darvishfan

Sometimes when you want something, all you’ve got to do is ask.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably already aware that Yu Darvish is a starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers. After being put on the disability list for neck and shoulder pain, following a lengthier recovery from a torn elbow ligament in 2015, Darvish decided to celebrate his first game back by breaking out a new glove.

▼ “My two finger pinky slot glove is here! Apparently Tanaka uses an outfielder grip so I decided to give it a try myself and ordered one, but after throwing eight straight ‘balls’ during my first game out of rehabilitation, I decided it wasn’t for me.”

Apparently a huge fan of the baseball player, a Korean Twitter user by the name Kwangjya Lee didn’t waste any time reaching out to him show him some love and ask for a big favor:

▼ “I’m a huge fan of yours from Korea, and I was wondering, if you won’t be using your glove, would you mind giving it to me? I’ll be heading to Dallas in September to catch one of your games. If you’d do me the honor, I’d be sure to treasure it…!! ^^”

Celebrities and athletes typically get bombarded with fan requests, so it isn’t often that they have the time to grant each one. Therefore, you can imagine Kwangjya’s surprise when a message from Darvish himself appeared in his inbox, telling him he’d be happy to send it his way.

A couple of weeks later, the glove arrived as promised on his doorstep, and Kwangjya updated with the ecstatic tweet:

▼ “I received a special present from Darvish and now I’m the happiest guy in the whole universe. ^_^ Thank you so much Mr. Darvish!!”

The story has since gone viral in Korea, where many were moved by Darvish’s actions and impressed by his kindness. Whether intentional or not, it was a great PR move on his part, and no doubt he’s now earned himself at least one lifetime fan.

I guess this proves our mothers were right! Sometimes just asking nicely is all it takes.

Source: Twitter/@faridyu, Twitter/@lifemeetsart_kr (1, 2), via Aol News
Feature/top image: YouTube/Kwanghee Lee