1952 in Japanese Baseball

1952 in baseball
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1952 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

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	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

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

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

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

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		Mitsuro 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 Otsu	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

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

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

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

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

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

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

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

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

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

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