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Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning Professional Baseball.
The Pacific League or Pa League is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around Japan.
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 winner of the Japan Series also goes on to be the Japanese representative team in the annual Asia Series. 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 2007 Japan Series, the 58th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began Saturday, October 27, 2007, pitting the Pacific League Regular League and Climax Series' Champion, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Chunichi Dragons, winners of the Central League's Climax Series, in a rematch of the previous year's Japan Series, won by the Fighters.
The third annual Konami Cup Asia Series was held in November 2007 with four teams participating. The champions from the domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan along with an all-star team from China took part in the competition. The tournament was sponsored by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association and Konami Corporation. All games were held in Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan. The Chunichi Dragons defeated the SK Wyverns in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Infielder Hirokazu Ibata was named the MVP of the series.
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.
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 2008 Asia Series was contested on November 13–16 by the champions of Nippon Professional Baseball's Japan Series, the Korea Baseball Organization's Korean Series, Chinese Professional Baseball League's Taiwan Series, and the championship of the China Baseball League of the People's Republic of China. In 2008, it was the first time that the champion of the China Baseball League participates in instead of the all-star team China Stars. The winning team will receive ¥50 million yen, the second place team will receive ¥30 million yen, and the other teams will receive ¥10 million yen each. All games were held in Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan. The Saitama Seibu Lions defeated the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Outfielder Tomoaki Satoh was named the MVP of the series.
The 1985 Japan Series was the 36th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers against the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions. Making their first appearance in the Japan Series since 1964, the Tigers finally won their first Japan Series championship. To this day, it remains the only Japan Series title won by the Tigers.
Kimiyasu Kudo is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher and the former manager of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. Known for his longevity as a player, he holds the NPB records for longest career with 29 seasons played, most consecutive seasons with at least one win with 23 and is the oldest pitcher to strike out 10 batters in a game, doing so at the age of 41 years and 11 months. In his career, he recorded 224 wins, a 3.45 ERA and 2,852 strikeouts. However, despite all his accolades, he is infamously known for having never won the Eiji Sawamura Award, given to Japan's top pitcher.
The 1992 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1992 season. It was the 43rd Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yakult Swallows. Seibu won their third consecutive PL pennant in convincing fashion to reach the series, and Yakult finished the season atop the competitive CL for the first time since 1978. Played at Meiji Jingu Stadium and Seibu Lions Stadium, the Lions defeated the Swallows four games to three in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 11th Japan Series title. Seibu's Sawamura Award winner Takehiro Ishii was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 17 and October 26 with home field advantage going to the Central League.
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 1988 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1988 season. It was the 39th Japan Series and featured the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions. Chunichi won the Central League pennant by a comfortable 12 games to advance to the championship. However, the representative from the Pacific League was undecided up until 3 days before Game 1 of the Japan Series. Seibu fought neck-and-neck for first place with the Kintetsu Buffaloes over most of the season and finished their regular-season schedule with a 0.5-game advantage over Kintetsu, with Kintetsu having 4 games left to play. On the last day of the season, Kintetsu had to win both games of an away double-header against the last-place Lotte Orions to claim the PL pennant. Kintetsu won the first game by one run, but Lotte forced a comeback tie in the second game, capping a dramatic finish to the season and giving Seibu the PL spot in the Japan Series for the fourth year in a row.
The 2015 Japan Series was the 66th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, champions of the Pacific League, played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League. The Hawks were the defending Japan Series champions, having beaten the Hanshin Tigers in 2014. The series was sponsored by the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and was officially known as the SMBC Nippon Series 2015.
The 1987 Japan Series was the 38th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants against the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions. The Lions came into the series as the defending champions, having won the 1986 Japan Series. This was the Giants' 24th appearance in the Japan Series and first since 1983. The Lions defeated the Giants, 4 games to 2, and won their second championship in a row and seventh overall.
The 1974 Japan Series was the 25th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion Lotte Orions. This was the first Japan Series since 1964 without the Yomiuri Giants, who had won the previous nine championships. The Orions defeated the Dragons in six games to win their second title, and first since winning the inaugural Japan Series as the Mainichi Orions.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 1982年日本シリーズ試合結果 (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 8, 2017.
