As"Complex issues," no less.Ritsumeikan'sRikkyo's ace pitcher, Tadano racked up 20 wins in the six-university competition, and was the focus of much attention [as a professional baseball prospect] together with [Tsuyoshi] Wada, who joined SoftBank from Waseda. However, shoulder and elbow injuries, combined with other complex issues, saw Tadano passed over by NPB teams.
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Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
After being blackballed by Japan, Tadano went to the States and pitched in the Cleveland Indians' minor league system. He'd be called up a couple times for spot starts, but was still too green to really make an impact on a major league roster. His most memorable moments were when he threw Eephus pitches to David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez. Tadano would later pitch for the Oakland Athletics' 3-A team in Sacramento, but I'm pretty sure he was never called up.
Hiroshima manager Marty Brown was manager for the Indians' 3-A team in 2003. Tadano met with Brown before the Carp vs. Yakult game on October 7. It's expected that Hiroshima will go after Kouhei Hasebe or Mikinori Katoh with the first pick in the college/industrial draft. Usually, I would think this rumor is completely impossible, but Hiroshima is pretty desperate for pitching, especially with Kuroda leaving.