Are there clear standards for errors? Masahiro Araki and Tsuyoshi Nishioka are surprised by the commentary from a former official scorer: "All athletes should watch this!"

Pacific League Insight

2025.12.23(火) 09:00

Masahiro Araki (left) and Tsuyoshi Nishioka (right) © Pacific League TV
Masahiro Araki (left) and Tsuyoshi Nishioka (right) © Pacific League TV

P's UPDATE, a program to update common knowledge in the baseball world, is now available on the official YouTube site of PERSOL Pacific League TV. The theme of the December 22nd (Monday) broadcast was "The Boundaries of Error." Guests included Chunichi OB Masahiro Araki, Chiba Lotte Marines coach Takeshi Nishioka and former NPB recorder and Central League records manager Shigeo Ishii, The panelists delved deeply into the topic of "Errors.

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Did you know that while "outs/safes" are judged by umpire, "errors/hits" are judged by the official scorer? I am sure that many of you have experienced the thrill of wondering whether the "E" or "H" light will come on in the stadium vision.

While there are multiple umpire people in a game, there is only one recorder per game. They have to judge everything individually, but is the judgment of errors standardized? Mr. Ishii says that when he was the head of the department, "In order to unify (the overall judging standards) to some extent, I judged matches in which others served as recorders, and we also had review meetings.

Also, it is often thought that the better defense a player is at catching up with hit balls, the more likely he is to make an error, but in reality, he says, "I judge after considering the position of hitter runner at the time catch was made. In other words, even if a player catches up to a hit pitch and plays it there, if it is determined that the throw would not be made in time from there, it will be judged a hit.

At this point, MC Satoshi Kamishige asked, "In outdoor stadiums, it is easy for irregularities to occur due to weather conditions. Nishioka answered, "I don't think those factors are taken into account in the judging.

However, according to Mr. Ishii, all such things are taken into consideration. "I go there one hour before the game and watch everything from the seat knocks," he revealed. Mr. Araki then emphasized, "All the players should watch this video!" he emphasized. The players do not have the opportunity to get to know the recorder, and sometimes think he is a "cold person," and he seemed very surprised that he also checks the condition of the players before the game.

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Are there clear standards for errors? Masahiro Araki and Tsuyoshi Nishioka are surprised by the commentary from a former official scorer: "All athletes should watch this!"