1957 in Japanese Baseball

1957 in baseball
Japanese baseball
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1957 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	74	53	3	0.581	0.0	471	393	0.241	2.39	Shigeru Mizuhara
Osaka Tigers	130	73	54	3	0.573	1.0	462	375	0.240	2.38	Fumio Fujimura
Chunichi Dragons	130	70	57	3	0.550	4.0	404	347	0.219	2.26	Shunichi Amachi
Kokutetsu Swallows	130	58	68	4	0.462	15.5	418	425	0.226	2.74	Mitsuo Uno
Hiroshima Carp	130	54	75	1	0.419	21.0	352	436	0.214	2.78	Katsumi Shiraishi
Taiyo Whales	130	52	74	4	0.415	21.5	355	486	0.229	3.10	Masami Sakohata

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nishitetsu Lions	132	83	44	5	0.648	0.0	546	370	0.255	2.15	Osamu Mihara
Nankai Hawks	132	78	53	1	0.595	7.0	551	424	0.252	2.68	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Mainichi Orions	132	75	52	5	0.587	8.0	477	435	0.239	2.47	Kaoru Betto
Hankyu Braves	132	71	55	6	0.561	11.5	474	409	0.231	2.41	Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Toei Flyers	132	56	73	3	0.436	28.0	371	451	0.227	2.80	Yoshiyuki Iwamoto
Kintetsu Pearls	132	44	82	6	0.356	38.5	390	522	0.225	3.22	Takeo Akuta
Daiei Unicorns	132	41	89	2	0.318	43.5	377	575	0.213	3.63	Kenjiro Matsuki

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Wally Yonamine	Yomiuri Giants	.343		Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Mainichi Orions	.331
Runs		Hiroji Okajima	Chunichi Dragons	71		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions	92
Hits		Wally Yonamine	Yomiuri Giants	160		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions	154
Doubles		Hideshi Miyake	Osaka Tigers	31		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions	31
Triples		Kenjiro Tamiya	Osaka Tigers	8		Shoichi Busujima	Toei Flyers	13
Home Runs		Noboru Aota Takao Sato	Taiyo Whales Kokutetsu Swallows	22		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	30
Runs Batted In		Toshio Miyamoto	Yomiuri Giants	78		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions	100
Stolen Bases		Tokuji Iida	Kokutetsu Swallows	40		Akiteru Kono	Hankyu Braves	56
Walks		Hiroji Okajima	Chunichi Dragons	69		Kenichiro Okamoto	Hankyu Braves	74

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	1.63		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	1.37
Wins		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	28		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	35
Winning Percentage		Yoshinori Kido	Yomiuri Giants	.708		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	.854
Losses		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	27		Masayoshi Miura	Daiei Unions	21
Innings Pitched		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	406.0		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	373.2
Appearances		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	65		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	68
Hits Allowed		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	319		Takao Kajimoto	Hankyu Braves	259
Home Runs Allowed		Noboru Akiyama Masahiko Oishi	Taiyo Whales Taiyo Whales	21		Tamotsu Kimura	Nankai Hawks	23
Strikeouts		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	312		Takao Kajimoto	Hankyu Braves	301
Base-on-Balls		Noboru Akiyama	Taiyo Whales	116		Noboru Makino	Toei Flyers	93

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 Chunichi Stadium and was won by the PL, 5 - 2. The second game was played at Chunichi Stadium and was won by the CL, 5 - 4.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Nishitetsu Lions (PL) defeated the Yomiuri Giants (CL), 4 games to 0 with one tie. The winning manager was Osamu Mihara and the series MVP was Hiroshi Oshita.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1957 Sawamura Award was Masaichi Kaneda of the Kokutetsu Swallows. He had a 28 - 16 win-loss record, 306 strikeouts, and a 1.63 ERA in 353.0 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	Wally Yonamine	Yomiuri Giants	OF	467	55	160	12	48	10	.343	.386	.493	Did not pitch
	PL	Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	P	134	10	26	1	9	0	.194	.250	.261	35 - 6		373.2	243	14	76	288	1.37
Rookie of the Year	CL	Motoshi Fujita	Yomiuri Giants	P	77	4	10	0	5	0	.130	.141	.130	17 - 13		235.2	190	10	80	156	2.48
	PL	Tamotsu Kimura	Nankai Hawks	P	61	5	8	0	3	0	.131	.232	.148	21 - 11		222.2	175	23	56	122	2.47

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1957 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows		P		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions
Shigeru Fujio	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Tetsuharu Kawakami	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Kenichiro Okamoto	Hankyu Braves
Noboru Inoue	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Isami Okamoto	Nankai Hawks
Hideshi Miyake	Osaka Tigers		3B		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions
Yoshio Yoshida	Osaka Tigers		SS		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions
Noboru Aota	Taiyo Whales		OF		Shoichi Busujima	Toei Flyers
Kenjiro Tamiya	Osaka Tigers				Hiroshi Oshita	Nishitetsu Lions
Wally Yonamine	Yomiuri Giants				Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Mainichi Orions

High School Baseball

The 39th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1769 schools competing for 23 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Hiroshima Shogyo High School (Hiroshima) defeated Hosei University Daini High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 3 - 1.

The 29th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 20 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Waseda Jitsugyo High School (Tokyo) defeated Kochi Shogyo High School (Kochi) by a score of 5 - 3.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1957 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 10 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Rikkyo University defeated Senshu University by a score of 5 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

Season	League	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	1	Senshu	Nihon	Gakushuin	Chuo	Komazawa	Tokyo Agriculture
	2	Shibaura Tech	Aoyama Gakuin	Seikei, Toyo		Kokugakuin	Meiji Gakuin
Fall	1	Senshu	Chuo	Nihon	Gakushuin	Komazawa	Shibaura Tech
	2	Tokyo Agriculture	Seikei	Meiji Gakuin	Aoyama Gakuin	Kokugakuin	Toyo

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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