Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato, announced his resignation on Sept. 19 at a meeting with the 12 NPB team owners. Kato reportedly knew that that a NPB administrator required Mizuno to juice the league’s baseballs without the players’ knowledge. Players learned of the controversy in mid-June, even though the balls had been in use all season.
Kato was a former ambassador between Japan and America and was set to serve as NPB commissioner until June 2014. Now his term as NPB commissioner will come to a close at the end of this year’s season. There are some reports stating that Kato had no idea that the balls were being replaced; however, he apologizes for his poor decision making as commissioner and his failure to notify the players of the change. Between his misleading words and sketchy actions, he has managed to lose the trust of his players.
So how did the upset players and owners of the teams express their concern? They called in a third party to investigate. Supposedly later in the month this investigation will take place and the intention, reasoning, and purpose of the secretly juiced balls be revealed. Some suggest that the NPB may have a poor structure of government and lack of communication among the hierarchy of the league. If that is the case, then more than just Kato’s actions should be questioned.
One possible reasoning for ball juicing was Kato’s desire to allow Japan to compete internationally. The NPB uses a ball different from international teams that they play. Another reason was to give the fans what they want: more homeruns.
Changing the weight of a ball may not be important to the “Average Joe” on the street, but when your sport involves only two pieces of equipment (one of which is a ball) the alterations can make a huge impact.
For example, Wladamir Balentien broke the Japanese single-season homerun record with 56 homeruns this season. Also, homerun averages have risen from 881 per season in 2012 all the way to an estimated 1,297 for this season. However, most fans and sports reporters are grazing over the fact that the ball used was altered or “juiced”. So should those records be discounted? I’ll leave that call up to the professionals.
Meanwhile, the NPB needs to focus on selecting its next commissioner. Let’s hope they can find an honest one.