Two prospective SoftBank Hawks players have been disciplined for drinking alcohol during a social media live.
According to local Japanese media outlet Weekly Moonchun, pitchers Daisei Kimura and Koki Kato, who are part of the 2021 draft class, turned on a social media live broadcast at around 9:30 p.m. on July 15. They showed fans how to play the baseball game 먹튀검증 “Pro Baseball Spirit”.
The two players were broadcasting from their team dorm room on Kato’s account. As fans watched them play, they noticed something that shouldn’t have been in the room. It was a can of Chew Hai sitting on top of the fridge.
Chuhai is a mild alcoholic beverage with only 3% ABV, but Kimura and Kato were both born in 2003 and still only 19 years old, violating Japan’s drinking laws, which prohibit anyone under the age of 20 from buying or drinking alcohol. Kimura quickly put the cans away after seeing fan comments, raising suspicions.
They immediately turned off the live broadcast and resumed it an hour later, but fans continued to point out their misbehavior with comments like, “Where’s the alcohol?” A SoftBank representative later told the media, “We checked with the two players and they admitted to drinking, and the club took appropriate action.”