Biography
Tadano as the ace pitcher led Yachiyo Shoin High School to the National High School Baseball Championship (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, which forced him to leave Japan.
The Cleveland Indians signed Tadano as a free agent in 2003, and he quickly 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 the U.S. that Tadano was featured in a gay porn video three years previous, with Tadano appearing at a press conference organized by the team. Tadano said "I was young, playing baseball, and going to college and my teammates and I needed money" and "I'm not gay (Hakushin)."
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 extremely 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.
Read more about this topic: Kazuhito Tadano
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