NPB’s First Chief Umpire Reveals the Untold Story Behind the Legendary and Controversial Judges of the Japan Series

Osamu Ino, a former professional baseball umpire who judged a total of 2,902 games and also served as the first chief umpire of theNPB, has written a book titled “Puroyakyu wa umpire ga 90%: Legendary Offenses and Defenses Seen Through the Mask” (Gentosha).

Professional Baseball is 90% Umpiring: Legendary Offenses and Defenses Seen Through the Mask ” (Gentosha) is now on sale.

The ’24 Japan Series is being contested between the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. In order to enjoy the heated game even more deeply, we introduce the “legendary judges” who made the Japan Series so exciting from one of the most talked-about books. Some excerpts have been excerpted and re-edited (expressions and notations are based on the book).

Legendary Judges” of the Japan Series still talked about

The Japan Series, which began in 1950 when the two leagues were divided, has been held 74 times until 1948. Let me introduce some of the “legendary judges.

The first is umpire Mitsuru Enjoji (born in 1908, 21 years as an umpire, 2,373 games played).

Game 4 of the ’61 Japan Series between the Giants and Nankai (Korakuen Stadium). With the Giants down 2-1 and behind by one run in the bottom of the 9th inning, the bases were loaded with two outs. Joe Stanka threw a pitch low down the middle to Toshio Miyamoto with two strikes, and umpire Enjoji called it a “ball.

Despite protests by catcher Katsuya Nomura and manager Kazuto Tsuruoka, who thought they had won the game, the decision remained the same, and after the game resumed, Miyamoto hit a back-to-back sac fly to right field for the final out. At this time, pitcher Stanka hit himself against ball referee Enjoji, pretending to back up home base. After the game, the Nankai Nine protested vehemently against umpire Enjoji. As a result, the Giants regained the top spot in Japan for the first time in six years.

Enjoji: Is that a ball?

It was a subtle pitch that could be taken as either a strike or a ball. Mr. Enjoji had quit umpiring due to his poor health. He must have felt that he had made a mistake or something.

Umpire Enjoji passed away in 1983 at the age of 75. In 1990, exactly 30 years after the Japan Series, a baseball reporter asked Nomura (then manager of the Yakult baseball team) how he played in the series.

He said, “Just when I thought I had won the game with a missed strike, he lifted his buttocks a little. It was a close call, but if I had been poised and caught the ball, umpire Enjoji might have called it a strike. I regret it.

If the Enjoji umpire had heard those words, he would have been delighted. Referees are supposed to do their job without delay. The best compliment is to be told, “Who was the referee today? is the highest compliment. Only when a referee makes a poor judgment is his name mentioned. It is such a nerve-wracking job.

There was a heated argument for over an hour over whether it was a “home run” or a “foul.”

Next is umpire Isao Okada (born in 1951, 36 years as an umpire, 3,902 games played).

Game 4 of the 1969 Japan Series between the Giants and Hankyu (Korakuen Stadium). On a double steal, the left foot of Shozo Doi (Giants), the runner at third base, was blocked by Koji Okamura (Hankyu), who was thought to be out, but was judged “safe.

The Okamura catcher struck umpire Okada with his right hand and was ejected from the game. However, a photo in the next day’s Hochi Shimbun newspaper proved that Doi had extended his left leg into the gap in the block and was safe. The Giants were Japan’s No. 1 V5 team.

The third judge was Referee Hiroya Tomizawa (born in 1931, 35 years of umpiring experience, 3,775 games played).

In Game 7 of the 1978 Japan Series between Yakult and Hankyu (at Korakuen Stadium), Yakult player Katsuo Osugi (No. 4) sent Mitsuhiro Adachi (Hankyu)’s inside shot to the left field pole.

Umpire Tomizawa, the outfielder, ruled it a home run, but manager Toshiharu Ueda (Hankyu) called it a foul, and the protest lasted an hour and 19 minutes (note: it is said to have actually been a foul).

Osugi hit a homer from the next at bat, this time to left-center field off of Hisashi Yamada (Hankyu). Yakult became the first Japanese baseball team to win the championship in the 29th year of the team’s existence.

Umpire Tomizawa was also the left outfielder at the 1959 Tenran Giant-Hanshin game (Korakuen Stadium). Shigeo Nagashima hit a homer to left from Minoru Murayama (Hanshin).

According to Murayama, “That was a foul!” (Hanshin), who was a junior pitcher in the Hanshin team. Yutaka Enatsu, who was a junior pitcher at Hanshin, said, “I heard it was a foul not once or twice, but more than 100 times. The pitch was a complete homer, but it was Murayama’s determination not to lose to Nagashima or the Giants.

Why we can be sure that umpires will never be replaced by AI

In the Orix-Hanshin game of the ’23 Japan Series, the most impressive moment was Game 2 (Kyocera Dome Osaka).

The umpire had a narrow strike zone on the inside low corner of right-handed batters, and a cross-fired inside straight by left-handed pitcher Daiya Miyagi (Orix) and an inside shot by right-handed pitcher Yuki Nishi (Hanshin) were both ruled as balls.

One of the commentators had this scathing comment: “If that kind of umpire gets out of the Japan Series, he’s going to have a hard time.

I don’t like it when umpires like that appear in the Japan Series. If the strike zone was that narrow, there would be no game.

However, when a newspaper reporter asked Miyagi about the umpire’s decision, he replied, “I don’t like it when umpires are so strict in their judgment.

It is not that the umpire’s judgment is harsh or lenient, but the strike zone is the same on Hanshin’s side. So I just threw my own pitches.

Hearing that comment, I was happy to think that more and more players are starting to feel that way. Whether the strike zone is strict or lenient, the umpire who is judging the game cannot be replaced in the middle of the game.

In the Majors, judgment is not everything. And the players understand this.

For example, a pitch is caught and the catcher returns it to the pitcher. At that point, even if the catcher finally calls “ball,” the Major League catchers will say, “Oh, it’s a ball. Well, it can’t be helped,” and the catcher does not care. The game continued on without a hitch.

Nowadays, to take it to the extreme, you can even hear people saying things like this.

If mechanization has advanced to such an extent, why don’t we just leave the judging of balls and strikes, as well as outs and safeties, to the AI? Do the umpires really need to be human?

In fact, “robot umpires” were introduced this year in Korean professional baseball. I think it would be a good idea to let the machines do it all once. I think it would be a good idea to let the machines do it all, because I am sure they will come to the conclusion that human umpires are still needed.

Former professional baseball umpire Osamu Ino, who judged a total of 2,902 games and also served as the first umpire-in-chief of the NPB, has written a book titled ” Puroyakyu wa umpire ga 90%: Legendary offense and defense seen through a mask ” (Gentosha) in which he talks about his working days.