This winter, Yu Darvish, the 25-year-old right-hander who plays for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, could be taking his splendid arm to the major leagues. And if Darvish goes through Japan’s posting system, in which big-league teams bid for the right to negotiate to sign him, he could give some lucky team a young, instant ace.

“He’s the real deal,” says ex-Yankee Darrell Rasner, who has spent the last three years pitching against Darvis for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Pacific League. “He’s the best pitcher there, in my opinion, and he’d do well in the States. He’s got a winning mentality.”

“He seemed to toy with guys in Japan sometimes. When he needs to dial it up, he can really go after somebody with strikeout stuff. I’ve seen him add velocity late, get his fastball up to 96-plus (miles per hour) with guys in scoring position and strike out a couple of hitters.”

The 6-foot-5 Darvish was terrific in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, the first extended look American fans got of him, unless you count YouTube. Darvish was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA for Japan, the eventual WBC champion. He is also the only pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history to have a sub-2.00 ERA for five consecutive season, including a 1.44 ERA this year when he was 18-6.

“The potential, it’s all there,” says Harold Reynolds, the former All-Star who is now an analyst for MLB Network and saw Darvish pitch in the WBC. “He can be a frontline starter and he’d have a lot of interest here.”

It’s still unclear whether Darvish will ask Nippon-Ham to post him or if the team will do it. He was quoted saying a few weeks ago that he had not yet made a decision. But Darvish already has an agent to represent him in dealings with major-league clubs – Arn Tellem, who represents Hideki Matsui – and is working with Don Nomura, who handles Darvish’s affairs in Japan.

Many in baseball believe Darvish will pitch in the majors next season. One major league executive who spoke on condition of anonymity pointed to the parade of scouts and executives going to Japan to watch Darvish – Rasner remembers seeing them dot the stands on nights the flashy right-hander pitched – as an indication that most teams believe Darvish will leave Japan.

Darvish is younger than the recent Japanese imports, like Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa, when they came to the majors. Neither pitcher seems worth their price tags - $103 million for Matsuzaka, more than $46 million for Igawa. Some executives say, Darvish has not had the same high workload that Matsuzaka had already endured. Plus, one says, “He’s better than Matsuzaka.”

“Darvish pitches with a lot of intellect for a guy who is that young,” said one executive. “He knows the situation, the scoreboard and the hitters. With no one on, he’s throwing 91 and then if there’s second and third, he’s throwing 95 and trying to make you swing and miss. It’s not flamethrower, flamethrower. Darvish is pretty advanced for his age.”

Darvish, of course, will have to prove he can overcome the challenges that face any Japanese pitcher who plays in the majors. In addition, he will be living in an unfamiliar culture where few in the organization speak his native language. Japanese pitchers must contend with technical differences in the game.

The two places play with different baseballs – the seams are higher on Japanese balls, making it easier to attain the tight spin that makes breaking balls effective. The strike zones are different. The mounds are slightly higher and less firm in Japan than they are in the majors, said a second executive familiar with the Japanese game.

Darvish, however, may be uniquely qualified to adapt. He is the son of an Iranian father and Japanese mother who met at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., so he’s always been a little different growing up in Japan. He’s embraced the spotlight of being a star pitcher, too.

The Gold Glove Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the NL and AL. Managers and coaches vote for players in their leagues and can’t pick players on their own teams. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position.

Kershaw became a first-time winner at pitcher when the awards were announced on November 1. Ethier earned his first Gold Glove in the outfield and Kemp regained the NL award he also earned in 2009. Gonzalez earned his first AL Gold Glove to go along with two he won in the NL while with San Diego, Pedroia won at second base for the first time since 2008 and Ellsbury picked up his first Gold Glove.

“I try to be a complete player. You can always go into offense slumps,” Gonzalez said during the awards show on ESPN2. The previous three Red Sox to win in the same year were shortstop Rick Burleson along with outfielders Dwight Evans and Fred Lynn in 1979.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was the lone AL holdover, winning for the third straight year. Baltimore’s Matt Wieters won at catcher, the Angels’ Erick Aybar at shortstop, Texas’ Adrian Beltre at third, and Kansas City’s Alex Gordon and Baltimore’s Nick Markakis in the outfield. Beltre won for the third time, after gaining the award in 2007 and 2008.

