The on-going tug-of-war between the Orix Buffaloes and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles over pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma reminds me of a somewhat similar situation that occurred a quarter of a century ago in Japanese baseball: the case of another right-handed hurler, Suguru Egawa.
The flamboyant Egawa was an outstanding pitcher with Tokyo's Hosei University.
In 1977, at the age of 22, he was ready for the pros and billed as a "can't miss" star, wanted by several Central and Pacific League teams. But Egawa made his intentions known; he would play only for the Yomiuri Giants.