Hadley Swings Big Bat in Japan Majors
In 1964 Hadley hit .263/.328/.470 with 29 home runs and a league-high 99 strikeouts. He hit a dramatic game-ending game-winning home run in game 4 of the Japan Series that year, taking Minoru Murayama deep. The blow and his colleague Joe Stanka's stellar pitching helped the Hawks to a 4-3 Series win over the Hanshin Tigers - it would be the last Japan Series title for Nankai.
As Nankai's 1B in 1965 Kent batted .239/.274/.492, again cracking 29 home runs and driving in 86 runners. His power began to fade the next season but he picked up his average as his line read .279/.340/.443 with 18 HR. In his final season for the Hawks, Hadley hit just .213/.266/.341 with 14 homers. Inn the opening game, he hit one homer that made him the first foreigner to hit 100 career home runs in Nippon Pro Baseball. At his final game, he was celebrated by his teammate with doage (tossing a person in the air for a few times), which was rather unusual for non-Japanese players.
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