Gordon, the Royals left fielder, received the award following a breakthrough season. “I’m thrilled,” said Gordon, who led the majors with a club-record 20 assists. I couldn’t be happier about the award. When I changed positions (from third base in 2010), I never thought I’d be in this position today.” Gordon, 27, benefited this season from a change in the Gold Glove rules that required voters to select a winner at each of the three outfield positions.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina became the first NL catcher to win in four straight years since Charles Johnson from 1995-98. Molina didn’t have his usual numbers in throwing out runners this season, nabbing just 15 of 60 who tried. But he committed only five errors in 927 chances as a catcher for a .995 pickoffs since 2004.

Mike Thompson, senior vice president of marketing for the St. Louis-based Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, said Molina, a Rawlings staff member, “is without question the best defensive catcher in baseball. His stock certainly rose in the World Series.”

Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Brandon Phillips also won along with Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco and Arizona outfielder Gerardo Parra. Phillips and Tulowitzki joined Molina as the NL holdovers, with Phillips winning for the third time in four years. “It just shows my hard work really paid off,” Phillips said on the show. Polanco also won AL Gold Gloves in 2007 and 2009.

The 27-year-old Tulowitzki is quickly cementing his place as the best shortstop in baseball. “Tulo” boasts a strong arm and vast range in the field, along with plenty of pop at the plate. “As a kid, I dreamed about winning a Gold Glove,” said Tulowitzki, who had just six errors in 2011.

The smooth-fielding shortstop won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. Last season, Tulowitzki led NL shortstops in doubles (36), home runs (30), RBIs (105), and extra-base hits (68). Although those numbers were nice, Tulowitzki would much rather chat about his play at shortstop.

This year’s AL group displaced Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer; Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, second baseman Robinson Cano and shortstop Derek Jeter; Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria; former Rays outfielder Carl Crawford; and Seattle outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez.

Suzuki’s streak of Gold Gloves ended at 10. The right fielder, who had won in every one of his big league seasons, had tied the AL record for Gold Gloves by an outfielder shared by Ken Griffey Jr. and Al Kaline.

Last year’s NL winners included Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, Reds Third baseman Scott Rolen and Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez and Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino joined in the outfield by Michael Bourn, then of Houston.

Breaking with the recent format, outfielders were picked for specific spots. The AL had Gordon in left, Ellsbury in center and Markakis in right, and the NL had Parra in left, Kemp in center and Ethier in right.

Reyes bunted for a hit in the first inning of New York’s game against Cincinnati and then came out with a .337 average. That left Braun needing to go 3 for 4 or better in Milwaukee’s regular-season finale against Pittsburgh, but Braun had a 0-for-4 night and wound up at .332. Reyes is shown here reacting after bunting for a single and trots down to first base.

“I’m humbled and honored,” Reyes said in a statement issued by the Mets. “It means so much to my family and my country, the Dominican Republic. I have been through a lot over the past few years, so this really means a lot to me. It’s also very special to be the first Mets player to win a batting title. There have been so many great players throughout our history.”

Fans at Citi Field booed when Reyes came out. “It was kind of tough,” said Reyes, who can become a free agent after the World Series. “I want to stay in the game. They have to understand, too, what’s going on. They have to feel happy about it if I win the batting title,” and he did, about 9 1/2 hours after taking his final swing of the year.

“I’m not going to judge him. I respect whatever decision he decided to make,” Braun said before the game, adding after: “I’m a little disappointed, of course, but the chances of actually going 3 for 4 weren’t likely.”

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers won his first American League batting title, giving both leagues new batting champions for the second straight year. Cabrera, shown here hitting a home run in the 7th inning of Game 3 of the ALCS, finished at .344, with Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez and the Texas Rangers Michael Young at .338.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista won his second straight major league home run title with 43, while the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp homered in his next-to-last at-bat to lead the NL with 39, one more than Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder.

After threatening to become the first Triple Crown winner since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, Kemp faded from the batting race and had a .324 average. Kemp led the NL with 126 RBIs, the first Dodgers player to lead the league in homers and RBIs since Dolph Camilli in 1941.

The Yankees’ Curtis Granderson topped the AL with 119 RBIs, one more than teammate Robinson Cano and two in front of Gonzalez.

Cincinnati’s Drew Stubbs struck out 205 times, ending Mark Reynolds three-year run as strikeout king. Adam Dunn of the White Sox hit just .159, but didn’t play Wednesday and finished with 496 plate appearances, six shy of qualifying. The post—1900 record low among qualifiers was set by Rob Deer at .179 in 1991.

Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki had 184 hits, ending his record streak of 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons. The Chicago Cubs’ Starlin Castro (207) became the youngest player (21 years, 188 days) to win the NL hits title, Young and Gonzalez tied for the AL lead with 213, one ahead of Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury.

Bautista (.608) and Braun (.597) led in slugging percentage. Cabrera (.448) passed Bautista (.447) on the final day to lead the AL in on-base percentage and Cincinnati’s Joey Votto (.416) headed the NL for the second straight season.

When general manager Ken Williams asked whether he would be interested in replacing Guillen, Ventura admitted he was surprised and a little apprehensive, especially since he hadn’t managed previously. But after a couple of days to think about it, he knew it was a move he wanted to make. “I think there is a challenge there, getting back into the game,” Ventura said in a conference call. “I do have a passion for it. I do have a passion for this team and this city. I’m not one to really back away from a lot of things. The passion is there to do it, I was asked to do it. I’m honored.” Ventura said he has received a lot of advice since landing the job and the best he had heard was simple: be yourself.

Guillen was released from his contract with one year remaining after eight seasons with the White Sox and immediately was hired by the Florida Marlins as their manager. “That whole thing surprised me as much as anybody. I figured he would be managing here a long time,” Ventura said of Guillen, his former teammate and friend.

The 44-year-old Ventura played for a host of managers who could influence his style – Jeff Torborg, Gene Lamont, Jerry Manuel, Bobby Valentine, Joe Torre and Jim Tracy. “I run the gamut on different styles and smart baseball men, and just different ways to communicate and get guys to play,” said Ventura. His style is yet to be determined. He said he wants players who care and are accountable.

“Robin’s got an old-school attitude about the game, but with a progressive open-minded approach,” said Williams, adding as an example: “Even as a player, he was one to pull people out of the video room to pay attention to the flow of the game, and present a united front.”

Known for his slick fielding, clutch hitting and left-handed power, he has a good sense of humor and a well-rounded perspective on the game. He also played for the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was six-time Gold Glove winner and an All-Star in 1992 and 2002.

Ventura’s selection came as a surprise. Most speculation had the White Sox’s top candidates as either Tampa Rays coach Dave Martinez or Cleveland Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. Both are former White Sox players.

“Needless to say he was a little surprised and little apprehensive,” Williams said. “We had to explain to him exactly what the support system would be and exactly what the expectations were at the start. I was very clear with him that I do not expect him to be Tony La Russa on day one. In our estimation the fit is such that all of that will come together and we will ultimately be better off down the line that we could be if – in my opinion – we went in a different direction.”

Pitching coach Don Cooper and first base coach Harold Baines were already resigned to multiyear contract extensions before the season ended. Hitting coach Greg Walker is not returning.

Ventura hit .267 with 294 home runs and 1,182 RBIs over his career. His 18 career grand slams are tied for fifth in major league history. He appeared in 1,254 games over 10 seasons with the White Sox, hitting .274 with 171 home runs and 741 RBI. He ranks among the White Sox career leaders in grand slams, walks, homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and runs scored.

Ventura was a first-round draft pick of the White Sox out of Oklahoma State in 1988. He led Oklahoma State to the College World Series and still holds the Division I record with a 58-game hitting streak.

“Robin’s ability to motivate and lead others will be a terrific attribute as manager,” said White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf in a statement. “I loved him as a player, from his baseball knowledge, to his professionalism, to how he went about his business in the clubhouse and on the diamond.”

Expected to be contenders this season, the White Sox finished 79-83 and third in the AL Central as several key players, most notably DH Adam Dunn and center fielder Alex Rios, struggled offensively. Ventura said he’s familiar with what transpired last season, adding that once spring training gets under way in Glendale, Ariz., everything will be in the past and it will be a fresh start, for him, too.

Perhaps even the idea that Cardinals would actually give up a piece of the team to keep Pujols, surely a laughable notion on its own. Or maybe they were just laughing about flouting baseball’s fraternization rule on national television and getting away with it.

Not that anybody gets punished anymore for yukking it up with members of the other team. If they did, someone like Orlando Hudson of the Padres would owe more in fines than he gets in salary for the conversations he has with anyone who happens to stop at second base.

But a rule is a rule. And there’s nothing ambiguous about section 3.09 of baseball’s official rules. “Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform,” it reads.

Go early to any baseball game, and you’ll see that rule broken around the batting cage. Watch any game and invariably you’ll see someone chatting on the base paths with a member of the other team. But the Cardinals and Brewers were battling each to get in the World Series. It’s serious stuff, for both the franchises and their rabid fans.

