The rent was 50 million won, eight years behind, and there were three arrests for stealing...Japan's Baseball Hero Becomes a Miscellaneous Criminal

The rent was 50 million won, eight years behind, and there were three arrests for stealing...Japan's Baseball Hero Becomes a Miscellaneous Criminal

Blog Article

It was about a week ago. Japanese society was in a big shock. This is because of an incident in which a legendary pitcher was arrested by police on charges of theft.

The suspect was Tetsuya Yoneda, 87, who won 350 games for the Hankyu Braves (the predecessor of Orix). He was caught hiding two cans of diluted soju in his clothes at a convenience store. He even threatened the employee who restrained him with a cane. Eventually, he was caught by police who dispatched after receiving a report.

The sale price of two cans of the beverage "Chu Hai" that he was trying to steal is 303 yen, which is less than 3,000 won (about 2,960 won) in Korean money.

Since the incident was reported, social media and online communities in Japan have been disturbed. He is a legendary pitcher who ranks second in NPB's career after Masai Kaneda with 400 wins. Rather than criticizing him for committing an offense, public sympathy for his miserable old age also stirred up strong public opinion.
Several Japanese media outlets covered the poor recent years of the great pitcher as follow-up coverage.

According to Daily Sincho, he lives with his wife in the city of Amagasaki near Osaka. It is a two-bedroom residence in an old apartment house that has been built more than 50 years ago.

The landlord said, "I moved in 2016 after being introduced by a real estate agent. It was a monthly rent of 50,000 yen (about 490,000 won). At that time, the occupation section of the contract said, "Baseball commentator." So I thought, "Oh, that's Yoneda teacher." I was one of the fans who went to the baseball stadium to watch his game."

Tokyo did not last long, however. "For the first year or so, the real estate agent paid monthly rent. It was discontinued in March 2017. I have never paid since then. It has already been eight years. I have been behind on more than 5 million yen (about 48.8 million won)."

Of course, he urged her countless times. "When I visit them, they always say the same thing. They say, 'The money will come in soon, and I will pay you back at once.' The same goes to the wife who is guaranteed the money. She doesn't even answer back, asking her husband to ask. I am also a fan of Hankyu, and I can't sue...It's chultang, saying, "It's chultang."

This is another shocking fact that the media reported. This was not the first theft case. Police were dispatched twice earlier this year. One time it was a pharmacy, and a week later, it was caught stealing goods from a convenience store.

According to the neighbors, the first one was disrespected at the scene. However, the second one was taken to a police station. After being investigated, he was released, promising to prevent recurrence. This is the third time he committed such a crime.

"It seemed like the house didn't even have a TV. He said he was a baseball commentator, which was weird. He flies in the summer without an air conditioner. Was it a year or two ago? I think a social worker visited and helped him. The sound of the air conditioner is starting to come out." This is a message from a neighbor.

"A while ago, I was organizing the empty cans, and Yoneda came and asked me. 'How do you collect these things?'" he said, so he told me roughly how to do it

After retirement, I tried several businesses. Especially the problem was a bar that opened in Nishinomiya. For a while, he ran a snack bar called Sena 350 that adopted his multiplier. It employed five to six female employees. However, sales were not good.

In the end, the business had to be closed. Since then, people started to feel tight. High-end apartments where they lived are subject to repeated foreclosure measures (1996~). It was because they failed to pay taxes. In 2002, they were auctioned off.

Since then, he has sought to make a comeback several times. At one point, he ran an ingenious golf club business. He even sold the club to people around him, calling it a club built with the hull of the Titanic. He constantly sought for something. They mostly related to alcohol or baseball, which he liked. But nothing has succeeded. 안전놀이터

He has also asked for help from OBs in the baseball community many times. Rumors are that he called many times, asking for "borrow some money." Katsuya Nomura and Takenori Emoto, who died, reportedly were the targets. Jang Hoon's name also appears. Rumor has it that he refused, saying, "I don't do money transactions."