As a boy, he sneaked away from an abusive high school coach to gulp water from a polluted river. He saw some of his teammates, desperate with thirst, drink from a puddle, and he heard of others who would do so from a toilet. Now, 20 years on, Hiroki Kuroda shook his head and actually laughed a little when recalling — and trying to explain — the hardships he endured as a boy trying to follow his fa
![Yankees’ Kuroda Was Molded by Pain in Japan (Published 2012)](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/406f3df1a3716ffe55c84d68a6f0aa83be4f6e43/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic01.nyt.com%2Fnewsgraphics%2Fimages%2Ficons%2FdefaultPromoCrop.png%3Fyear%3D2012)