scene last year, setting a world record for unbeatability and carrying his team, a perennial underdog, to the Japanese championship.

The Yankees signed Tanaka on a massive seven-year contract on Wednesday, ending a fierce bidding contest to lure the pitching sensation. Several cash-rich major league teams targeted the right-hander after he became a free agent in December.

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