“Do You Like Akb?” –lions’ Legendary Gunner, Destrade, Came to Japan and Responded With Super High Spirits

In late September, Orestes Destrade, 61, was photographed in front of a hotel in Tokyo with a unique gut pose in response to a fan’s request.

He was the No. 5 hitter from 1990 to 1992, when Seibu won the top division in Japan for three consecutive years, and was one of the key figures in Seibu’s golden era, along with Koji Akiyama, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, and Hironori Ishige. Nicknames such as “Ole” and “Caribbean Monster” endeared him to fans, and many children imitated his pose when he hit home runs.

In 1993 and 1994, he moved to the majors, but did not perform as well as he would have liked.

The purpose of his visit to Japan this time was to attend Seibu’s final home game against Rakuten on September 27. Upon arriving at the stadium, he personally approached the press and introduced himself by saying, “I’m Ole’ Desu! Destrade introduced himself to the press. When he found the commentator, who was an old friend of his, he rolled his eyes and asked, “Genki desu desuka?” and then he began to machine-gun talk in Japanese.

Destrade, who was seen at the hotel where he was staying, was wearing a Lions hat and full of enthusiasm. He aggressively talked to a fan who asked for his autograph on a professional baseball card from his days in the game.

He asked, “Are you a Lions fan? Do you like Kiyohara, Akiyama, and Destrade?”

After folding the cards with “Do you like Lions fans?”

Do you like AKB?

He then asked a series of questions that made no sense at all. This made the fans laugh,

AKB may have meant it as a joke, but fans was surprised at how fluent he was in Japanese.

“I was surprised at how fluent you are in Japanese,” said one fan. He is currently working as a commentator in the U.S., but we would love to see him commentating on Japanese professional baseball games as well!

FRIDAY Digital is looking forward to receiving information and tip-offs from you. Please send your information to the following information form or to our official Twitter.

Information form: https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/tips
Official twitter: https://twitter.com/FRIDAY_twit