1963 in Japanese Baseball

1963 in baseball
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1963 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	140	83	55	2	0.600	0.0	611	432	0.247	2.57	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Chunichi Dragons	140	80	57	3	0.582	2.5	529	461	0.246	2.84	Kiyoshi Sugiura
Hanshin Tigers	140	69	70	1	0.496	14.5	472	521	0.239	3.20	Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Kokutetsu Swallows	140	65	73	2	0.471	18.0	472	489	0.241	3.15	Shinji Hamazaki
Taiyo Whales	140	59	79	2	0.429	24.0	448	540	0.237	3.29	Osamu Mihara
Hiroshima Carp	140	58	80	2	0.421	25.0	515	604	0.253	3.83	Katsumi Shiraishi

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nishitetsu Lions	150	86	60	4	0.587	0.0	584	477	0.244	2.69	Futoshi Nakanishi
Nankai Hawks	150	85	61	4	0.580	1.0	626	485	0.256	2.70	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Toei Flyers	150	76	71	3	0.517	10.5	543	534	0.236	3.02	Shigeru Mizuhara
Kintetsu Buffaloes	150	74	73	3	0.503	12.5	562	614	0.256	3.44	Kaoru Betto
Daimai Orions	150	64	85	1	0.430	23.5	510	535	0.246	3.05	Yasuya Hondo
Hankyu Braves	150	57	92	1	0.383	30.5	459	639	0.228	3.69	Yukio Nishimoto

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	.341		Jack Bloomfield	Kintetsu Buffaloes	.335
Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	111		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	104
Hits		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	163		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	187
Doubles		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	30		Masahiro Doi	Kintetsu Buffaloes	33
Triples		Morimichi Takagi Shigeo Nagashima Tsuneo Takabayashi	Chunichi Dragons Yomiuri Giants Kokutetsu Swallows	6		Shozo Higuchi	Nankai Hawks	9
Home Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	40		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	52
Runs Batted In		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	112		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	135
Stolen Bases		Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons	50		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	45
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	123		Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers	92

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Minoru Kakimoto	Chunichi Dragons	1.70		Yukihiro Kubo	Kintetsu Buffaloes	2.36
Wins		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	30		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	28
Winning Percentage		Tatsumi Yamanaka	Chunichi Dragons	.714		Chikara Morinaka Tsutomu Tanaka	Nankai Hawks Nishitetsu Lions	.680
Losses		Kiyoshi Oishi	Hiroshima Carp	22		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	23
Innings Pitched		Makoto Inagawa	Taiyo Whales	338.1		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	386.0
Appearances		Kenichi Ryu	Hiroshima Carp	61		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	74
Hits Allowed		Makoto Inagawa	Taiyo Whales	272		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	358
Home Runs Allowed		Kiyoshi Oishi	Hiroshima Carp	35		Toshiaki Tokuhisa	Kintetsu Buffaloes	33
Strikeouts		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	287		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	226
Base-on-Balls		Seiji Shibutani	Kokutetsu Swallows	137		Shoichi Ono	Daimai Orions	123

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Central League three games to none. The first game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 6 - 4. The second game was played at Tokyo Stadium and was won by the CL, 11 - 9. The third game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 8 - 5.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nishitetsu Lions (PL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Tetsuharu Kawakami and the series MVP was Shigeo Nagashima.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1963 Sawamura Award was Yoshiaki Ito of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 19 - 8 win-loss record, 166 strikeouts, and a 1.90 ERA in 236.1 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	478	99	163	37	112	16	.341	.437	.657	Did not pitch
	PL	Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	C	550	104	160	52	135	4	.291	.386	.618	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Not Awarded			Not Available
	PL	Not Awarded			Not Available

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1963 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows		P		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions
Masaaki Mori	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Kihachi Enomoto	Daimai Orions
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Jack Bloomfield	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Akitoshi Kodama	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Takeshi Koba	Hiroshima Carp		SS		Kenji Koike	Nankai Hawks
Shinichi Eto	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers
Eiji Fujii	Hanshin Tigers				Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks
Kazuhiko Kondo	Taiyo Whales				Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Daimai Orions

High School Baseball

The 45th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2106 schools competing for 48 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Meisei High School (Osaka) defeated Shimonoseki Shogyo High School (Yamaguchi) by a score of 2 - 1.

The 35th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 28 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Shimonoseki Shogyo High School (Yamaguchi) defeated Hokkai High School (Hokkaido) by a score of 10 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1963 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 9 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Keio University defeated Komazawa University by a score of 7 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

The Katsuhiro Nishikawa signing scandal caused Kansai's fall championship to be forfeited.

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Ritsumeikan	Kansai	Doshisha	Kinki	Kwansei Gakuin	Osaka Commerce
Fall	Kansai	Kinki	Ritsumeikan	Doshisha	Kwansei Gakuin	Ryukoku

Hall of Fame

The following people were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame:

• Haruyasu Nakajima, by Sportswriters Committee