1955 in Japanese Baseball

1955 in baseball
Japanese baseball
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1955 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	130	92	37	1	0.712	0.0	579	291	0.266	1.75	Shigeru Mizuhara
Osaka Tigers	130	71	57	2	0.554	15.0	420	334	0.251	2.49	Ichiro Kishi, Fumio Fujimura
Chunichi Dragons	130	77	52	1	0.596	20.5	423	392	0.238	2.02	Akira Noguchi
Hiroshima Carp	130	58	70	2	0.454	33.5	395	508	0.226	3.29	Katsumi Shiraishi
Kokutetsu Swallows	130	57	71	2	0.446	34.5	424	428	0.228	2.69	Soichi Fujita
Taiyo Whales	130	31	99	0	0.238	61.5	290	578	0.209	3.69	Isamu Fujii

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	143	99	41	3	0.703	0.0	606	445	0.249	2.61	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Nishitetsu Lions	144	90	50	4	0.639	9.0	663	471	0.259	2.68	Osamu Mihara
Mainichi Orions	142	85	55	2	0.606	14.0	573	450	0.251	2.46	Kaoru Betto
Hankyu Braves	142	80	60	2	0.570	19.0	589	462	0.268	2.70	Masao Nishimura
Kintetsu Pearls	142	60	80	2	0.430	39.0	510	584	0.252	3.45	Takeo Akuta
Daiei Stars	141	53	87	1	0.379	46.0	410	524	0.228	2.99	Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Toei Flyers	143	51	89	3	0.367	48.0	424	568	0.232	3.18	Koichi Yasui
Tombo Unicorns	141	42	98	1	0.301	57.0	420	691	0.227	3.94	Shinji Hamazaki

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	.338		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions	.332
Runs		Takao Sato	Kokutetsu Swallows	77		Roberto Barbon	Hankyu Braves	105
Hits		Yoshio Yoshida Tetsuharu Kawakami	Osaka Tigers Yomiuri Giants	147		Tokuji Iida Roberto Barbon	Nankai Hawks Hankyu Braves	163
Doubles		Hiroki Komatsubara	Kokutetsu Swallows	29		Kazuhiro Yamauchi Charlie Luis	Mainichi Orions Mainichi Orions	31
Triples		Takashi Iwamoto	Yomiuri Giants	10		Roberto Barbon	Hankyu Braves	13
Home Runs		Yukihiko Machida	Kokutetsu Swallows	31		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions	35
Runs Batted In		Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants	79		Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Mainichi Orions	99
Stolen Bases		Itsuro Honda	Chunichi Dragons	42		Nobushige Morishita	Nankai Hawks	59
Walks		Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants	69		Kihachi Enomoto	Mainichi Orions	87

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Takehiko Bessho	Yomiuri Giants	1.33		Takashi Nakagawa	Mainichi Orions	2.08
Wins		Ryohei Hasegawa Takumi Otomo	Hiroshima Carp Yomiuri Giants	30		Motoshi Takuwa	Nankai Hawks	24
Winning Percentage		Takumi Otomo	Yomiuri Giants	.833		Taisei Nakamura	Nankai Hawks	.852
Losses		Masatoshi Gondo	Taiyo Whales	21		Yasuo Yonekawa Victor Starffin	Toei Flyers Tombo Unions	21
Innings Pitched		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	400.0		Yasuo Yonekawa	Toei Flyers	353.1
Appearances		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	62		Motoji Takuwa Hisafumi Kawamura	Nankai Hawks Nishitetsu Lions	58
Hits Allowed		Ryohei Hasegawa	Hiroshima Carp	305		Yasuo Yonekawa	Toei Flyers	321
Home Runs Allowed		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	19		Motoji Takuwa	Nankai Hawks	23
Strikeouts		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	350		Hisafumi Kawamura	Nishitetsu Lions	225
Base-on-Balls		Masatoshi Gondo	Taiyo Whales	103		Hisafumi Kawamura	Nishitetsu Lions	118

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was a tie one games to one. The first game was played at Osaka Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 2 - 0. The second game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 9 - 4.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Shigeru Mizuhara and the series MVP was Takehiko Bessho.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1955 Sawamura Award was Takehiko Bessho of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 23 - 8 win-loss record, 152 strikeouts, and a 1.33 ERA in 312.0 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	435	55	147	12	79	17	.338	.425	.460	Did not pitch
	PL	Tokuji Iida	Nankai Hawks	OF	525	79	163	14	75	42	.310	.390	.450	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Kazunori Nishimura	Osaka Tigers	P	97	3	13	0	1	0	.134	.184	.144	22 - 17		295.1	190	11	78	302	2.01
	PL	Kihachi Enomoto	Mainichi Orions	1B	490	84	146	16	67	12	.298	.410	.473	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1955 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takehiko Bessho	Yomiuri Giants		P		Taisei Nakamura	Nankai Hawks
Jun Hirota	Yomiuri Giants		C		Charlie Luis	Mainichi Orions
Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Kohei Sugiyama	Nankai Hawks
Noboru Inoue	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Isami Okamoto	Nankai Hawks
Riichi Kodama	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions
Yoshio Yoshida	Osaka Tigers		SS		Chusuke Kizuka	Nankai Hawks
Yukihiko Machida	Kokutetsu Swallows		OF		Tokuji Iida	Nankai Hawks
Hiroyuki Watanabe	Osaka Tigers				Katsuki Tokura	Hankyu Braves
Wally Yonamine	Yomiuri Giants				Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Mainichi Orions

High School Baseball

The 37th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1721 schools competing for 23 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Yokkaichi High School (Mie) defeated Sakaide Commercial High School (Kagawa) by a score of 4 - 1.

The 27th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 20 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Naniwa Shogyo High School (Osaka) defeated Kiryu High School (Gumma) by a score of 4 - 3.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1955 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 10 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Meiji University defeated Nihon University by a score of 1 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The New York Yankees toured Japan in the fall of 1955. The touring team went 15 - 0 - 1 against Japanese competition.