NEW YORK -- The latest high-priced addition to the New York Yankees stood on the dais in front of a large news conference, put on his pinstriped jersey with No. 19 and smiled. "Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka," he said slowly in English. "Im very happy to be a Yankee." After chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York, the 25-year-old right-hander with the $155 million, seven-year contract was presented Tuesday not in the news conference room downstairs at Yankee Stadium, but in the Legends Suite Club, where the high rollers congregate on game days. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo concluded the teams latest Pacific overture drew New Yorks most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced in January 2003. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka was worth the economic pain of exceeding the $189 million luxury tax threshold New York had hoped to stay under. "We needed another starter, and when we do things, we try to do them right," Steinbrenner said. "And this guy, hes tough. Hes got tremendous ability. We all know that. And hes going to be very exciting to watch. And hes going to be great for the team, a great teammate. And $189 (million) or not, we wanted a good quality starter, and we got it." Tanaka charted a Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, for the trans-Pacific trip to New York, reportedly costing about $200,000. There were just five passengers on the plane, including his pop star wife Mai Satoda, plus their poodle Haru. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at noon, was delayed many hours by a snowstorm. "There wasnt many choices of planes," he said through a translator when asked about the big jet. And a lengthy commercial trip could have been uncomfortable. "I thought about my conditioning, just wanted to get here in the best condition possible," he said. For his first meal in New York, he ventured outside his room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park. "I ate a sushi," he said, "which I bought at a grocery store nearby." New York, which also added Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the off-season, figures to have a big following in Japan this year. Tanaka joins pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki on the roster, and reliever Yoshinori Tateyama will be at spring training with a minor league contract. "This would make the Boss proud," general manager Brian Cashman said in a reference to late owner George Steinbrenner. "The Yankees obviously are about always trying to acquire the best talent and a collection of talent that can compete for a championship, but he also liked a lot of attention, and this certainly represents a lot of attention. So this is Yankee big. This is Steinbrenner big." Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title. That left him with a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA in Japan, where he had 53 complete games in 172 starts. New York had one of the most successful Japanese players in the major leagues with outfielder Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. And the Yankees experienced costly flops with pitchers Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate for Irabus debut in 1997. "They feel a little bit more weight of representing their country than maybe players that are here on an everyday basis, because they kind of pave the way for the next guy and then the next guy," he said. Girardis advice: "Dont feel like you have to live up to the contract." On a tour of the U.S. with a Japanese high school all-star team in 2006, Tanaka met Matsui when one of the young pitchers games was rained out. During the off-season, he spoke briefly by telephone with Matsui about his pending decision. New York appealed to Tanakas desire to pitch on the biggest stage. "This is where you need to be. A great star. The biggest franchise. The biggest brand. The biggest city," Yankees President Randy Levine remembered saying during the teams pitch session with the player on Jan. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "He said some other teams he had met with wanted him to transition in, and he didnt like that. He wanted to take the ball on Day One, and that told us a lot about him." Tanaka sounded prepared for the Yankees win-or-else mentality. "Ive heard that this place is -- it could be very harsh to you at times," he said. "Just wanted to put myself, though, in this environment and try to see where I can get to with my ability." Cashman is trying to lower expectations, saying Tanaka will slot in as No. 3 in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda. "We could be getting more than a three. Maybe its a two. Maybe its even a one at some point," Cashman said. "I think that the adjustments are real, and as excited as we are to have and as much as we need a player of his capabilities, I want to make sure that people understand how difficult this game is over here and that there should be expectations of growing pains." Diamondbacks Jerseys China . Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. Fake Diamondbacks Jerseys .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/.J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil. Arizona Diamondbacks Pro Shop . With a victory seemingly slipping away late in the third quarter, his quick scoring flurry helped Golden State regain control early in the fourth. