In the problem that the size of the ground did not meet the regulations at the new ballpark of the professional baseball Nippon-Ham, which opened this month, NPB (Nippon Baseball Organization) aimed to promote baseball instead of repairing it to the Nippon-Ham. It was revealed that a proposal was made to allow the continued use of the current size on the condition that the cooperation fee is paid to NPB.
At Escon Field Hokkaido, Nippon-Ham's new baseball stadium built in Kitahiroshima City, Hokkaido, the distance from the home plate to the fence on the back net side is about 15 meters. Nippon-Ham has presented a plan to carry out renovation work during the off-season of this season and next season because it does not meet the rule that 18.288 meters or more is required.
Regarding this issue, at the executive committee on the 6th, NPB asked Nippon Ham to renovate the stadium on the condition that they will comply with the official baseball rules in the future and pay NPB a cooperation fee for the purpose of promoting baseball. It has been revealed that it has made a proposal to allow it to be used at its current size without
In response to this proposal, the Nippon-Ham side responded that they would change the awareness of the organization to comply with compliance and strengthen governance, and that they would pay the cooperation fee to the NPB, so the new stadium will be used at its current size. It has become an outlook to continue.
On top of that, the NPB plans to proceed with revisions to the items related to the size of the ballpark in the official baseball rules, and Secretary General Atsushi Ihara said, "Ballparks with a short distance from the home plate to the back fence are also seen here and there in the United States. The current trend in baseball stadiums is not necessarily the situation that is written in the rules, so we will revise it based on recent trends while consulting with the amateur side.”