Guest Dusty Lipschitz Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4080528/ Tadano asks for forgiveness, expects abuse from fans Kazuhito Tadano never got a second chance in Japan, where the pitcher was shunned by pro baseball teams after he appeared in a gay pornographic video. However, the Cleveland Indians have accepted Tadano, who may make their club this season. The Associated Press Updated: 9:15 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2004CLEVELAND - 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. Tadano gave few details about the video, which he made after his sophomore year at Rikkyo University. “I did participate in a video and I regret it very much,” he said. “It was a one-time incident that showed bad judgment and will never be repeated. I was young, playing baseball, and going to college and my teammates and I needed money. “Frankly, if I were more mature and had really thought about the implications of what I did, it never would have happened.” Through an interpreter, Tadano added: “I’m not gay. I’d like to clear that fact up right now.” 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. In 2002, All-Star catcher Mike Piazza felt the need to hold a press conference to profess his heterosexuality after a newspaper gossip columnist suggested that one of the New York Mets’ top players was gay. 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. “You could tell he was nervous,” said Sizemore, a top prospect who lived with Tadano this winter. “But I don’t think it changed anybody’s opinion of him. After it was said and done, nobody thought anything more of it. He’s a great guy and a great pitcher.” If he pitches well during spring training, Tadano could win a spot in Cleveland’s bullpen. Whenever he joins the Indians, pitcher C.C. Sabathia says Tadano will be welcomed. “This is the right team and the right organization for him,” Sabathia said. “We have good guys here. Everybody has done something that they regret in their lives. He’s a person just like everyone else.” 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.” Not the Indians. They liked Tadano enough to invite him to work out at their spring training facility in Winter Haven, Fla. Eventually, they signed him to a minor league contract that included a $67,500 bonus. General manager Mark Shapiro said the team decided to sign Tadano despite knowing there could be backlash. “We thought the upside was well worth the risk, energy and time to support him,” Shapiro said. Tadano knows he may face fan abuse in major league parks such as Yankee Stadium, where heckling the visitors is part of the pageantry. He joked that he’s ready for it. “I don’t understand English, so it doesn’t really matter,” he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 i read that the other day. sucks for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weapon X Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 http://live.quizilla.com/user_images/B/BrutalYouth/1040101233_CMyDocumentsloner.JPG'> HAHA I heard about this on the radio last night. I wouldn’t draft him either. Fuck having a gay porno fag on my team. I wouldn’t hire a heterosexual porn guy either. I don’t care if he’s a solid 15 game winner. The Indians don’t need him that bad. He almost implies that his teammates partook (is that a word?) in the gay porn industy as well, eh? “me and my teammates needed money.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phism Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 i think he should just do it more often. put that money on top of the mlb salary, get fat paid. he'd probably make it big now, no pun intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l0rdka0s Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 what a fucktard but hey??? which of his fans was watching gay porn??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S@T@N Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Maybe someone can clear this up for me Originally posted by Dusty Lipschitz 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. Through an interpreter, Tadano added: “I’m not gay. I’d like to clear that fact up right now.” :confused: I just don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAustin Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Where are the jokes? I mean c'mon...he's a pitcher for a baseball team...they have catchers... he's participated in a gay porno....where are the damn jokes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricitySucks Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 how do you do a gay porn video and not be gay? why not just do a fucking straight porn video? im sorry, but i think hes lying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telo Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Well how does the fact him being gay affect his pitching is what i want to know? I think the smartest people in this whole situation is the Indians. They dont care if they have a fruit on the team, as long as he can throw a high 90's fastball... or a sick slider or some shit.. and am i mistaken but didnt a guy in the NFL come out of the closet just a few years ago? chargers or ravens ??? guys came out of the closet and either hes retired or still playing i dont know? he has a "life partner" and has a kid i think.. anybody clear this up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weapon X Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 He was on the Chargers. He came out after he had left the NFL. While in the NFL, he would often get girls to kiss him in public in order to dispel any suspicions of him being gay. I know this jewish lawyer who is a baseball fanatic. On the car ride home from a game one day, he listed off several homosexual baseball players. Some of the guys from the ‘70’s and shit, too. He seemed to know his stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adderall Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 hilarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinchedWaist Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Originally posted by Telo Well how does the fact him being gay affect his pitching is what i want to know? I think the smartest people in this whole situation is the Indians. They dont care if they have a fruit on the team, as long as he can throw a high 90's fastball... or a sick slider or some shit.. If he is gay if he starred in 100's of porn who cares? as long as he can play good, it shouldn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telo Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 yeah man word.