One of Japan’s chief umpires said Saturday that Japan went farther than the majors toward collisions at home plate out of consideration for Japanese players’ “national character.”
Speaking a day after Japan’s new home plate collision rules were enforced for the first time in the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ 8-4 Pacific League win over the Seibu Lions, the chief of Nippon Professional Baseball’s umpiring technical committee, Osamu Ino, said it was necessary to make Japan’s rules at home base stricter than in Major League Baseball.
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