| 2006 NPB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | March 25, 2006 – October 26, 2006 |
| Regular Season | |
| Season MVP | CL: Kosuke Fukudome (CHU) PL: Michihiro Ogasawara (NIP) |
| League Postseason | |
| CL champions | Chunichi Dragons |
| CL runners-up | Hanshin Tigers |
| PL champions | Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters |
| PL runners-up | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Japan Series | |
| Champions | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| Runners-up | Chunichi Dragons |
| Finals MVP | Atsunori Inaba (NIP) |
In 2006 the Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Pacific League defeating the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League in the Japan Series.
| Central League | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chunichi Dragons | 146 | 87 | 54 | 5 | .617 | -- |
| Hanshin Tigers | 146 | 84 | 58 | 4 | .592 | 3.5 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 146 | 70 | 73 | 3 | .490 | 18 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 146 | 65 | 79 | 2 | .451 | 23.5 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 146 | 62 | 79 | 5 | .440 | 25 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 146 | 58 | 84 | 4 | .408 | 29.5 |
| Pacific League | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 136 | 82 | 54 | 0 | .603 | -- |
| Seibu Lions | 136 | 80 | 54 | 2 | .597 | 1 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 136 | 75 | 56 | 5 | .573 | 4.5 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 136 | 65 | 70 | 1 | .481 | 16.5 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 136 | 52 | 81 | 3 | .391 | 28.5 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 136 | 47 | 85 | 4 | .356 | 33 |
Seibu Lions (1) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Seibu Lions – 1 | October 7 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 29,187 [1] |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 11, Seibu Lions – 3 | October 8 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 31,338 [2] |
| 3 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Seibu Lions – 1 | October 9 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 27,344 [3] |
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (3) vs. Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (0)The Fighters have a one-game advantage.
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 3 | October 11 | Sapporo Dome | 42,380 [4] |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 1 | October 12 | Sapporo Dome | 42,380 [5] |
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In the 2006 Japan Series, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Chunichi Dragons 4 games to 1 in five games.
After the Japan Series, the Fighters moved on to the Asian Series, a series which determines the champion of the four major Asian baseball leagues.
The Eiji Sawamura Award, the award given to the top pitcher in Japan, was given to pitcher Kazumi Saito of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He had a win–loss record of 18-5, 205 strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.75 in 201.0 innings, winning the Pacific League's pitching triple crown.
Central League
Pacific League
Central League
Pacific League
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai team to play in Osaka proper, the team went through a few name changes before settling on Nankai Hawks in 1947, eventually changing ownership in 1988 and moving to Fukuoka in 1989. The team subsequently became known as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks until 2005, when they were purchased by SoftBank Group, becoming the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Since 1993, the Hawks have played at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome, which has gone under several name changes and seats 40,000 people.
The Japan Series, also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League, and is played in October or November. The first team to win four games is the overall winner and is declared the Japan Series Champion each year. The Japan Series uses a 2–3–2 format.
The Chunichi Dragons are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times and the Japan Series twice. They were also champions in the 2007 Asia Series.
The 2006 Japan Series, the 57th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 26, and matched the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The Fighters won the Series in five games, taking Games 2,3,4 and 5.
The 1954 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1954 season. It was the fifth Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Nishitetsu Lions, against the Central League champions, the Chunichi Dragons. This would be the Dragons' last championship until 2007, when they defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
In 2005 the Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League defeating the Hanshin Tigers of the Central League in a four-game sweep in the Nippon Series.
The 2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 59th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The regular season started on March 20 with the Pacific League opener, and on March 28 with the Central League opener. On March 25 and 26, the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics played 2 regular season Major League Baseball games at Tokyo Dome. During their visit, they also played exhibition games against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants.
The 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Seibu Lions defeating the Chunichi Dragons in the 2004 Japan Series. This season also saw the first and only players strike in Japanese professional baseball history. Players went on strike for two days in September because of the potential mergers and realignment.
The 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 62nd season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The season was delayed by the Tohoku earthquake. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, based in northern Japan, and coached by Senichi Hoshino, were particularly affected by the quake, as the Miyagi Baseball Stadium was badly damaged.
The 2011 Japan Series was the 62nd edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff matched the Chunichi Dragons and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the respective champions of the Central League's and the Pacific League's Climax Series (postseason). The Series began on Saturday, November 12, 2011 and was a rematch of the 1999 Japan Series, which the Hawks won, four games to one.
The 2012 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 63rd season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.
The 2012 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the 2012 Japan Series, where they competed against the 2012 Central League Climax Series winner. The top three regular-season finishers played in the two series. The PLCS began on with the first game of Stage 1 on October 13 and ended with the final game of Stage 2 on October 19.
The 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 65th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.
The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.
The 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 67th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.
The 2018 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Pacific League's (PL) Climax Series champion and defending Japan Series champions, and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, the Central League's (CL) Climax Series champion. The Hawks defeated the Carp, 4–1–1, in six games, to win their second consecutive Japan Series championship and their fifth in eight years.
The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) playoffs have taken several different forms throughout the organization's history. Japanese baseball is divided into two leagues; the Pacific League (PL) is less popular and less profitable than the Central League (CL). As a result, the PL has employed various playoff formats throughout its history in an effort to increase fan interest. The PL's first true playoff system was introduced in the 1973 season. It involved a split season plan that divided the season into two halves and the two teams that won each half went on to play each other in a five-game playoff series, with the winner advancing to the Japan Series. While popular with fans, the format was scrapped after ten seasons because of major issues and criticisms. In the year following their last split season, the PL returned to a single season, however if five or fewer games separated the first- and second-place teams at the end of the season, the two teams would play each other in a five-game playoff series. This playoff system was unpopular and ridiculed by media and fans. It only lasted three seasons with a playoff series never needing to be played.
The 2020 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) playoff series to decide which Pacific League (PL) team would advance to the 2020 Japan Series. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PL decided to modify the traditional Climax Series format and eliminate the First Stage series to instead only play one modified Final Stage series: a best-of-five series, with the PL champion receiving an automatic one-win advantage over the league's runner-up. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the league's champion, competed against runner-up Chiba Lotte Marines to determine who would advance to the 2020 Japan Series. The series was played from November 14 to 15 at Fukuoka PayPay Dome. With the advantage and two consecutive come-from-behind wins, the Hawks advanced past the Marines to the Japan Series and the Hawks' Akira Nakamura was named the series' Most Valuable Player. SoftBank will compete against the Central League's (CL) regular-season champion, the Yomiuri Giants, in the Japan Series. Because of the pandemic, the CL cancelled their Climax Series altogether, instead opting to send their regular-season champion.
The 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 73rd season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There are 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.
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