Kazunori Shinozuka, who joined the team in the same year, talks about the real face of Tadao Okada, the former second place draft pick of the Giants who was arrested.
Tadao Okada, 64, became the chairman of Meishinkai, a secondary organization affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, and lent his name for the purchase of a tower in Toyosu.
“He and I joined the team at the same time, and we ate and played together when we were active. We ate together and played together when we were active.
Kazunori Shinozuka, 64, who worked as a hitting coach for the Giants, said so. “He” refers to Tadao Okada, 64, a former Giants player who was arrested for “lending” his name to a gang.
“By September 16, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Okada for filing a false application for real estate registration. He is suspected of conspiring with Kan Tabori, 63, chairman of Meishin-kai, a Yamaguchi-gumi-affiliated secondary organization, to apply for a condominium in Toyosu, Tokyo, purchased with Tabori’s funds in 2004, under the name of Okada’s company.
Okada joined the Giants as a second-round draft pick in 1975. Okada joined the Giants as the second overall pick in the 1975 draft, with Shinotsuka coming in first and Kiyoshi Nakahata (former manager of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars) coming in third.
“Okada was a student at Chukyo High School (now Chukyo University Chukyo), and had been accepted to Meiji University. But manager Shigeo Nagashima went all the way to his parents’ house in Nagoya and persuaded him to join the team for two hours,” said a sports journalist.
However, he left the team without making a single appearance in the first team for five years after joining. Mr. Shinozuka said.
Shinotsuka said, “I was never the type to train hard. Kazuhiro Yamakura came in as a catcher in 1977, and I guess he felt that he couldn’t make it as a professional.
Even after leaving the Giants, Okada continued to be involved in baseball in various ways. After leaving the Giants, Okada continued to be involved in baseball in various ways, participating in the Masters League and in recent years serving as president of a youth baseball team in Tokyo. However, there were “signs” of his involvement. Mr. Shinozuka continues.
“I heard that he was quite arrogant to other classmates, and that he showed up at a youth baseball practice in an unsuitable black luxury car. Even now, I sometimes get together with my classmates to play grass baseball, but he was not invited. I was worried about him because he seemed a bit dangerous and there were some bad rumors circulating. ……”
The fears of his peers were right on target. When Okada hit a sacred two-base hit in a Masters League game in 2001, he said happily, “I practiced harder than I did when I was playing. Will the day come when he can be involved in baseball again?
From “FRIDAY” October 8, 2021 issue
PHOTO： Afro
