Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award

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The Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award is given to one player in each league of Central League and Pacific League.

It is given to a player who manages to make a major comeback, either from an illness, injury, or a long term slump. Both Pacific and Central League have different criteria to award Comeback Player of the Year, with the Pacific League having a much stricter criteria, while it is much more relaxed in the Central League. The award is also only given on occasion, if a player meets the criteria specified by each league.

Because of this, no one in the Pacific League has won Comeback Player of the Year since Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes player Koki Morita won it in 2001, and no one has won it in NPB overall since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2018.

NPB Comeback Player of the Year Award

YearPlayerTeamLeaguePlayerTeamLeague
1974 Kōzō Ishioka Yakult Swallows Central---
1975 Sōhachi Aniya Hanshin Tigers Central---
1976 Kazuhide Funada Yakult SwallowsCentral---
1977 Keishi Asano Yomiuri Giants Central---
1978 Osamu Nomura Taiyo Whales Central---
1979 Toshiyuki Mimura Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central---
1980 Kenichi Yazawa Chunichi Dragons Central Hiromitsu Kadota Nankai Hawks Pacific
1981 Taira Fujita Hanshin TigersCentral---
1984 Takamasa Suzuki Chunichi DragonsCentral---
1985 --- Choji Murata Lotte Orions Pacific
1986 Tsunemi Tsuda Hiroshima Toyo CarpCentral---
1987 Tōru Sugiura Yakult SwallowsCentral---
Hisao Niura Taiyo WhalesCentral---
1988 Shuzo Arita Yomiuri GiantsCentral---
1989 Takashi Nishimoto Chunichi DragonsCentral---
Takayoshi Nakao Yomiuri GiantsCentral---
1990 Sadaaki Yoshimura Yomiuri GiantsCentral---
Kazuhiko Endo Taiyo WhalesCentral---
1991 --- Kazuyoshi Ono Kintetsu Buffaloes Pacific
--- Kazuyuki Shirai Nippon-Ham Fighters Pacific
1992 Akimitsu Ito Yakult SwallowsCentral---
1993 Kenjiro Kawasaki Yakult SwallowsCentral---
1994 Toshikatsu Hikono Chunichi DragonsCentral---
1996 Shinichi Kato Hiroshima CarpCentral---
1997 Tomohito Ito Yakult SwallowsCentral---
1998 Takashi Saito Yokohama BayStarsCentral Tatsuji Nishimura Fukuoka Daiei HawksPacific
1999 Shōji Tōyama Hanshin TigersCentral---
2000 Hitoshi Taneda Chunichi DragonsCentral---
2001 Toshihide Narimoto Hanshin TigersCentral Koki Morita Osaka Kintetsu BuffaloesPacific
2002 Tomonori Maeda Hiroshima Toyo CarpCentral---
2003 Masafumi Hirai Chunichi DragonsCentral---
Ken Suzuki Yakult SwallowsCentral---
2004 Hiroki Kokubo Yomiuri GiantsCentral---
2008 Keiichi Hirano Hanshin TigersCentral---
2012 Kan Otake Hiroshima Toyo CarpCentral---
2015 Shohei Tateyama Tokyo Yakult SwallowsCentral---
2017 Hitoki Iwase Chunichi DragonsCentral---
2018 Daisuke Matsuzaka Chunichi DragonsCentral---

See also

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