1951 in Japanese Baseball

1951 in baseball
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1951 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The NPB holds its first All-Star Game is played. Wally Yonamine becomes the first foreign player since World War II.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner
From 1950 to 1979, the official name of the Pacific League was the Taiheiyo Baseball Union.

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Yomiuri Giants	114	79	29	6	0.719	0.0	702	381	0.291	2.62	Shigeru Mizuhara
Nagoya Dragons	113	62	48	3	0.562	18.0	526	523	0.272	3.47	Shunichi Amachi
Osaka Tigers	116	61	52	3	0.539	20.5	545	465	0.269	3.26	Kenjiro Matsuki
Shochiku Robins	115	53	57	5	0.483	27.0	609	598	0.268	4.41	Kyouichi Nitta
Kokutetsu Swallows	107	46	59	2	0.439	31.5	389	533	0.245	3.96	Norio Nishigaki
Taiyo Whales	108	40	64	4	0.389	37.0	502	620	0.253	4.84	Haruyasu Nakajima, Giichi Arima
Hiroshima Carp	99	32	64	3	0.338	41.0	402	555	0.245	4.62	Shuichi Ishimoto

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	104	72	24	8	0.731	0.0	496	322	0.276	2.40	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Nishitetsu Lions	105	53	42	10	0.552	18.5	429	367	0.242	2.75	Osamu Mihara
Mainichi Orions	110	54	51	5	0.514	22.5	482	463	0.258	3.25	Sadao Yuasa
Daiei Stars	101	41	52	8	0.446	29.5	376	422	0.239	3.33	Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Hankyu Braves	96	37	51	8	0.427	31.0	367	404	0.243	3.32	Shinji Hamazaki
Tokyu Flyers	102	38	56	8	0.412	33.0	355	459	0.241	3.64	Shinobu Ando
Kintetsu Pearls	98	37	56	5	0.403	33.5	319	398	0.223	3.13	Shozo Fujita

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants	.347		Hiroshi Oshita	Tokyu Flyers	.383
Runs		Noboru Aota	Yomiuri Giants	101		Kazuo Kageyama	Nankai Hawks	97
Hits		Tsugio Goto	Osaka Tigers	155		Chusuke Kizuka	Nankai Hawks	130
Doubles		Michinori Tsubouchi	Nagoya Dragons	28		Shoshichi Ito	Mainichi Orions	28
Triples		Masayasu Kaneda	Osaka Tigers	18		Kazuo Kageyama	Nankai Hawks	13
Home Runs		Noboru Aota	Yomiuri Giants	32		Hiroshi Oshita	Tokyu Flyers	26
Runs Batted In		Noboru Aota	Yomiuri Giants	105		Tokuji Iida	Nankai Hawks	87
Stolen Bases		Goro Tsuchiya	Kokutetsu Swallows	52		Chusuke Kizuka	Nankai Hawks	55
Walks		Shigeru Chiba	Yomiuri Giants	76		Kazuo Kageyama	Nankai Hawks	61

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Kiyoshi Matsuda	Yomiuri Giants	2.01		Susumu Yuki	Nankai Hawks	2.08
Wins		Shigeru Sugishita	Nagoya Dragons	28		Haruyasu Eto	Nankai Hawks	24
Winning Percentage		Kiyoshi Matsuda	Yomiuri Giants	.885		Nobuo Nakatani	Nankai Hawks	.875
Losses		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	21		Mitsuro Sawafuji	Kintetsu Pearls	16
Innings Pitched		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	350.0		Yasuo Yonekawa	Tokyu Flyers	294.2
Appearances		Shigeru Sugishita	Nagoya Dragons	58		Toshiaki Ogata	Nishitetsu Lions	46
Hits Allowed		Tsuneo Kobayashi	Shochiku Robins	307		Yasuo Yonekawa	Tokyu Flyers	248
Home Runs Allowed		Hiroyoshi Takano	Taiyo Whales	27		Yasuo Yonekawa	Tokyu Flyers	17
Strikeouts		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	233		Hachiro Abe	Hankyu Braves	150
Base-on-Balls		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	190		Hachiro Abe	Hankyu Braves	100

All-Star Game

The first NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Central League two games to one. The first game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 2 - 1. The second game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 4 - 2. The third game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 3.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 1. The winning manager was Shigeru Mizuhara and the series MVP was Yuko Minamimura.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1951 Sawamura Award was Shigeru Sugishita of the Nagoya Dragons. He had a 28 - 13 win-loss record, 147 strikeouts, and a 2.36 ERA in 290.1 innings.

Award	League	Player	Team	Position	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W - L	SV	IP	HA	HRA	BB	SO	ERA
Most Valuable Player	CL	Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants	1B	374	74	141	15	81	14	.377	.450	.580	Did not pitch
	PL	Kazuto Tsuruoka	Nankai Hawks	2B	338	44	105	2	58	19	.311	.363	.396	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Kiyoshi Matsuda	Yomiuri Giants	P	80	10	13	0	10	0	.163	.239	.225	23 - 3		227.2	186	5	64	93	2.02
	PL	Kazuo Kageyama	Nankai Hawks	3B	410	97	129	6	28	42	.315	.403	.451	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1951 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takehiko Bessho	Yomiuri Giants		P		Haruyasu Eto	Nankai Hawks
Akira Noguchi	Nagoya Dragons		C		Takeshi Doigaki	Mainichi Orions
Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Tokuji Iida	Nankai Hawks
Shigeru Chiba	Yomiuri Giants		2B		Kazuto Tsuruoka	Nankai Hawks
Fumio Fujimura	Osaka Tigers		3B		Kazuo Kageyama	Nankai Hawks
Saburo Hirai	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Chusuke Kizuka	Nankai Hawks
Noboru Aota	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Kaoru Betto	Mainichi Orions
Yoshiyuki Iwamoto	Shochiku Robins				Shigeya Iijima	Daiei Stars
Masayasu Kaneda	Osaka Tigers				Hiroshi Oshita	Tokyu Flyers

High School Baseball

The 33rd National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1633 schools competing for 23 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Heian High School (Kyoto) defeated Kumagaya High School (Saitama) by a score of 7 - 4.

The 23rd National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 16 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Naruto High School (Tokushima) defeated Naruo High School (Hyogo) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Waseda	Keio	Rikkio	Hosei	Meiji	Tokyo
Fall	Keio	Hosei	Meiji	Waseda	Rikkio	Tokyo

Tohto University Base Ball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Senshu	Chuo	Nihon	Komazawa	Tokyo Agriculture	Kokugakuin
Fall	Senshu	Chuo	Nihon	Komazawa	Tokyo Agriculture	Kokugakuin

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Kwansei Gakuin	Kansai	Kobe	Doshisha	Ritsumeikan	Kyoto
Fall	Kansai	Doshisha	Kobe	Kwansei Gakuin	Ritsumeikan	Kyoto

International Baseball

The Joe DiMaggio and Lefty O'Doul All-Stars toured Japan in the fall of 1951. The touring team went 13 - 1 - 2 against Japanese competition.