Kazuhito Tadano

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Kazuhito Tadano (Japanese: 多田野数人) (b. April 25, 1980, in Tokyo, Japan) is a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Japanese career 1.2 MLB career 2 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Japanese career

Tadano had been a highly regarded pitcher coming out of Rikkyo University and was expected to be a high draft pick in the Nippon Professional Baseball draft in 2002. However, before the draft, it became known that Tadano had starred in a gay pornographic video when he was a sophomore. Tadano was not drafted, and while teams denied that it was the reason, it was widely suspected that the commissioner of the Japanese leagues ordered the teams not to draft Tadano.

[edit] MLB career

The Cleveland Indians signed Tadano as a free agent in 2003, and he quickly rose through the Cleveland farm system. At each level of the system, however, he was forced to acknowledge and apologize to his teammates for having made the video.^{[citation needed]} He claimed that he is not gay, but had participated in the video to make money through his college years.^{[citation needed]}

Tadano made his debut for the Indians in 2004, making 14 appearances and four starts with a 4.65 ERA in 50⅓ innings. 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 Tuesday, April 4, 2006, Tadano was traded to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Ramon Alvarado. So far, the Athletics have not put him on their major league roster.

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Kazuhito Tadano at ESPN.com

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