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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 9 times and the Japan Series twice in 1954 and 2007. They were also champions in the 2007 Asia Series.
There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series more commonly known as on aggregate, and the round-robin tournament.
Ralph Wendell Bryant is a retired Major League Baseball player. He played with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the major leagues, and with the Chunichi Dragons and Kintetsu Buffaloes in Nippon Professional Baseball. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and played outfield for most of his career.
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.
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 Japan Series, the 55th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 16 and ended on October 25, and matched the Pacific League playoffs winner Seibu Lions against the Central League Champion, Chunichi Dragons.
The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. Since 2012, the playoffs for each league—American and National—consist of a one-game wild-card playoff between two wild card teams, four best-of-five Division Series (LDS) featuring the wild-card winner and the winner of each division, and finally the best-of-seven League Championship Series (LCS). The winners of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS) play each other in the best-of-seven World Series. The current system allows for a maximum of 43 postseason games and a minimum of 26 games.
The Climax Series is the current annual playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and which team from the Pacific League (PL) will compete in the Japan Series for the national championship. Since the creation of the NPB's two-league system in 1950, the leagues have used several different methods to determine entry to the Japan Series. The current system has been used since the 2007 season.
The 1991 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1991 season. It was the 42nd Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Seibu won their second consecutive PL pennant to reach the series, and Hiroshima finished first in the CL for the sixth time in franchise history. Played at Seibu Lions Stadium and Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, the Lions defeated the Carp four games to three in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 10th Japan Series title. Seibu slugger and regular season stolen-base champion Koji Akiyama was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 19 and October 28 with home field advantage going to the Pacific 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 1994 Central League tie-breaker game, more commonly known as the 10.8 deciding match in Japan, was a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) regular season game played between the Central League's (CL) Yomiuri Giants and the Chunichi Dragons. It was the final 130th regular season game for both the Giants and the Dragons that season, and both teams entered the game tied for first place in the CL with identical win–loss records of 69–60. The winner of the game decided who would be the league champion and the CL representative in the 1994 Japan Series.
The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) playoffs have taken several different forms throughout the organization's history. 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.
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