My Take on Kaz Tadano

Tadano, when he eventually reaches the majors, is going to be heckled; let’s not kid ourselves. Even though Tadano participated in a homosexual act, he is not gay; he has a serious girlfriend. But that’s meaningless judging by the homophobia rampant in this culture; Tadano is guilty by association in their eyes.

The Indians probably did the right thing by putting this out there during this time of the year; Spring Training is still a month away, and judging by the attention span of the national media, he’ll be a distant memory by Opening Day.

If Tadano becomes an effective major-league pitcher, the Indians deserve a lot of credit by being the only team to take a chance on him, even with all the negative backlash that will come from all the miscreants out there.

We as fans ignore many of our players’ transgressions because they can hit a curveball or throw a blazing fastball. Surely what Tadano has admitted to pales in comparison to what has been accepted from previous athletes in all sports. He only harmed himself, he’s sorry for it, and goodness knows he’s paid, unfairly or not, for what he did.

I think it’s time for us to concentrate on what he can do between the lines, not what he did several years ago and a continent away.