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits.Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Zemgus Girgensons scored the winner in the shootout to lead the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. In the third round, Girgensons deked back to the forehand and lifted the puck into the left corner of the net. Michal Neuvirth preserved the win by not biting on Henrik Zetterbergs fake and making the stop. Brian Flynn and Chris Stewart scored in regulation for the Sabres, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Neuvirth stopped 36 shots in the win. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist and Tomas Tatar also lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who had a two-game winning streak stopped. Jimmy Howard finished the contest with 19 stops. Final Score: Carolina 3, Los Angeles 2 Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Elias Lindholm scored the deciding goal and the Carolina Hurricanes continued their recent winning ways with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Chris Terry and Lindholm each finished with a goal and an assist and Victor Rask tallied his first career goal for the Hurricanes, who were coming off their first win of the season against Arizona on Saturday. Cam Ward, who posted a 25-save shutout against the Coyotes, surrendered just two goals on 32 shots in the win. Mike Richards and Alec Martinez both lit the lamp and Jonathan Quick stopped 29 shots in Los Angeles fourth straight loss. Final Score: Calgary 6, Montreal 2 Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Rookie Josh Jooris scored twice and six Calgary Flames players had at least two points in a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Markus Granlund, Curtis Glencross, Lance Bouma and Mark Giordano also scored for the Flames, who returned the favor after losing 2-1 in a shootout to the Canadiens last Tuesday in Calgary. It was Montreals first loss in five home games this season. TJ Brodie had three assists for Calgary and Jiri Hudler and Johnny Gaudreau added a pair of helpers each to back 18 saves by Jonas Hiller. Max Pacioretty and Rene Bourque scored for the Canadiens, who have lost three of their last four (1-2-1). Carey Price gave up five goals on 35 shots. Final Score: Arizona 6, Washington 5 Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Tobias Rieder scored the game-winning goal in his NHL debut and the Arizona Coyotes held off a fierce Washington surge to snap a string of three straight losses with a 6-5 victory on Sunday. Shane Doan finished with two goals and an assist, Antoine Vermette supplied a goal and a helper and Samm Gagner and Mike Stone also scored for Arizona, which won its first road game of the season after starting out 0-4-1.dddddddddddd Devan Dubnyk turned aside 32 shots in the win. Alex Ovechkin tallied a goal and three assists, Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist and Nicklas Backstrom contributed with three helpers for the Capitals, who have been outscored 8-2 in the third period during this current four-game losing streak. Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward and John Carlson also scored, while Justin Peters allowed all six goals in defeat. Final Score: Anaheim 3, Colorado 2 Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Corey Perry netted his NHL-leading 11th goal of the season and the Anaheim Ducks held off the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Sunday night. Colorado led 2-1 heading into the second period, when Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm notched goals. Jason LaBarbera stopped five of his 16 shots in the third to preserve the win for Anaheim, which has won three of its last four games. LaBarbera, recalled from AHL Norfolk earlier in the day, started in net for the Ducks after a sudden lower-body injury to John Gibson during warmups left them in a pickle. Because their other goaltender, Frederik Andersen, is day-to-day with a leg injury, the Ducks turned to goaltending consultant Dwayne Roloson as their backup in an emergency substitution allowed under NHL rules. Roloson, 45, played 14 NHL seasons for six different teams, last taking the ice for Tampa Bay during the 2011-12 season. Nathan MacKinnon and Dennis Everberg tallied for the Avalanche, who have dropped four of their last five games. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in defeat. Final Score: Winnipeg 1, Chicago 0 Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Winnipeg Jets had some weekend to wrap up a four-game road trip. In two wins, they scored just one goal. It came 20 seconds into Sundays 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks off the stick of Michael Frolik. Following Saturdays 1-0 shootout win over the Rangers in New York, the Jets scored on their first shift against the Blackhawks and Michael Hutchinson made 33 saves to earn his first career shutout in his sixth NHL game. The Jets went 3-0-1 on the trip, the only loss coming against New Jersey in a shootout on Thursday. They extended their points streak to five games (4-0-1), with the other two wins being decided by one goal. Corey Crawford was a hard-luck loser, making 26 saves for the Blackhawks, who fell to 2-5-0 in their last seven games after opening the season on a five- game point streak. ' ' '