Watch Fielder and Pujols, and it seems little more than a laughing matter.

It wasn’t always that way. There was a time in baseball when chatting up an opposing player on first base meant you weren’t going to play first base anymore. Baseball fined players just for talking with members of the other team, and players themselves made sure their teammates understood the opposition was the enemy, not their friend.

Think Ty Cobb was looking to make buddies when he sharpened his spikes before running the bases? Would someone like Bob Gibson stop to say hello to a first baseman they had just brushed back the inning before?

Times have changed, sure, with players switching teams so often now that they invariably have friends from other teams. They’re all rich young men, too, who like nothing better than to hang out with those of their ilk.

Save it for dinner after the game, though. There’s no laughing in baseball – not when it’s between players from opposing teams. Joe Torre would certainly like to see it stop, though teams didn’t seem to take his memo on the subject earlier this year very seriously. The executive vice president of baseball operations is old school in his belief that opposing players shouldn’t be hugging each other and having conversations on the field.

Torre was manager of the Cardinals in 1992 when relief pitcher Todd Worrell and first baseman Pedro Guerrero threw punches at each other after Guerrero brought Chicago’s Sammy Sosa into the clubhouse following a Cubs win. He immediately banned opposing players from the clubhouse and told his players that fraternization would not be tolerated.

Utility player Rex Hudler made sure Sosa and any other opposing player understood. “Anyone else comes in here again, they’re free game,” Hudler said. “Open season, baby.”

That kind of attitude seems to be mostly missing these days, with players treating the game like it is one big fraternity. Pujols himself seemed taken back early in the season when his very public hug before a game with Jim Hendry, then the general manager of the Cubs, immediately prompted talk of the Cubs having the inside track for Pujols once his contract with the Cardinals expired. “He’s on the other side. I’m on our side. I just think it’s kind of ridiculous,” Pujols said.

That may be true, but don’t blame fans if they think the line is being blurred. They come to watch Pujols hit, not hug, and many of them have trouble understanding just what there is to love about the other team.

Pujols and Fielder are going to have a lot to talk about in the offseason. They’re the biggest catches on the free-agent market, and their new contracts likely will be among the richest ever in baseball. They’ll have plenty of things to smile about then, plenty of time to share a few laughs.

For now, though, they should do us all a favor and just play baseball.

Kimbrel’s 160 points easily outdistance teammate Freddie Freeman (70), who recovered from a slow start to bat .282 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Vance Worley finished third with 40 points.

“It definitely surprised me that it was unanimous,” said Kimbrel, who had 38 consecutive scoreless appearances at one point in the season. “I expected for my teammate Freddie to finish closer.”

Two first baseman and two starting pitchers were engaged in a race for the AL award, with Hellickson outpolling the Los Angeles Angels’ Mark Trumbo, the Kansas City Royals’ Eric Hosmer and the New York Yankees’ Ivan Nova.

Hellickson, who received 17 of 28 first-place votes for 102 points, went 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA and held hitters to a .210 batting average, the third lowest in the majors.

“It’s something I really wanted to win,” Hellickson said of the award. “There’s three or four other guys who I felt were just as deserving, so it’s definitely very exciting.”

The right-hander was undefeated in five September outings and started the next-to-last game of the season, a 5-3 victory over the Yankees that was part of the Rays’ frenzied final push that earned them an improbable wild-card spot in the playoffs.

“We worked hard that last month getting in there, so it definitely felt good to do that,” Hellickson said in listing his top accomplishments of the season. “As far as personal stuff, staying healthy the whole year was my main goal and I accomplished that.”

Trumbo batted .254 but led the Angels with 29 homers – the biggest total by an AL rookie in 14 years – and 87 RBI, helping L.A. stay in the AL West race before fading toward the end. Trumbo got 63 points in the voting for a distance second place.

Hosmer made a late bid for the award by batting .313 after the All-Star break to finish at .293 with 19 homers and 78 RBI.

Nova gave the Yankees a solid No. 2 starter behind ace CC Sabathia by winning his final 12 decisions to post a 16-4 mark and a 3.70 ERA despite being sent to the minors in July when Phil Hughes rejoined the rotation.

Kimbrel became the third closer in the last three seasons to win top rookie honors, following the Texas Rangers’ Neftali Feliz last year and the Oakland Athletics’ Andrew Bailey in 2010, both in the AL.

