Kazuhito Tadano
| Kazuhito Tadano 多田野 数人 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – No. 65 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
|
Born: April 25, 1980 Tokyo, Japan | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: April 27, 2004 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| NPB: May 2, 2008 for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |
| NPB statistics (through 2011 season) | |
| Win-Loss | 12-13 |
| Earned run average | 4.86 |
| Strikeouts | 132 |
| Teams | |
| |
| Last update: December 19, 2013 | |
Kazuhito Tadano (多田野 数人 Tadano Kazuhito, born April 25, 1980 in Tokyo, Japan) is a right-handed pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. He had previously pitched in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians.
Biography
Tadano as the ace pitcher led Yachiyo Shoin High School to the Summer Koshien for the first time. He had been a highly regarded pitcher coming out of Rikkyo University. He was expected to be a high draft pick in the Nippon Professional Baseball draft in 2002, but no Japanese team drafted him due to a gay porn video scandal; he ultimately left Japan.[1]
The Cleveland Indians signed Tadano as a free agent in 2003, and he rose through the Cleveland farm system, making his debut in 2004. He made 14 appearances and four starts with a 4.65 ERA in 50⅓ innings. In January 2004, it was widely reported in America that Tadano was featured in a gay porn video three years previous, with Tadano appearing at a press conference organized by the team.[2] Tadano said "I was young, playing baseball, and going to college and my teammates and I needed money" and "It's a fault only once and I will never make the same fault. I'm not gay."[1]
He was sidelined due to an injury early in the 2005 season, but recovered and was shuttled between Cleveland and the Buffalo Bisons for the rest of the year.
On April 4, 2006, Tadano was traded to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Ramon Alvarado.
In 2007, Tadano was sent down to Oakland's Double-A team, Midland, after being invited to spring training. He was eventually promoted back up to Triple-A and started off well, looking sharp with a plus splitter. Curiously, he ran into trouble in June. His ERA ballooned as he gave up 29 runs over 5 games. He was moved to the bullpen in July after Oakland demoted Colby Lewis and Shane Komine.
In 2008, he was the first-pick by the Nippon Ham Fighters in the university/company player draft in 2007, he would become the last player in the Matsuzaka Generation to start his NPB life. He missed the start of the 2008 season with an injury.
In 2012, he got a first chance to play in Nippon Series against Yomiuri Giants. However, he was thrown out of the game because he was judged to throw bean ball to Ken Kato, a catcher for Giants. He is the first pitcher to be thrown out of the game for a dangerous pitch in Nippon Series, but as far as watching replay his pitch didn't hit Kato.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Minor leaguer: It was a 'one-time incident'". ESPN. 2004-01-28. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
- ↑ Baseball Player's Gay Porn Past, CBSnews.com, January 28, 2004. Accessed July 9, 2007.
- ↑ "Giants crush Fighters, take 3-2 lead in Japan Series". Japan Times. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kazuhito Tadano. |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from Japanesebaseball.com