On Tuesday night we learned that Hiromitsu Kadota, whose 567 career home runs are third most in Japanese pro baseball, was found dead in his home on Monday at the age of 74.
Kadota was famous not just for his home run total but for the shape of his career. Prior to his age 31 season, he hit one homer per 21.8 at-bats. He then missed most of the 1979 season with an Achilles tendon tear, before having the comeback to end all comebacks, with one home run per 12.7 at-bats through his final season at the age of 44.
Over the weekend, the Central Leagues’ DeNA BayStars and Hanshin Tigers both revealed new alternate uniforms for the 2023 season. Although they’re ugly in my eyes, teams trying to do things differently to make money is part of baseball, and not the insult referred to above.
That is being perpetrated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which on Friday gave final approval to a plan to redevelop Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien neighborhood, a project that will demolish Jingu Stadium and Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground and replace them with newer facilities.