“Ten years ago you never would have expected for a rookie to be a closer,” said Kimbrel, 23. “They say a lot of times to be a closer you’ve got to have experience and you have to understand the game and how it works. I definitely feel like it helps to be put in that situation being younger in my career.”

Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda said he knew his “great friend” had been ailing. “We roomed together a few times with the Giants,” Cepeda said by phone. “Matty was a very funny guy and a hell of a ballplayer. When he was playing with the Giants, he was a dead fastball hitter, and he could pull anybody. I don’t care how hard they threw.”

Known more for his bat than his glove, Alou, who played for six major league teams, was a prolific singles hitter. His .307 average over his 15-year-career was higher than that of Willie Mays (.302) or Mickey Mantle (.298). His best years, 1066-69, were in an era dominated by pitching.

Alou rarely exhibited power, however, hitting a total of 31 homers and never batting in more than 74 runs in a season, though he once led the National League in doubles. He had 1,777 hits, 1,460 of which were singles.

Alou’s prowess at the plate was not immediately apparent. He made his big-league debut with the Giants at the end of the 1960 season, and he spent the next five years as a part-time player with the team, batting just .260, before being traded to Pittsburgh.

The Alous, Matty, Jesus, and Felipe, pictured here, became the first three brothers to play in a major league game in the same outfield. They each went on to successful big-league careers, and together they played more than 5,000 games, more than any set of family members in baseball history. They also had more than 5,000 hits, more than the DiMaggios – Joe, Vince and Dom – though not quite as many as Lloyd and Paul Waner. (The Alou family tree also includes Moises Alou, Felipe’s son, who batted .303 over a 17-year career, with 332 home runs.)

With the Pirates, Matty Alou came under the tutelage of the manager Harry Walker, known as the Hat. Walker, with the help of the team’s star right fielder, Roberto Clemente, persuaded Alou to stop trying to pull every pitch to right field and to choke up on the bat and direct the ball to the left side. The advice paid off. Alou won the batting championship in 1966, hitting .342. (Felipe, then with the Atlanta Braves, was second at .327.) Over the next three years, Alou hit .338, .332 and .331.

Mateo Rojas Alou was born on December 22, 1938, in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic, where his father was a carpenter and a blacksmith. In addition to Felipe, Jesus and a third brother, Jose, who became a civil engineer, Alou is survived by his wife, Maria Teresa; two sons, Mateo Jr. and Matias; a daughter, Teresa; two sisters, Zula and Virginia; and four grandchildren.

With runners on first and second, an error by Japan’s shortstop on what could have been an inning-ending double play loaded the bases for California. After a force play at the plate, the 12-year-old Pratto came to the plate.

“I was just thinking, ‘Oh God, Oh God’, before I was getting in the box,” Pratto said. “But once I got into the box, I calmed myself by telling myself to just look for a good pitch.”

Pratto, pictured here, smacked a solid liner to center off reliever Kazuto Takakura that brought home pinch-runner Eric Anderson with the winning run. Pratto tossed his helmet into the air after rounding first before his teammates mobbed him in the infield. He did his father proud, Nick Pratto, who said it was great to have his father as his coach.

It was a fitting end to a tense game marked by excellent pitching and timely defense. A United States team has now won six out of the last seven World Series; Japan won last year.

The teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before California’s giddy players posed at the mound with the championship banner. “My team is physically smaller than most of the teams. We didn’t think we would get to this stage,” Japan Manager Akihiro Suzuki said through an interpreter. “All of the players did such a wonderful job to get to this stage.”

California pitcher Braydon Salzman, shown here, pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the win, striking out nine. Japan starter Shoto Totsuka struck out five over four and a third innings, allowing a homer to right by Hagen Danner.

“It’s just a dream come true,” Danner said. “I never thought we would be in that spot, let alone winning it.”

Neither team could convert on several chances to break open the game. With runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, third baseman Dylan Palmer blocked the bag from the sliding Japan runner Ken Igeta on a bunt play.

It was Japan running all over the place in the third, flashing trademark hustle to scratch out the game’s first run after Seiya Fujita’s solid single to left. Pinch-runner Kaito Suzuki moved to second on a bunt and raced toward third with no one covering. The throw bounced into foul territory, allowing Suzuki to score easily.

California put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, but Takakura got a fly out to end the inning. Playing right field in the second, Takakura also made a running catch down the line to save an extra-base hit with a runner on second.

In a gracious postgame gesture, Japan’s players and coaches lined up and exchanged high-fives with the California kids after Huntington Beach did the traditional victory lap around the stadium warning track.