1953 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1953 NPB All-Star Games.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 1 at Korakuen Baseball Stadium in front of 40,638 fans. It marked the first shutout in NPB All-Star Game history as Junzo Sekine (2 IP), Tokuji Kawasaki (3 IP), Atsushi Aramaki (3 IP) and Giichi Hayashi (3 IP) combined to whitewash the CL on four hits. Hayashi got the win over Shigeru Sugishita while 1B Tokuji Iida (2 for 4, BB, RBI) was named game MVP after driving in the first run in the 11th; Hayashi drove in the other in addition to getting the win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	7	1
Central	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Katsumi Shiraishi, SS (Hiroshima Carp)
2. Shigeru Chiba, 2B (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Makoto Kozuru, CF (Hiroshima)
4. Tetsuharu Kawakami, 1B (Yomiuri)
5. Satoshi Sugiyama, LF (Nagoya Dragons)
6. Riichi Kodama, 3B (Nagoya)
7. Tokuzo Harada, RF (Nagoya)
8. Akira Noguchi, C (Nagoya)
9. Ryohei Hasegawa, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Saburo Hirai, SS (Yomiuri)
• Michio Nishizawa, 1B (Nagoya)
• Wally Yonamine, RF (Yomiuri)
• Fumio Fujimura, 3B (Osaka Tigers)
• Masayasu Kaneda, RF/LF (Osaka)
• Yuko Minamimura, PH (Yomiuri)
• Mitsuo Uno, 3B (Yomiuri)
• Jyun Hirota, C (Yomiuri)
• Yoshiyuki Iwamoto, PR (Taiyo Whales)
• Shigeru Tokuami, C (Osaka)
• Masaichi Kaneda, P (Kokutetsu Swallows)
• Takehiko Bessho, P (Yomiuri)
• Shigeru Sugishita, P (Nagoya)
• Takumi Otomo, P (Yomiuri)

Manager

• Shigeru Mizuhara

Coaches

• Tokuro Konishi
• Kenjiro Matsuki

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Kazuo Kageyama, 3B (Nankai Hawks)
2. Chusuke Kizuka, SS (Nankai)
3. Kaoru Betto, CF (Mainichi Orions)
4. Hiroshi Oshita, LF (Nishitetsu Lions)
5. Tokuji Iida, 1B (Nankai)
6. Isami Okamoto, 2B (Nankai)
7. Hiroshi Arakawa, RF (Mainichi)
8. Keizo Tsutsui, C (Nankai)
9. Junzo Sekine, P (Kintetsu Pearls)

Backups Used

• Futoshi Nakanishi, 3B (Nishitetsu)
• Yasuhiro Fukami, PH (Tokyu Flyers)
• Atsushi Aramaki, P (Mainichi)
• Larry Raines, PH (Hankyu Braves)
• Kazuo Horii, LF (Nankai)
• Michihiro Sugawara, RF (Daiei Stars)
• Yasuya Hondo, PH (Mainichi)
• Giichi Hayashi, P (Daiei)
• Katsuki Tokura, PH (Hankyu)
• Jun Matsui, C (Nankai)
• Masumi Isegawa, C (Hankyu)
• Tokuji Kawasaki, P (Nishitetsu)
• Shosei Go, LF/RF (Mainichi)

Manager

• Kazuto Tsuruoka

Coaches

• Sadayoshi Fujimoto
• Tadashi Wakabayashi

Umpires

• Hidenosuke Shima (Home), Saburo Yokozawa (1B), Shiro Tsuda (2B), Hisanori Karita (3B), Osamu Tsutsui (LF), Nobuaki Nidegawa (RF)

