Second-round draft pick of former Giants pitcher suspected of stealing 400 bottles of high-grade liquor | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Second-round draft pick of former Giants pitcher suspected of stealing 400 bottles of high-grade liquor

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LINE
About 400 bottles of fine liquor seized from Ono’s home (Image: Kyodo News)

When the investigators entered the apartment, they couldn’t help but gasp.

In the small, one-bedroom apartment, sake, sake, sake …… was haphazardly placed without any packaging. And they were all high-grade liquors such as Yoichi, Chita, and Chivas Regal whiskeys. The number of bottles amounted to 400.

On February 7, the Akita Chuo Police re-arrested Hitoshi Ono (45), a former professional baseball player living in Yokohama City, for stealing whiskey from a mass merchandiser in Chiba City. Ono was just arrested and charged in January this year for stealing 11 bottles of champagne (worth about 82,000 yen) in Akita City last November. This time, he is suspected of stealing eight bottles of whiskey (worth about 54,000 yen) that were on display.

When investigators checked Ono’s apartment, they found a large amount of unopened liquor. “When investigators searched Ono’s apartment, they found a large amount of unopened liquor, including champagne, which is very expensive. Usually, when you search the home of a suspect who has stolen alcohol, you will find the smell of alcohol and empty bottles lying around, but the 400 bottles found in Ono’s home were all unopened.

In response to the investigation, Ono admitted to the crime, saying, “There is no doubt that I stole the 400 bottles of high-grade alcohol. It is believed that he had been stealing from places other than Akita and Chiba as well. The police are investigating the matter further,” said a reporter from a national newspaper.

The King of the Second Army

Suspect Ono at Akita Keibou University, where he played in the Koshien National High School Baseball Tournament in spring and summer as an ace in his second year (Image: Katsuro Okazawa/Afro)

Ono is an elite baseball player. He was the first high school student to represent Japan at the 1994 World Championships. After graduating from high school, he joined Nippon Oil Corporation, where he won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. After graduating from high school, he joined Nippon Oil Corporation and won a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

In his first year with the Giants, he posted a 5-1 record with a 1.88 goals-against average with a straight line of nearly 150 km from his left arm. In May of his second year, he struck out 20 batters in a game against Lotte, and won the titles of most wins and best defense percentage twice.

In his second year, he struck out 20 batters against the Lotte in May of his second year. The reason for his slump is the yips. In 2002, he was transferred to Kintetsu, and the following year, he was out of the lineup. Despite his success in the second team, he had only three wins and a 5.77 earned run average in the first team. Fans called him the ‘Emperor of the Second Army.

After his dismissal, he continued to play baseball in the minor leagues in the U.S. He tried out for a team in November 2005, but no team came forward to take him. When the road to his return to the professional game was closed, he became desperate, and his relationship with his wife became strained, resulting in a divorce. After that, he moved from job to job, working at a market in Yokohama, transporting fish, delivering bread, and serving customers at a yakitori restaurant. He also worked as a black suit in a cabaret club for a while.

In an interview with the electronic version of “Nikkan Sports” on February 2, 2006, he said the following

In an interview with the electronic edition of “Nikkan Sports” on February 2, 2006, he said, “The girls (at the cabaret club) would ask the customers, ‘Do you like baseball? If anyone says, “Yes, I do. If someone says, “Yes, I do,” I appear on the stage and get them talking about baseball. If there were people who didn’t know me, I would show them my silver medal from the Atlanta Olympics. That’s what I did.

In the fall of 2006, he quit his job at a health equipment manufacturer, which he had joined through an introduction from a former professional baseball player he knew, and became unemployed. It is believed that it was around this time that he began to engage in the theft of high-end liquor.

In fact, there have been suspicions since Ono’s playing days. There were times when luxury watches went missing from players’ lockers. The culprit was never found, but Ono’s behavior was strange and he was suspected.

Although he attracted a lot of attention in his amateur days, he failed to make a splash in his professional career and was forced out of the game. …… It is likely that his depressed feelings grew. It seems that the man who left baseball was still dissatisfied and could not find a purpose in his second life.

He was selected second in the draft by the Giants (right). On the left is Takeo Kawamura, also of Nippon Oil Corporation, who was selected first by Yokohama (Image: Kyodo News)
Suspect Ono during his time with the Giants, who failed to produce results in the first team (Image: Kyodo News)
  • Photo Kyodo News Katsuro Okazawa/Afro

Photo Gallery4 total

Photo Selection

Check out the best photos for you.

Related Articles