Masahiro Tanaka might bring some flair to Major League Baseball.
Tanaka, who officially is a free agent after being posted by his Japanese club, surely will be missed in his native country. Not only does the 25-year-old pitcher have a ton of potential, but he also apparently has some personality, evidenced by his recent stop at a Japanese pop concert.
Tanaka tossed on a tuxedo and joined Japanese idol group AKB48 on stage at a recent event. The right-hander, who soon will become a rich man in the United States (or Canada), answered questions and even threw a ball into the crowd. While it’s unclear what Tanaka said unless you understand Japanese, it’s abundantly clear that the crowd ate up whatever it was.
So much has been made about Tanaka’s arrival in MLB that it’s easy to forget he’ll be leaving behind a country that thinks very highly of him. Check out Tanaka’s interesting concert cameo in the video below.
Hat tip to Yahoo! Sports’ Big League Stew blog for pointing out this bit of awesomeness.
