1952 in Japanese Baseball

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1952 in baseball
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1952 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball[edit]

Standings[edit]

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[edit]

Team G W L T WPCT GB RS RA AVG ERA Manager(s)
Yomiuri Giants 120 83 37 0 0.692 0.0 650 389 0.292 2.45 Shigeru Mizuhara
Osaka Tigers 120 79 40 1 0.663 3.5 600 400 0.268 2.77 Kenjiro Matsuki
Nagoya Dragons 120 75 43 2 0.633 7.0 569 430 0.264 2.82 Michinori Tsubouchi
Taiyo Whales 120 58 62 0 0.483 25.0 519 548 0.248 3.68 Tokuro Konishi
Kokutetsu Swallows 120 50 70 0 0.417 33.0 410 526 0.238 3.38 Norio Nishigaki
Hiroshima Carp 120 37 80 3 0.321 44.5 365 573 0.233 3.83 Shuichi Ishimoto
Shochiku Robins 120 34 84 2 0.292 48.0 326 573 0.223 4.05 Kyouichi Nitta

Pacific League[edit]

Team G W L T WPCT GB RS RA AVG ERA Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks 121 76 44 1 0.632 0.0 594 420 0.269 2.84 Kazuto Tsuruoka
Mainichi Orions 120 75 45 0 0.625 1.0 554 441 0.264 2.87 Sadao Yuasa, Kaoru Betto
Nishitetsu Lions 120 67 52 1 0.563 8.5 532 481 0.261 3.08 Osamu Mihara
Daiei Stars 121 55 65 1 0.459 21.0 457 489 0.243 3.38 Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Hankyu Braves 108 49 58 1 0.458 20.5 424 462 0.246 3.70 Shinji Hamazaki
Tokyu Flyers 108 49 59 0 0.454 21.0 453 509 0.251 3.95 Toshiharu Inokawa
Kintetsu Pearls 108 30 78 0 0.278 40.0 356 568 0.243 4.06 Shozo Fujita, Takeo Akuta

Leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Central League Pacific League
Leader Team Number Leader Team Number
Batting Average Michio Nishizawa Nagoya Dragons .353 Shigeya Iijima Daiei Stars .336
Runs Wally Yonamine Yomiuri Giants 104 Tokuji Iida Nankai Hawks 90
Hits Wally Yonamine Yomiuri Giants 163 Tokuji Iida Nankai Hawks 153
Doubles Wally Yonamine Yomiuri Giants 33 Tokuji Iida Nankai Hawks 29
Triples Katsuji Kojima Osaka Tigers 10 Kazuo Kageyama
Kaoru Betto
Nankai Hawks
Mainichi Orions
10
Home Runs Satoru Sugiyama Nagoya Dragons 27 Yasuhiro Fukami Nishitetsu Lions 25
Runs Batted In Michio Nishizawa Nagoya Dragons 98 Tokuji Iida Nankai Hawks 86
Stolen Bases Jiro Kanayama Shochiku Robins 63 Chusuke Kizuka Nankai Hawks 55
Walks Shigeru Chiba Yomiuri Giants 76 Shigeya Iijima Daiei Stars 78

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Central League Pacific League
Leader Team Number Leader Team Number
ERA Tadayoshi Kajioka Osaka Tigers 1.71 Susumu Yuki Nankai Hawks 1.91
Wins Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants 33 Masaaki Noguchi Nishitetsu Lions 23
Winning Percentage Takao Fujimura Osaka Tigers .806 Susumu Yuki Nankai Hawks .731
Losses Tsuneo Kobayashi Shochiku Robins 27 Mitsuo Sawafuji Kintetsu Pearls 22
Innings Pitched Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants 371.1 Giichi Hayashi Daiei Stars 269.2
Appearances Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows 64 Mamoru Ozu Nishitetsu Lions 46
Hits Allowed Tsuneo Kobayashi Shochiku Robins 325 Giichi Hayashi Daiei Stars 249
Home Runs Allowed Hiroyoshi Takano Taiyo Whales 23 Seiichi Tarui Tokyu Flyers 18
Strikeouts Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows 269 Susumu Yuki Nankai Hawks 104
Base-on-Balls Masaichi Kaneda Kokutetsu Swallows 197 Takeo Hattori Nankai Hawks 105

All-Star Game[edit]

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was won by the Pacific League one games to nonewith one tie. The first game was played at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium and was a tie, 2 - 2. The second game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 8 - 1.

