He's got one nasty slider - A story comes to us from Cleveland (how's that for a promising beginning?) of a Japanese baseball player with a sordid past. It seems that a promising young pitcher who should have been a top 5 pick got passed over in the Japanese draft because he and other members of his college team were paid to take part in a pornographic video that contained acts of homosexuality. Although teams said they were concerned about a shoulder injury, the real reason they treated Kazuhito Tadano like kryptonite was the video and the potential for bad publicity and the likely reaction of teammates. Still, the Cleveland Indians took a chance last March, signing him at a cut-rate, natch. Nothing untoward seems to have happened -- yet. If this guy ever makes it up to the big show, expect an uproar. In that case, at least he's got a second career to fall back on.