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abracadabra Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 if the nigga can pitch, then let him play. fuck the porno (pardon the pun) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinchedWaist Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 ^^isn't that a member's name? guffaw *dammit abc. that was meant for telo. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boner Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 i foresee opposing teams playing the "YMCA" song after this dude gives up homeruns.... it's gonna be ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poop Man Bob Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Oh, come on. I mean, we've all done that before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abracadabra Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Originally posted by Poop Man Bob Oh, come on. I mean, we've all done that before. some of us a little more recently than others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phism Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Originally posted by Telo and am i mistaken but didnt a guy in the NFL come out of the closet just a few years ago? chargers or ravens ??? guys came out of the closet and either hes retired or still playing i dont know? he has a "life partner" and has a kid i think.. anybody clear this up? esera tuaolo played for the packers, vikings, jaguars, falcons, and panthers... http://www.eseratuaolo.com/ don't front, he could still kick yo mothafuckin ass ;x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadawhat Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 well...there goes the theory that asian men don't exist in the porno world. :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEROJUANA Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Originally posted by SteveAustin Where are the jokes? I mean c'mon...he's a pitcher for a baseball team...they have catchers... he's participated in a gay porno....where are the damn jokes? IRONICALLY, IN HIS FILM, TADANO NOT ONLY PLAYED CATCHER, BUT ALSO HIT FOR THE CYCLE. *BUH DUM PISH* MEROE MLB TEAM BRONX SOMTIMES IS GOTTA DO IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEROJUANA Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Originally posted by SteveAustin Where are the jokes? I mean c'mon...he's a pitcher for a baseball team...they have catchers... he's participated in a gay porno....where are the damn jokes? THE CLEVELAND INDIANS HAVE SIGNED TADANO ON AS A PITCHER, BUT IN HIS PREVIOUS CAREER AS A HOMO PORN STAR HE WAS KNOWN TO SWITCH POSITIONS PRETTY FREQUENTLY. MEROE WHOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadawhat Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 ^^ he was hoping to get signed as a tight end... but then realized he's in the wrong sport...and he didn't meet the requirements regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUCK FUSH Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Originally posted by Telo Well how does the fact him being gay affect his pitching is what i want to know? I think the smartest people in this whole situation is the Indians. They dont care if they have a fruit on the team, as long as he can throw a high 90's fastball... or a sick slider or some shit.. and am i mistaken but didnt a guy in the NFL come out of the closet just a few years ago? chargers or ravens ??? guys came out of the closet and either hes retired or still playing i dont know? he has a "life partner" and has a kid i think.. anybody clear this up? there was a hawain (sp) guy that played for the vikings a few years ago that is now openly gay, but only came out after he retired. I'm pretty sure he was a d linemen. There was also a guy who played on the dodgers in the eighties that came out after he retired. HBO had a special on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phism Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 he's samoan. and i just posted about him up there. esera tuaolo. p.s. "hawaiian" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymity1 Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Taking it in the ass is no mistake. You either wanted it or you were forced to(i.e. prison). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiseguy Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 i feel sorry for the guy, it shows what a rampantly xenophobic world we live in, people are perfectly comfortable with gay interior designers or hairdressers or whatever, but freak out whan there is a baseball player caught, "gaying off". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfreshsushi Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Indians pitcher: Gay porn video was mistake yeah, so, which was the mistake: making the video, or having people find out you made a gay porn flick? fuck it. if he is retarded enough to want to be famous in the united states, let him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunm Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Originally posted by Weapon X http://live.quizilla.com/user_images/B/BrutalYouth/1040101233_CMyDocumentsloner.JPG'> by far the coolest thing i have seen on 12 oz (with the exception of that photo of mammero t-bagging his friend haw haw!) IN A LONG TIME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weapon X Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Originally posted by wiseguy i feel sorry for the guy, it shows what a rampantly xenophobic world we live in, people are perfectly comfortable with gay interior designers or hairdressers or whatever, but freak out whan there is a baseball player caught, "gaying off". Well, to reiterate my opinion – if I was a general manager, I wouldn’t hire him. Not so much because he is gay, but because he did a porno flick. That’s not something I’d want on my team, especially a team that I’d be sending to children’s charity events on the regular. I don’t think that’s too strict. I mean, I wouldn’t make my players wear a suit and tie on the way to every game, but there has to be some sense of decency in the organization. Lens, I filled out a quizzila (what type of punk are you?) and got “loner punk.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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