Postseason[edit]

The 1952 Pacific League, the top four teams would have twelve games added to their regular season schedule to determine the league's champion. The cutoff game was the team's 108th game, at 108 games played the league's standings were:

Rank Team G W L T WPCT
1 Nankai Hawks 108 70 37 1 0.648
2 Mainichi Orions 108 65 43 0 0.602
3 Nishitetsu Lions 108 61 46 1 0.565
4 Daiei Stars 108 52 55 1 0.481
5 Hankyu Braves 108 49 58 1 0.454
6 Tokyu Flyers 108 49 59 0 0.454
7 Kintetsu Pearls 108 30 78 0 0.278

The four qualifying teams were the Nankai Hawks, the Mainichi Orions, the Nishitetsu Lions, and the Daiei Stars. These four teams proceeded to play in a twelve game "round-robin" stage, with three games versus each opponent, in late September and early October. The results of this stage were:

Team (108-game rank) G W L WPCT vs. Mainichi vs.Nishitetsu vs. Nankai vs. Daiei
Mainichi Orions (2) 12 10 2 0.833 - 3 - 1 3 - 1 0 - 4
Nishitetsu Lions (3) 12 6 6 0.500 1 - 3 - 2 - 2 3 - 1
Nankai Hawks (1) 12 5 7 0.417 1 - 3 2 - 2 - 2 - 2
Daiei Stars (4) 12 3 9 0.333 0 - 4 1 - 3 2 - 2 -

The Mainichi Orions' 10 - 2 run in the playoffs stage put them into a tie for the first place with the Nankai Hawks who had gone 5 - 7. After 120 games both teams having 75 wins; the Orions had a 75 - 45 - 0 (.625) record while the Hawks had a 75 - 44 - 1 (.630) record. The Hawks lone tie came on August 29 at Korakuen Stadium by a score of 10 - 10 versus the Daiei Stars. Due to the impact that this game would have on the pennent race, the decision was made to replay the game on October 9, at Osaka Stadium. The Hawks won the game, 6 1, over the Stars giving them 76 wins and sole claim to their second consecutive Pacific League title.

The split-season system was dropped after a single year due to the inability to compare the records of the three non-qualifier teams and because it unfairly cut out those clubs as well.

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 2. The winning manager was Shigeru Mizuhara and the series MVP was Takehiko Bessho.

Award Winners[edit]

The winner of the 1952 Sawamura Award was Shigeru Sugishita of the Nagoya Dragons. He had a 32 - 14 win-loss record, 160 strikeouts, and a 2.33 ERA in 355.2 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 Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants P 147 15 40 5 26 1 .272 .327 .408 33 - 13 371.1 299 13 93 153 1.94
PL Susumu Yuki Nankai Hawks P 68 2 10 0 6 0 .147 .194 .162 19 - 7 193.0 160 6 28 104 1.91
Rookie of the Year CL Takao Sato Kokutetsu Swallows SS 321 61 85 14 33 45 .265 .355 .424 Did not pitch
PL Futoshi Nakanishi Nishitetsu Lions 3B 384 57 108 12 65 16 .281 .327 .464 Did not pitch

Best Nine[edit]

The following players were part of the 1952 Best Nine teams.

Central League Position Pacific League
Player Team Player Team
Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants P Susumu Yuki Nankai Hawks
Akira Noguchi Nagoya Dragons C Takeshi Doigaki Mainichi Orions
Michio Nishizawa Nagoya Dragons 1B Tokuji Iida Nankai Hawks
Shigeru Chiba Yomiuri Giants 2B Isami Okamoto Nankai Hawks
Fumio Fujimura Osaka Tigers 3B Kazuo Kageyama Nankai Hawks
Saburo Hirai Yomiuri Giants SS Chusuke Kizuka Nankai Hawks
Yuko Minamimura Yomiuri Giants OF Kaoru Betto Mainichi Orions
Satoru Sugiyama Nagoya Dragons Shigeya Iijima Daiei Stars
Wally Yonamine Yomiuri Giants Hiroshi Oshita Nishitetsu Lions

High School Baseball[edit]

The 34th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1653 schools competing for 23 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Ashiya High School (Hyogo) defeated Yao High School (Osaka) by a score of 4 - 1.

The 24th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 18 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Shizuoka Shogyo High School (Shizuoka) defeated Naruto High School (Tokushima) by a score of 2 - 1.

University Baseball[edit]

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series[edit]

The first All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 8 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Keio University defeated Kansei Gakuin University by a score of 5 - 3.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League[edit]

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

Tohto University Base Ball League[edit]

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League[edit]

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