Game 2

Game 2 took place before a crowd of 33,147 at Koshien Baseball Stadium. The CL returned the shutout favor as Takao Fujimura, Masaichi Kaneda, Otomo and Bessho teamed on a three-hitter, Otomo getting the win with 3 hitless innings. Tokuji Kawasaki took the loss. Backup SS Hirai was named game MVP after driving in both CL runs in the 5th.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Central	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	X	2	3	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Harada, RF
2. Chiba, 2B
3. Kozuru, CF
4. Kawakami, 1B
5. Kodama, 3B
6. Sugiyama, LF
7. Noguchi, C
8. Takao Fujimura, P (Osaka)
9. Shiraishi, SS

Backups Used

• Masayasu Kaneda, RF/LF
• Noboru Aota, CF (Taiyo)
• F. Fujimura, 3B
• Yonamine, RF
• Hirota, C
• Minamimura, PH
• Masaichi Kaneda, P
• Uno, PH
• Otomo, P
• Iwamoto, PH
• Bessho, P
• Hirai, SS

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Kageyama, 3B
2. Kizuka, SS
3. Betto, CF
4. Oshita, LF
5. Iida, 1B
6. Okamoto, 2B
7. Arakawa, RF
8. K. Tsutsui, C
9. Susumu Yuki, P (Nankai)

Backups Used

• Nakanishi, 3B
• Horii, LF
• Hondo, 2B
• Raines, PH
• Go, RF
• Matsui, C
• Eiji Shibata, P (Hankyu)
• Tokura, PH
• Tokuji Kawasaki, P (Nishitetsu)
• Fukami, PH
• Aramaki, P
• Isekawa, C

Umpires

• Nidegawa (Home), Tsutsui (1B), Karita (2B), Tsuda (3B), Yokozawa (LF), Shima (RF)

Game 3

Game 3 was July 8 at Chunichi Baseball Stadium; 20,711 turned out to see a third straight shutout, this one a four-hitter by the PL's Yasuo Yonekawa (3 IP), Hayashi (1 IP), Aramaki (3 IP) and Kawasaki (2 IP). Backup LF Horii was 2 for 2 with a walk, run and two RBI to win game MVP honors, playing a role in all their runs (all of which came in the 9th - again, the winning team only scored in one inning). Hideo Fujimoto took the loss.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	7	0
Central	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Harada, RF
2. Chiba, 2B
3. Kozuru, CF
4. Kawakami, 1B
5. Kodama, 3B
6. Sugiyama, LF
7. Noguchi, C
8. Sugishita, P
9. Shiraishi, SS

Backups Used

• Aota, CF
• Uno, 3B
• Masayasu Kaneda, RF
• F. Fujimura, 1B
• Yonamine, CF
• Hirota, C
• Iwamoto, PH
• Masaichi Kaneda, P
• Hasegawa, P
• Minamimura, PH
• Otomo, P
• Tokuami, PH
• Bessho, P
• Hideo Fujimoto, P (Yomiuri Giants)
• T. Fujimura, P
• Hirai, SS

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Kageyama, 3B
2. Kizuka, SS
3. Betto, CF
4. Oshita, LF
5. Iida, 1B
6. Okamoto, 2B
7. Arakawa, RF
8. K. Tsutsui, C
9. Susumu Yuki, P (Nankai)
10. Yasuo Yonekawa, P (Tokyu)

Backups Used

• Horii, LF
• Tokura, PH
• Matsui, C
• Hayashi, P
• Hondo, PH
• Aramaki, P
• Go, PH
• Kawasaki, P

Umpires

• Tsutsui (Home), Yokozawa (1B), Shima (2B), Nidegawa (3B), Tsuda (LF), Karita (RF)

Players did not play

• Koji Himeno, P (Daiei)
• Tadayoshi Kajioka, P (Osaka)
• Katsuhiko Ishikawa, P (Nagoya)
• Hiroshi Nakao, P (Yomiuri)
• Mamoru Otsu, P (Nishitetsu)
• Mitsuro Sawafuji, P (Kintetsu)

Sources

• Michael Westbay database
• Information from the now-defunct japanbaseballdaily.com site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry