Japan's baseball players call for commissioner to step down

He should have been already 6 years in pension!

What qualified him becoming commissioner? That he was former ambassador to US and probably saw baseball games from the VIP seats? Phew...

Let me guess.... he's not going to step down but will "stay in his position to avoid instability, and ensure that such a thing never happens again," and other such usual rubbish.

"The 71-year-old Kato, a former Japanese ambassador to the United States, said he didn’t know the ball had been changed."

Really? Well, then, if he has no idea what's going on he has no business being in charge of what's going on.

And now please tell us who introduced the new ball.

This is absolutely disgusting. You don't just change one of the fundamental parts of the game without telling anyone involved. It's bad enough that the commissioner decided to change the ball purely to increase the number of home runs (something that's not necessarily a good thing to begin with), but that he did it without any deliberation and in secret is unforgivable.

The major leagues in the USA have tweaked things from time to time. After the pitching-dominated 1968 season, they lowered the mound five inches. In the early 1920s, after a batter was hit in the head with a pitch and died, there was a movement to remove balls from play before they got too dirty. In all these cases, discussion and deliberation preceded the decision, and an announcement was made.

Can you imagine if the NBA secretly lowered the rim to 9 feet 10 inches so that more people could dunk? If the NFL messed with the yard markers? And then the league commissioner's office said that it was kept secret in order “to avoid confusion”?

And here I was thinking that "confusion" was when a pitcher inexplicably gave up many more home runs than last season, had no idea why, and started to doubt himself and his training. "Confusion" is when a team allows many more homers than they did last year, and starts sending regular pitchers down the minors because they falsely believe that they've lost their pitching edge. That''s "confusion*.

Ryozo Kato should be tossed out on his behind ASAP.

Thon Couldn't agree more! Why is there not total outrage about this?! Even though I'm a Brit , who knows sweet FA about baseball, to "move the goalposts" without telling anyone is obscene and indefensible. The mentality in Japan seems to be, anything goes, as long as you don't get caught.

The thing is, however, I am somewhat puzzled that nobody - pitchers, batters, coaching staff etc etc.., noticed anything was amiss. Surely somebody musta smelt a rat??? You don't just keep throwing that ball over and over and not realize something is different, do you?

NPB secretary general Kunio Shimoda said the issue was kept secret in order “to avoid confusion.”

just love this expression used in Japan which means, "I cheated, lied, double-crossed, etc., but don't want to use those honest words"

Kato is absolutely responsible for this debacle and should most definitely step down. He and his staff even instructed Mizuno, the sole maker of the official baseballs, to lie to anyone if asked whether the balls had been altered from last season. There's simply no excusing this.

Welcome to Clowntown.

"To avoid confusion" over whether to call you liars / cheats / scumbags / hyocrites / criminals / pisstakers / arogant bar stewards, or just pathetic old men who think you can do whatever you want because you are, er, pathhetic old men.

Yes. He should step down.