Baseball-First Japanese official scorer at World Series

By Larry Fine BOSTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The 109th World Series registered a first when Gaku Tashiro took his place in the press box as one of the official scorers in Wednesday's opener of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Tashiro of the Sankei sports newspaper became the first Japanese to serve as a World Series official scorer. "I'm very honored for me to be official scoring because this is also a big game for Japanese people because Koji (Uehara) and (Junichi) Tazawa are also playing. So is very historical moment too," he said about Boston's two Japanese relievers. "The World series has a 108-year history and I am the first Japanese official scorer, so I hope no close calls tonight." This is Tashiro's first time serving as an official scorer, working as part of a trio of scorers along with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Mike Shalin of The Sports Xchange. Tashiro was accorded the honor based on having more than 10 years membership in the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which he joined in 2001 when he came to Seattle to cover Ichiro Suzuki. "That's why my company sent me here," Tashiro told Reuters just before the start of Game One. "When the Seattle chapter opened the door for me as a BBWAA member, they told me to cover MLB just like American reporters. "So I cover Japanese players but I also try to talk to the managers and the best players." Once Tashiro passed his 10-year mark with the BBWAA, he earned a vote in the Hall of Fame elections. "When I got the Hall of Fame (vote) I was so excited and pleased," he said. "The American people take care of me like they do the American reporters, so I am so pleased." (Reporting by Larry Fine, Editing by Greg Stutchbury)