EDITORIAL: Student baseball charter

University baseball stars, who will undoubtedly be among the top draft picks of professional baseball teams this autumn, played a select team of young pro players aged 23 and under Monday at the Tokyo Dome before 23,000 fans.

The event was meant as a send-off for the students, who will represent Japan in the 5th World University Baseball Championship starting Friday in Japan. The pro team won the game, but the students did quite well, especially Takahiro Fujioka, a Toyo University pitcher.

A student-pro game was also held last autumn to mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Central and Pacific Leagues. But Monday's game was made possible by the completely revised Japan student baseball charter, which took effect in April.

The old charter forbade amateur-pro interaction. But the revised charter allows amateurs to "interact" with pros through workouts, games and seminars, subject to the Japan Student Baseball Association's approval.

This is a historic change that will help vitalize baseball in general. Student ballplayers will benefit greatly from learning directly from professionals. We welcome the revision, which opens the way for matches between pro baseball teams and university teams.

Since April, both amateurs and pros have been examining the finer rules of interaction. Full interaction has yet to begin.

But should these revisions lead to mutual back-scratching and shady exchanges of money and gifts, the unfortunate history before the revision of the charter would be repeated.

In 2007, the Seibu Lions professional club was found to have given under-the-table money to high school players and other amateurs. It also came to light that many high schools were providing scholarships to students who excelled in baseball.

These revelations suggested that student baseball was becoming increasingly corrupted by commercialism and a blind belief in winning at all costs. Alarmed, the Japan Student Baseball Association decided to revise its charter.

In the new charter, the association spelled out for the first time that student baseball is "part of education." And as in the old charter, the new charter bans the giving and receiving of money and gifts.

Over the half century since it was written, the old charter became outdated in many respects. One example was its stipulation on the relationship between student baseball and professional baseball. This prompted the association to review the wording of the stipulation.

The old charter allowed symposiums to be held from time to time so pros could teach baseball skills to students, but these were special cases. The revised charter reflects the association's current understanding that such instructions by professionals should be encouraged to contribute to the development of student baseball.

Put simply, the revised charter says that education is the purpose of student baseball, and that interaction with professional baseball should help to serve that purpose.

Many Japanese love baseball. For the sport's healthy development, it is vital that the professional baseball community fully appreciate the spirit of the revised charter.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 28