1961 in Japanese Baseball

1961 in baseball
Japanese baseball
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1961 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	71	53	6	0.569	0.0	435	383	0.227	2.50	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Chunichi Dragons	130	72	56	2	0.562	1.0	427	385	0.241	2.48	Wataru Nonin
Kokutetsu Swallows	130	67	60	3	0.527	5.5	387	361	0.228	2.29	Kuninobu Sunaoshi
Hanshin Tigers	130	60	67	3	0.473	12.5	405	411	0.244	2.60	Masayasu Kaneda, Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Hiroshima Carp	130	58	67	5	0.465	13.5	417	464	0.239	3.11	Masato Monzen
Taiyo Whales	130	50	75	5	0.404	21.5	418	485	0.236	3.10	Osamu Mihara

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	140	85	49	6	0.629	0.0	613	484	0.262	2.96	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Toei Flyers	140	83	52	5	0.611	2.5	614	442	0.264	2.39	Shigeru Mizuhara
Nishitetsu Lions	140	81	56	3	0.589	5.5	545	485	0.249	2.83	Tokuji Kawasaki
Daimai Orions	140	72	66	2	0.521	15.0	601	529	0.258	3.23	Mitsuo Uno
Hankyu Braves	140	53	84	3	0.389	33.5	411	574	0.225	3.56	Katsuki Tokura
Kintetsu Buffaloes	140	36	103	1	0.261	51.5	421	691	0.229	3.96	Shigeru Chiba

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	.353		Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers	.336
Runs		Toshio Naka	Chunichi Dragons	88		Akio Saionji	Toei Flyers	97
Hits		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	158		Kihachi Enomoto	Daimai Orions	180
Doubles		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	32		Akitoshi Kodama	Kintetsu Buffalo	42
Triples		Toshio Naka	Chunichi Dragons	11		Shoichi Busujima	Toei Flyers	11
Home Runs		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	28		Katsuya Nomura Yoshihiro Nakada	Nankai Hawks Hankyu Braves	29
Runs Batted In		Takeshi Kuwata	Taiyo Whales	94		Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Daimai Orions	112
Stolen Bases		Kazuhiko Kondo	Taiyo Whales	35		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	42
Walks		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	88		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions	87

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	1.70		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	1.69
Wins		Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	35		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	42
Winning Percentage		Yoshiaki Ito	Yomiuri Giants	.684		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	.750
Losses		Masaaki Koyama	Hanshin Tigers	22		Toshiaki Tokuhisa	Kintetsu Buffalo	24
Innings Pitched		Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	429.1		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	404.0
Appearances		Hiroshi Gondo Taiyo	Chunichi Dragons Taiyo Whales	69		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	78
Hits Allowed		Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	321		Masayuki Dobashi	Toei Flyers	313
Home Runs Allowed		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	27		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	27
Strikeouts		Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	310		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	353
Base-on-Balls		Kiyoshi Oishi	Hiroshima Carp	100		Shoichi Ono	Daimai Orions	97

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was won by the Pacific League two games to none. The first game was played at Chunichi Stadium and was won by the PL, 3 - 0. The second game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 2.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 2. The winning manager was Tetsuharu Kawakami and the series MVP was Toshio Miyamoto.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1961 Sawamura Award was Hiroshi Gondo of the Chunichi Dragons. He had a 35 - 19 win-loss record, 310 strikeouts, and a 1.70 ERA in 429.1 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	Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	3B	448	84	158	28	86	14	.353	.456	.652	Did not pitch
	PL	Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	C	494	70	146	29	89	8	.296	.367	.514	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons	P	144	18	31	1	8	1	.215	.247	.285	35 - 19		429.1	321	20	70	310	1.70
	PL	Toshiaki Tokuhisa	Kintetsu Buffaloes	P	66	4	7	0	2	0	.106	.145	.136	15 - 24		209.1	205	18	57	170	3.27

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1961 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Hiroshi Gondo	Chunichi Dragons		P		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions
Masaaki Mori	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Katsumi Fujimoto	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Kihachi Enomoto	Daimai Orions
Masataka Tsuchiya	Kokutetsu Swallows		2B		Nobushige Morishita	Nankai Hawks
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Futoshi Nakanishi	Nishitetsu Lions
Akiteru Kono	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Yasumitsu Toyoda	Nishitetsu Lions
Shinichi Eto	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers
Kazuhiko Kondo	Taiyo Whales				Kenjiro Tamiya	Daimai Orions
Katsuya Morinaga	Hiroshima Carp				Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Daimai Orions

High School Baseball

The 43rd National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1941 schools competing for 30 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Naniwa Shogyo High School (Osaka) defeated Wakayama Toin High School (Wakayama) by a score of 1 - 0.

The 33rd National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 23 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Hosei University Daini High School (Kanagawa) defeated Takamatsu Commercial High School (Kagawa) by a score of 4 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1961 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 10 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Nihon University defeated Kansai University by a score of 10 - 2.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

Hall of Fame

There was no one elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in this year.