Statesmania Blog

 April 7, 2018

With the departure of Dean ‘Fate’ O’Monahan, the final link was broken to the 2007 Charleston Statesmen. But the Statesmania Blog has heard some sad news. Tetsu Takuda, a starting pitcher with the original statesmen, passed away on March 1, 2018 in an auto accident in Minamisōma, Japan. He was 36 years old.

According to police report, a traffic accident around an upcoming bend prompted police to use a squad car to block the road. Unfortunately, the police had not provided a foot officer to warn oncoming traffic, and Takuda’s car crashed into the police car, killing Takuda and injuring a police officer who was inside the car.

His is the second death among the original Statesmen, the second Japanese player to die, and the second to die in a traffic accident. Shirai Takata died in 2015 when his car hit an oncoming tram in Hakodate after a night of drinking.

Takuda finished with a 21-21 record in two years with the Statesmen, and a 59-66 lifetime record with a 4.32 lifetime ERA, having also pitched for Tempe and San Antonio. Takuda finished his career in the minor leagues of Japan with the Gojira Godziras, helping that team win a championship in 2014. After his career ended, he worked as an executive clerk in the executive office of the Soap Superstore Corporation, which sold bath supplies.

“Mr. Takuda really understood obligation and gratitude,” Shuuto Yamashita, an executive at Soap Superstore said. “He was a capable worker and a wonderful person. He was quite happy to talk to us about baseball. You’d think he wouldn’t want to talk about it, but he was always ready to give his opinions about the upcoming LRS season, and was more often right than not. We asked him for help with our company team, and he was glad to do it. He will be missed greatly here.”

Takuda became the coach of the Soap Superstore Corporation baseball team. “He did this in addition to his normal duties in the executive office,” Yamashita said. “He did not complain.”

He leaves behind a wife, Nijimi and a daughter, Kako. Soap Superstore Corporation is taking care of the funeral bills.

“We were the only Japanese in Charleston, “ said former teammate Shigeaki Otani, who is now a high school baseball coach at Mizuho Nōgei High School.  “We knew we had to stick together. So I told Tetsu-san and Shirei-san that I’d be glad to translate in English for them. I did this for about three months and when we were in New Orleans, one of Tetsu-san’s friends was there. So I was translating for Tetsu when his friend called down ‘speak English!’ And Tetsu began speaking English to the reporter. His English was pretty good!”

“Afterward, I asked him ‘why didn’t you start speaking it earlier?’ He told me that he didn’t want me to be embarrassed. ‘I think you speak it better than I do anyway.’”

“It’s a horrible thing,” Otani said, watching his players practicing. “I guess those days are over now. Be careful how you treat other people, because you might never get a chance to say good-bye.”