Former NPB Renowned Umpire Unveils the Truth Behind the Furuta and Okada Ejection Drama

Osamu Ino, a former professional baseball umpire who judged a total of 2,902 games and also served as the first chief umpire of the NPB, has written a book titled “Puroyakyu wa 審判は90割 The Legendary Offenses and Defenses Seen Through the Mask” (Gentosha) in which he candidly describes his working days.

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

From the currently available “Professional Baseball is 90% Umpires: Legendary Battles Seen Through the Mask” (published by Gentosha), we present a partially excerpted and re-edited segment (expressions and notations are based on the book).

 

The Yokohama Stadium “Umpire Mass Assault” Incident

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) began in 2006, leading to the formation of the so-called “Samurai Japan” (the name has been in use since 2013). Since then, player interactions, such as during voluntary training, have become more frequent. As a result, brawls caused by hit-by-pitches have significantly decreased, along with the number of ejections.

The “reasons” for ejections can be broadly classified into the following seven categories:

• Assault on umpires
• Verbal abuse toward umpires
• Acts of insulting umpires
• Conflicts between players and coaches
• Dangerous pitches
• Incidents involving spectators
• Delaying the game

Reflecting on the August 31, 1982 game between Yokohama Taiyo and Hanshin (held at Yokohama Stadium), a foul was called on a dropped fly ball hit along the third-base line by Hanshin’s player Taira Fujita. (Note: Ikuo Shimano and Takeshi Shibata, both Hanshin coaches, believed it was fair and became enraged.)

This led to a violent incident where the two coaches assaulted the third-base umpire and the home plate umpire by punching and kicking them. (The Central Baseball League imposed an “indefinite suspension” on them.)

Violence against umpires, who serve as impartial judges in sports, and indeed any form of assault on another person, is an unforgivable act of barbarism. This incident occurred on the last day of summer vacation.

Player-manager Furuta showed no mercy during his 2000th game appearance commemoration.

On April 19, 2007, during the Yakult vs. Yokohama game at Jingu Stadium, I ejected Atsuya Furuta, the player-manager.

In the top of the 7th inning with two outs and a runner on first, Yokohama led 11-0 when player Takehiro Ishikawa attempted to steal second base. Under such a significant score difference, it is generally considered an “unspoken agreement” or unwritten rule that stealing bases is avoided.

In the United States, this unwritten rule is firmly established, with examples such as “Do not steal bases when leading by a wide margin.” In Major League Baseball, violating this rule may result in intentional hit-by-pitches or other forms of retaliation. However, in Japan, this concept is not as solidly established.

On the next pitch, a fastball (135 km/h) from pitcher Masataka Endo (formerly of Chunichi, then with Yakult) hit the back of Seichi Uchikawa, Yokohama’s third batter. Following this, a curveball (114 km/h) intended for cleanup hitter Shuuichi Murata slipped, dropped, and struck Murata on the head as he leaned forward to avoid it.

The memorial game became “the worst game out of 2000 games”!

Two consecutive hit-by-pitches to key batters. Players from both teams rushed onto the field, and the situation became chaotic. There was an agreement (unwritten rule) that if a pitch slips and hits the head, it won’t lead to an ejection.

Thinking back to May 1994, when Ryuuji Nishimura (Yakult) hit Shinichi Murata (Giants) in the head, the hit-by-pitch battle began, and the rule head shots result in immediate ejection was established. However, in June 1994, a wild curveball from Shinji Sasao (Hiroshima) hit Henry Cotto (Giants) in the head, resulting in an ejection. That led to reconsideration of the rule, as it was deemed unfair in some cases.

However, the final judgment lies with the umpire. Although it was a slip, the cause of the commotion was the two consecutive hit-by-pitches, and the home plate umpire ejected Endo for a dangerous pitch. This led Furuta, the player-manager (Yakult), to seek an explanation.

“Why the ejection? It was a slip. Check the speed gun!”

“It is the umpire’s decision. Endo is ejected. Let’s calm down and discuss this.”

“××××”

Kansai dialect can sometimes sound harsh, but this was a case of an excited protest, and it’s something anyone could experience, not just Furuta. In this game, I was the third-base umpire and the “responsible umpire” of the crew, and I ejected Furuta for verbal abuse toward the umpire.

At the end of the fifth inning, the game had been decided, and Furuta was presented with a bouquet. This was the game where he reached the historic milestone of 2,000 career games, becoming the first player to achieve this after coming through the university and corporate leagues.

It was an outdoor stadium in April, still chilly, and the game was one-sided. It ended up being a game with a sour aftertaste. Looking back, I may have been better off issuing a warning that another hit-by-pitch would result in ejection after the first one.

At the time, Furuta’s appearances had drastically decreased (36 games in 2006, 10 games in 2007). It was likely planned for him to play as a catcher on the day of the game, with the accomplished Kazuki Ishii starting. However, Ishii had a disastrous outing, allowing six hits, four walks, and eight earned runs, including a grand slam in the first inning, and he was pulled.

Ishikawa, in his third year as a pro after high school, was probably desperate to establish himself in the first team. He was a pinch runner and stole his first base as a professional. However, the following day during practice, he took a ball to the face and suffered a serious injury, needing 20 stitches in his lip, resulting in a long-term absence. That year, he ended with just one stolen base.

By the way, in 2008, a rule change was made that stated stolen bases in games with a large score difference will not be recorded (official baseball rule 9.07g, which states that if a runner attempts a steal but the defensive team shows no interest or defense, the steal will not be recorded as a stolen base but as an advance via the fielder’s choice).

Later, when I met Furuta, I told him:

“Furuta, even though it was your 2000th game, I’m sorry about what happened.”

“It’s fine.”

He was still a little angry (laughs).

“I’ve played 2000 games, but this ended up being the worst game out of all of them.”

Furuta, with a wry smile, made a similar comment to the media later.

The reason for ejecting former Hanshin manager Okada.

I also ejected former manager Akihiro Okada (Hanshin). On August 16, 2007, in a game between Hanshin and Chunichi at Kyocera Dome, the score was 1–3 in favor of Chunichi, and Hanshin had a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Tigers’ leadoff hitter, Takashi Toritani, hit a ground ball that was fielded by Chunichi’s second baseman Masahiro Araki, and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata threw to second base. The moment I called “He’s out!” I immediately regretted it. To be honest, I knew it was a clear mistake.

The reason for the mistake was my failure to assess the speed of the pinch hitter, Tsutomu Fujiwara (Hanshin), who reached first base on a walk. Once I made the call, however, I couldn’t change it.

Manager Okada rushed out of the dugout with incredible speed, and when he pushed into my body at second base, I ejected him. This wasn’t about the accuracy of the out or safe call; it was due to assault on the umpire.

Chunichi’s manager, Hiromitsu Ochiai, was extremely calm in contrast. He slowly came out of the dugout and simply said to his pitcher, Satoshi Takahashi, “Calm down.” After saying that, he returned to the dugout. The game continued, with one run scored in the controversial play, making it 2–3, and Hanshin ultimately lost.

The first base umpire in this game was **. It’s in bad taste to remember the incident of my mistake, but one detail that has stayed with me is this: during the game, there were several close plays at first base, and ** was heavily heckled by the Hanshin fans.

“Hey, **, that was safe!”

He couldn’t respond to every comment, so ** pretended not to hear it.

“Hey, **, your fly is open!”

** couldn’t help but look down to check.

“You’ve been ignoring us, but you’ve clearly heard us!”

Two months earlier, on June 8, 2007, in a game between Hanshin and Orix at Koshien (Interleague play), Okada was ejected for “assault on an umpire” for the first time in his career. This was the first time a Japanese manager had been ejected multiple times in the same season in the Central League.

The period was called the “Dragon-Tiger era,” where from 2003, Hanshin and Chunichi alternated in securing the top spot. This shows how intense the games were during that time (2007 was the year the Giants won the championship).

Looking back to September 7, 2005, in a game between Chunichi and Hanshin at Nagoya Dome, the Tigers were leading 3–1 in the bottom of the 9th inning, and there was a controversial play at home plate. After Okada protested, Hanshin’s head coach, Katsuo Hirata, stepped in to stop him, and he was ejected for assault on the umpire. Okada then sent his players back to the dugout.

After an 18-minute delay, the game resumed. Hanshin was tied, and with one out and the bases loaded, Okada gave a famous encouragement to pitcher Tomoyuki Kubota, which became a turning point in Hanshin’s 2005 championship season.

“Go all out! Even if we lose, I’ll take responsibility.”

Kubota struck out the next batter. In the top of the 11th inning, Yutaka Nakamura hit a go-ahead home run. After the game, Ochiai said, “I lost as a manager. That’s all.”

Hanshin then went on to win six consecutive games, finishing the season with 87 wins, 54 losses, and 5 ties, securing the championship by 10 games over second-place Chunichi. It was Hanshin’s first title in two years. “Calm Ochiai, fiery Okada,” two contrasting managers who represented the Central League.

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 entitled ” Puroyakyu wa umpire ga 90%: Legendary offense and defense seen through a mask ” (Gentosha) in which he talks about his working days.