2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Last updated
2007 NPB season
League Nippon Professional Baseball
Sport Baseball
DurationMarch 24 November 1
Central League pennant
League champions Yomiuri Giants
  Runners-up Chunichi Dragons
Season MVP Michihiro Ogasawara (Yomiuri)
Pacific League pennant
League champions Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  Runners-up Chiba Lotte Marines
Season MVP Yu Darvish (Nippon Ham)
Climax Series
CL champions Chunichi Dragons
  CL runners-up Yomiuri Giants
PL champions Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  PL runners-up Chiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
Champions Chunichi Dragons
  Runners-up Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Finals MVP Norihiro Nakamura (Chunichi)
NPB seasons

The 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 58th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950 and the first to feature the Climax Series.

Contents

Regular season

Standings

Central League

2007 Central League standings
TeamPldWLTPCTGB
Yomiuri Giants 14480631.559
Chunichi Dragons 14478642.5491.5
Hanshin Tigers 14474664.5284.5
Yokohama BayStars 14471721.4979
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 14460822.42419.5
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 14460840.41720.5
Source: [ citation needed ]

Pacific League

2007 Pacific League standings
TeamPldWLTPCTGB
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 14479605.566
Chiba Lotte Marines 14476617.5522
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 14473665.5246
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 14467752.47213.5
Seibu Lions 14466762.46514.5
Orix Buffaloes 14462775.44817
Source: [ citation needed ]

Climax Series

Climax Series was firstly introduced in this season. It was inspired by the playoff system introduced by Pacific League between 2004 and 2006, in which the top three teams of the league will play in a stepladder knockout to decide the team to play in the Japan Series. The system was a success when Pacific League's teams won all the Japan Series since the introduction of such system. This is also the Central League's first participation in playoff system since 1949.

Climax Series does not affect the team's standings, nor individual's record in the regular season.

First stageFinal stage Japan Series
1Yomiuri Giants0
2Chunichi Dragons22Chunichi Dragons3
3Hanshin Tigers0C2Chunichi Dragons4
P1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters1
1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters3
2Chiba Lotte Marines22Chiba Lotte Marines2
3Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks1

Leaders

Batting

Central League

StatisticLeaderTeamResult
Batting average Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows .327
Runs Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows 114
Hits Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 204*
Doubles Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 41
Triples Hiroyasu Tanaka Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8
Home runs Shuichi Murata Yokohama BayStars 36
Runs batted in Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 122
Stolen bases Masahiro Araki Chunichi Dragons 31
Walks Tyrone Woods Chunichi Dragons 121

*indicates league record

Pacific League

StatisticLeaderTeamResult
Batting average Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters .334
Runs Hichori Morimoto Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 91
Hits Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 176
Doubles Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 39
Triples Daisuke Hayakawa Chiba Lotte Marines 8
Home runs Takeshi Yamasaki Rakuten Golden Eagles 43
Runs batted in Takeshi Yamasaki Rakuten Golden Eagles 108
Stolen bases Yasuyuki Kataoka Seibu Lions 38
Walks Tuffy Rhodes Orix Buffaloes 88

Awards

Best Nine Awards

Central League

PositionPlayerTeam
P Hisanori Takahashi Yomiuri Giants
C Shinnosuke Abe Yomiuri Giants
1B Tyrone Woods Chunichi Dragons
2B Hiroyasu Tanaka Tokyo Yakult Swallows
3B Michihiro Ogasawara Yomiuri Giants
SS Hirokazu Ibata Chunichi Dragons
OF Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows
OF Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows
OF Yoshinobu Takahashi Yomiuri Giants

Pacific League

PositionPlayerTeam
P Yu Darvish Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
C Tomoya Satozaki Chiba Lotte Marines
1B Alex Cabrera Seibu Lions
2B Kensuke Tanaka Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
3B Greg LaRocca Orix Buffaloes
SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka Chiba Lotte Marines
OF Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Hichori Morimoto Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Naoyuki Ohmura Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
DH Takeshi Yamasaki Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Gold Gloves

Central League

PositionPlayerTeam
P Kenshin Kawakami Chunichi Dragons
C Motonobu Tanishige Chunichi Dragons
1B Andy Sheets Hanshin Tigers
2BMasahiro ArakiChunichi Dragons
3B Norihiro Nakamura Chunichi Dragons
SSHirokazu IbataChunichi Dragons
OF Tatsuhiko Kinjo Yokohama BayStars
OFNorichika AokiTokyo Yakult Swallows
OFYoshinobu TakahashiYomiuri Giants

Pacific League

PositionPlayerTeam
PYu DarvishHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
CTomoya SatozakiChiba Lotte Marines
1B Kazuya Fukuura Chiba Lotte Marines
2BKensuke TanakaHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
3B Toshiaki Imae Chiba Lotte Marines
SSTsuyoshi NishiokaChiba Lotte Marines
OFAtsunori InabaHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OFHichori MorimotoHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Saburo Ohmura Chiba Lotte Marines

See also

References