A subplot in a second disastrous World Series outing for Yu Darvish was his matchup with Yulieski Gurriel in Game 7. It marked their first time meeting since Gurriel’s racist gesture in Game 3 that was directed toward Darvish.
Gurriel received a five-game suspension, which won’t go into effect until the 2018 season. Rather than admonish the Cuban native, Darvish elected to handle the situation with humility and grace, and called for it to serve as a learning experience.
Nonetheless, Gurriel was booed mercilessly by the Dodger Stadium crowd during pregame introductions for Games 6 and 7, and in each of his at-bats.
Upon digging in for the first time in Game 7, Gurriel tipped his helmet to Darvish. He flied out on a 13-pitch at-bat.
“What happened didn’t affect me at all,” Darvish said through a translator. “It’s just the first at-bat that Gurriel came up, I just tried not to hit him and that’s about it.”
The Dodgers rallied behind Darvish to offer their support, and it included Rich Hill deliberately stepping off the mound multiple times in Game 6 to further allow the crowd to shower Gurriel with boos.
On the eve of his Game 7 start, Darvish said Gurriel offered to meet in person, but the right-hander informed him it was not necessary. “I really don’t know how to judge by having a five-game suspension,” Darvish added.
“Like what happened, racial discrimination, it’s a big deal at this big stage; World Series it’s a big deal whenever you do that. And the MLB Commissioner decided not to do it in the World Series and I get that.
“But at the same time it’s a big deal, so I cannot really compare like is it too big, five game too much or too less, I don’t really know what to tell.”
