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.
Professional baseball leagues, amateur-baseball organizations, sportswriting associations, and other groups confer awards on various baseball teams, players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, writers, and other baseball-related people for excellence in achievement, sportsmanship, and community involvement.
The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark.
Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The MLB Japan All-Star Series is an irregular end-of-the-season tour of Japan made by an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1986, contested in a best-of format against the All-Stars from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) or recently as of 2014 their national team Samurai Japan (SJP).
The 1986 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the first edition of the championship, a best-of-seven series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.
The 2006 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the tenth edition of the championship, a best-of-five series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). After the 2006 championship, the series became defunct.
The 2004 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the ninth edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series, in 2007 and 2010.
Paul Edward Nauert is an American retired Major League Baseball umpire. He worked in the National League from 1995 to 1999 and in Major League Baseball from 2002 until his retirement in 2022. Nauert worked the World Series in 2017.
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner's Trophy.
MLB International is a division of Major League Baseball primarily responsible for international broadcasts of games. In partnership with DirecTV and MLB Network, it produces and syndicates the All-Star Game, and the World Series, as well as the Caribbean Series, the Australian Baseball League Championship Series and the World Baseball Classic to broadcasters in over 200 countries, and the American Forces Network for U.S. military troops abroad. It previously broadcast the NLCS and ALCS, alternating between the two each year. MLB International broadcasts content that shows baseball in a local context, e.g. sneaker shopping in Japan or baseball games in India, and explains concepts and rules of baseball to viewers who may not be familiar with the sport.
The 2014 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the eleventh edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-five series between the All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and, for the first time in series history, the national team Samurai Japan. The then-new Commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) saw in this championship a big opportunity for their Japanese team to gain hugely useful experience for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The 2002 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the eighth edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The 1988 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the second edition of the championship, a best-of-seven series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.
The 1990 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the third edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.
The 1992 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the fourth edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.
The 1996 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the fifth edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.
The 2000 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the seventh edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Shuta Tonosaki, nicknamed "Apple Punch", is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Saitama Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
