TAMPA, Fla.—The anticipation surrounding Hideki Irabu's Yankee debut in 1997 was unprecedented. Irabu wasn't the first Japanese pitcher to try his hand in the major leagues (Hideo Nomo had joined the Dodgers in 1995), but he was the first to try it with the Yankees, and the fan base demanded instant excellence.

But Irabu's Yankee teammates were skeptical that he would be the savior Nomo had been in Los Angeles. His rotation mate, David Cone, remembers thinking that Irabu seemed to doubt his own ability to pitch in America....