1996 Japan Series

1996 Japan Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Orix BlueWave (4) Akira Ogi 74–50–6, .597, GA: 7 Yomiuri Giants (1) Shigeo Nagashima 77–53, .592, GA: 5
Dates	October 19–24
MVP	Troy Neel (ORX)
FSA	Toshihisa Nishi (YOM)
Broadcast
Television	NTV (Games 1–2), KTV (Games 3–4), NHK BS-1 (Game 3), MBS (Game 5)
Radio	NHK Radio 1, TBS (JRN), JOQR (NRN), JOLF (NRN), Radio Nippon (independent), MBS (JRN), ABC (NRN), OBC (Kansai only)
←  1995 Japan Series 1997  →

The 1996 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 1996 season. The 47th edition of the Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the Pacific League champion Orix BlueWave against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. The series was the eighth time the two franchises played each other for the championship; however, the last time the two teams played, Orix was known as the Hankyu Braves. Played at Tokyo Dome and Green Stadium Kobe, the BlueWave defeated the Giants four games to one in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 4th Japan Series title. BlueWave slugger and 1996 PL home run leader Troy Neel was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 19 and October 24, 1996, with home field advantage going to the Central League.

Summary

PL Orix BlueWave (4) vs. CL Yomiuri Giants (1)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 19	Orix BlueWave – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3	Tokyo Dome	3:42	45,121 [1]
2	October 20	Orix BlueWave – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 0	Tokyo Dome	2:56	45,086 [1]
3	October 22	Yomiuri Giants – 2, Orix BlueWave – 5	Green Stadium Kobe	2:56	33,026 [1]
4	October 23	Yomiuri Giants – 5, Orix BlueWave – 1	Green Stadium Kobe	3:25	33,070 [1]
5	October 24	Yomiuri Giants – 2, Orix BlueWave – 5	Green Stadium Kobe	3:26	33,222 [1]

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 19, 1996 at Tokyo Dome, Bunkyo, Tokyo

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Orix	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	4	7	0
Yomiuri	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	8	0
WP: Taira Suzuki (1–0)   LP: Hirofumi Kono (0–1)   Sv: Masafumi Hirai (1) Home runs: ORX: Ichiro Suzuki (1) YOM: Takeshi Omori (1)

Game 2

Sunday, October 20, 1996 at Tokyo Dome, Bunkyo, Tokyo

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Orix	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
Yomiuri	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
WP: Willie Fraser (1–0)   LP: Hiromi Makihara (0–1)   Sv: Taira Suzuki (1)

Game 3

Tuesday, October 22, 1996 at Green Stadium Kobe, Kobe, Hyōgo

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Yomiuri	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	7	0
Orix	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	5	9	0
WP: Koji Noda (1–0)   LP: Balvino Gálvez (0–1)   Sv: Taira Suzuki (2) Home runs: YOM: Shane Mack (1), Toshihisa Nishi (1) ORX: None

Game 4

Wednesday, October 23, 1996 at Green Stadium Kobe, Kobe, Hyōgo

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Yomiuri	0	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	5	8	0
Orix	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
WP: Masao Kida (1–0)   LP: Jiro Toyoda (0–1)   Sv: Hiroshi Ishige (1) Home runs: YOM: Takeshi Omori (2) ORX: None

Game 5

Thursday, October 24, 1996 at Green Stadium Kobe, Kobe, Hyōgo

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Yomiuri	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	0
Orix	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	X	5	7	1
WP: Takahide Itoh (1–0)   LP: Masaki Saito (0–1)   Sv: Taira Suzuki (3) Home runs: YOM: Toshihisa Nishi (2) ORX: None

See also

• 1996 World Series

References

1. 1996年度日本シリーズ　試合結果 (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved June 8, 2010.

External links

• Nippon Professional Baseball—Official website (in English)