JoeyB

Do you think his teammates will forgive and forget enough to welcome him into the clubhouse?

Do you think the fans will be able to look past it?




CLEVELAND -- Indians minor leaguer Kazuhito Tadano is asking for forgiveness for what he called a one-time mistake -- his appearance in a gay porn video in which he engaged in a homosexual act.


Tadano took part in the video three years ago when he was a college student. Sitting in the Cleveland clubhouse Tuesday, the pitcher said he hoped to put his actions in the past.


"All of us have made mistakes in our lives," Tadano said, reading a statement in English. "Hopefully, you learn from them and move on."


Shunned by Japanese baseball teams, the 23-year-old Tadano signed with the Indians last March. They think he can make their club this spring.



The Indians set up the press session after getting many requests from reporters to speak with Tadano. The team wanted to address the issue before spring training starts next month.


Tadano's admission will certainly draw attention to homosexuality in baseball, a sensitive issue that most players prefer to not even discuss.


There are no openly gay players in the big leagues today. The same is true in the NFL, NHL and NBA.


Tadano was one of Japan's top college pitchers and expected to be a high first-round pick in 2002. But after a Japanese tabloid published photos of him in the video a month before the draft, pro teams in Japan did not select him.


"The commissioner of Japanese baseball came out and said, 'You will not draft Tadano,''' asserted the pitcher's agent, Alan Nero. "But this kid didn't assault anybody. He didn't commit murder. If anything, he is guilty of being naive."


Twice in the minor leagues last season, Tadano stood before his teammates and confessed to his participation in the video, which Nero said can only be obtained on the black market in Japan.


Tadano received overwhelming support from players at Kinston, N.C., where he started the season and later at Akron, the Indians' Double-A affiliate.

"I wanted to tell the truth to my teammates," he said.

A former starter, he pitched in all three levels of the minors last season, going 6-2 with a 1.55 ERA and three saves. At Akron, he didn't allow a run in his first 28 innings and struck out 78 in 72 2-3 innings.

Outfielder Grady Sizemore said Tadano's speech last year was well received in the clubhouse.


Tadano tried out for several major league teams last spring in Arizona. Coming off an elbow injury, he didn't get any offers. Nero said some teams were turned off by what he called "the scandal."


"He didn't pitch well enough for them to ignore it," Nero said. "I also think they were afraid of the baggage that would come with it."

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present_future

This is probably off-topic, but don't you think the name Grady Sizemore is better suited to gay porn than Kazuhito Tadano?
I just found it rather amusing.

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Ace_O_Spades

better suited for ANY kind of porn more like it

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Feh.

Jadey

I'm really interested to see how this works out if he makes the big club. I know there are a number of gay players, but none that are open and still active in sports. Even though he says he's not.

PorscheBunny

More discussion here:

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...threadid=43294

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gov135

I read the thread in GD and decided to post here, as that thread seems to have developed into a debate on how one can or cannot switch sexual preferences.

I've seen Tadano pitch on a number of occasions, including in a Akron Aeros class AA playoff game last fall. He was the first reliever to be inserted after the starter was knocked out.

I was pretty impressed overall. He really has a shot of getting called up this year. He has an excellent breaking pitch - that should easily translate to the big leagues.

Remember, this sex story is not new to Cleveland fans. Although the press conference just happened, we knew about the tape when we signed him. That is the most interesting part of the whole scenario to me - our scouts and GM evaluated his talent and decided that despite the tape, his ability would carry him to the bigs and the Indians players would accept him.

Bigt6909

I think that if he wins games he will be able to move on... but if he sucks.. then he might hear about it more

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JoeyB

It slipped under the radar, but he was called up this year to the majors.


3 games---4.2 innings pitched (as of this writing)

At least it didn't stop him from reaching the bigs....we'll see how long he can stay!!

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cameroncrazy822

Who cares as long as the guy can pitch. This would be a non-issue if he was a solid blue chip prospect.

cameroncrazy822

I'm sorry let me recant. I need to know if he was a pitcher or a catcher because that really does make all the difference in the world. He can "possibly" be forgiven for pitching but if he was the catcher he'll never work out in the big-leagues with the homophobia as it exists today. Just a thought. In a perfect world it wouldn't matter either way though.

Ace_O_Spades

reading the numerous threads, hell... even this one... EVEN REMOTELY thouroughly... would yield your answers

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Feh.

kutulu

I heard Mike Piazza tried like hell to get him on the Mets. He really wants to be his catcher.

To be serious, I don't care if a guy screws men or women. If he can bring it I want him on my team.

cameroncrazy822

huh?????

yankeefatboy

Hopefully he is going to stick around in the bigs and possibly show that his sexual preference really isn't an issue. I doubt it, that would be way too open minded for mlb