In a virtual mirror image of the 2006 series, the Dragons won in the same manner that the Fighters had the previous year, losing the first game and sweeping the next four. In one of baseball's rare situations, for the first time in a recognised WBSC premiership championship final since the 1956 Major League Baseball championship series, and the first one to end a series in a major professional championship, a perfect game was pitched, although recognised only by international standards and not NPB because multiple pitchers were used because NPB's definition is different from most recognised authorities. This would also be the last time a perfect game was thrown in NPB until Roki Sasakithrew a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes on April 10, 2022.
This was the first perfect game in Japan Series history, but it is only recognised as such by the global governing body of baseball, the World Baseball Softball Confederation because the NPB definition requires one pitcher to pitch all nine innings, excluding combined no-hitters or perfect games, and exclude runners who score on walks, and advance by means that do not involve a hit that later score.
Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning simply Professional Baseball; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball."
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.
Masaichi Kaneda was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher of Zainichi Korean origin, one of the best-known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.
Senichi Hoshino was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player and manager.
Farid Yu Darvish Sefat, more commonly known as Yu Darvish, is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In international play, Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a member of the Japan national baseball team.
Kenshin Kawakami is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves.
Hiromitsu Ochiai is a Japanese former professional baseball manager and player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to be one of the most important players in the history of Japanese baseball, winning numerous batting awards and being the only player to receive the prestigious triple crown batting award three times. With 510 career home runs, Ochiai is sixth on the all-time NPB list. Ochiai's style is called Oreryu(オレ流). Oreryu means "to do with only my style." The word described how he acted according to his personal philosophies.
Hideaki Wakui is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Seibu Lions / Saitama Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Sho Nakata, nicknamed "Sho Time", is a Japanese professional baseball player playing for the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He plays outfield and first base.
Daisuke Yamai is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher who played his entire career with the Chunichi Dragons. He is most noted for his combined perfect game with Hitoki Iwase in the 2007 Japan Series to clinch the title for the Dragons for the first time since 1954.
Sun Dong-yol is a South Korean retired baseball pitcher and former manager. He was a pitcher in the KBO League and Nippon Professional Baseball, and the former manager of the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers in the KBO.
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 2,859 strike outs. However, despite all his accolades, he is famously known for having never won the Eiji Sawamura Award, given to Japan's top pitcher.
The 2010 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 2010 season. It was the 61st Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Chiba Lotte Marines, against the Central League champions, the Chunichi Dragons.
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.
Masahiro 'Masa' Yamamoto is a left-handed, retired Japanese professional baseball pitcher. A screwballer, Yamamoto pitched for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball for 29 years from 1986 to 2015. He is the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a baseball game. With 200+ career victories, he is a member of Meikyukai.
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.
Jumpei Takahashi is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher.
The 2020 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. The series was a best-of-seven playoff between the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Pacific League's (PL) Climax Series champion, and the defending Japan Series champions, and the Yomiuri Giants, the Central League's (CL) regular-season champion. The series was a rematch of the previous year's Japan Series.
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.
On April 10, 2022, Rōki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League threw a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba City. It was the 16th perfect game in NPB history. Sasaki tied a NPB single-game record with 19 strikeouts and set an NPB record with 13 consecutive strikeouts.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
