The Chunichi Dragons of the Central League slashed the salary of Takayuki Onishi by 1 million yen on Monday for the outfielder's involvement in a shoving incident that caused a broken rib to an umpire in Saturday's game.
The CL club, however, did not take any similar measures with manager Senichi Hoshino and infielder Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, who were ejected along with Onishi by home plate umpire Atsushi Kittaka.
"Onishi had no business being involved in the incident and it comes down to a problem of him striking the blows," Chunichi President Tusyoshi Sato said, adding that his club apologized at the CL board of directors meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
Flag bearing burden
The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) hinted Monday that it is backing away from plans to allow Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to carry the flag for the Japanese Olympic delegation at the opening ceremony of this year's Sydney Games.
"We're not going to force him to carry the flag if there are fears that he will lose his fitness. Top priority has to be given to the competition," said JOC President Yushiro Yagi, who revealed plans to make Matsuzaka the flag-bearer late last year.