1964 in Japanese Baseball

1964 in baseball
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1964 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)
Hanshin Tigers	140	80	56	4	0.586	0.0	492	434	0.240	2.75	Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Taiyo Whales	140	80	58	2	0.579	1.0	556	496	0.255	3.03	Osamu Mihara
Yomiuri Giants	140	71	69	0	0.507	11.0	560	472	0.235	3.01	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Hiroshima Carp	140	64	73	3	0.468	16.5	465	508	0.242	3.30	Katsumi Shiraishi
Kokutetsu Swallows	140	61	74	5	0.454	18.5	486	545	0.242	3.43	Giichi Hayashi
Chunichi Dragons	140	57	83	0	0.407	25.0	492	596	0.254	3.63	Kiyoshi Sugiura, Michio Nishizawa

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	150	84	63	3	0.570	0.0	653	562	0.259	3.12	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Hankyu Braves	150	79	65	6	0.547	3.5	590	547	0.245	3.01	Yukio Nishimoto
Toei Flyers	150	78	68	4	0.533	5.5	555	530	0.250	2.95	Shigeru Mizuhara
Tokyo Orions	150	77	68	5	0.530	6.0	535	512	0.249	2.86	Yasuya Hondo
Nishitetsu Lions	150	63	81	6	0.440	19.5	549	617	0.242	3.57	Futoshi Nakanishi
Kintetsu Buffaloes	150	55	91	4	0.380	28.5	546	660	0.254	3.63	Kaoru Betto

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Shinichi Etoh	Chunichi Dragons	.323		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	.366
Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	110		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	110
Hits		Takeshi Kuwata	Taiyo Whales	161		Masahiro Doi	Kintetsu Buffaloes	168
Doubles		Takeshi Kuwata Eiji Fujii	Taiyo Whales Hanshin Tigers	30		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	35
Triples		Toshio Naka	Chunichi Dragons	10		Hachiro Yamamoto Jack Ladra Kunimitsu Yanoura	Kintetsu Buffaloes Toei Flyers Kintetsu Buffaloes	7
Home Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	55		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	41
Runs Batted In		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	119		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	115
Stolen Bases		Takeshi Koba	Hiroshima Carp	57		Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks	72
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	119		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions	86

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Gene Bacque	Hanshin Tigers	1.89		Yoshiro Tsumashima	Tokyo Orions	2.15
Wins		Gene Bacque	Hanshin Tigers	29		Masaaki Koyama	Tokyo Orions	30
Winning Percentage		Midori Ishikawa	Hanshin Tigers	.769		Joe Stanka	Nankai Hawks	.788
Losses		Minoru Kakimoto	Chunichi Dragons	19		Toshiaki Tokuhisa	Kintetsu Buffaloes	23
Innings Pitched		Gene Bacque	Hanshin Tigers	353.1		Masaaki Koyama	Tokyo Orions	361.1
Appearances		Takashi Suzuki	Taiyo Whales	70		Koichiro Sasaki	Kintetsu Buffaloes	73
Hits Allowed		Gene Bacque	Hanshin Tigers	280		Shigeo Ishii	Hankyu Braves	304
Home Runs Allowed		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	36		Joe Stanka Tadashi Sugiura	Nankai Hawks Nankai Hawks	28
Strikeouts		Masaichi Kaneda	Kokutetsu Swallows	231		Yukio Ozaki	Toei Flyers	197
Base-on-Balls		Makoto Inagawa	Taiyo Whales	112		Tsutomu Tanaka	Nishitetsu Lions	102

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Central League two games to one. The first game was played at Kawasaki Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 1 - 0. The second game was played at Chunichi Stadium and was won by the CL, 5 - 1. The third game was played at Osaka Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 10 - 2.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Nankai Hawks (PL) defeated the Hanshin Tigers (CL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Kazuto Tsuruoka and the series MVP was Joe Stanka.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1964 Sawamura Award was Gene Bacque of the Hanshin Tigers. He had a 29 - 9 win-loss record, 200 strikeouts, and a 1.88 ERA in 353.1 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	Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	1B	472	110	151	55	119	6	.320	.456	.720	Did not pitch
	PL	Joe Stanka	Nankai Hawks	P	97	7	13	1	6	0	.134	.175	.175	26 - 7		277.2	221	28	80	172	2.40
Rookie of the Year	CL	Shigeyuki Takahashi	Taiyo Whales	P	71	1	9	0	4	0	.127	.151	.183	17 - 11		214.2	179	13	78	154	2.77
	PL	Not Awarded			Not Available

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1964 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Gene Bacque	Hanshin Tigers		P		Joe Stanka	Nankai Hawks
Masaaki Mori	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Daryl Spencer	Hankyu Braves
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Akitoshi Kodama	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Yoshio Yoshida	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Kenji Koike	Nankai Hawks
Shinichi Eto	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers
Kazuhiko Kondo	Taiyo Whales				Yoshinori Hirose	Nankai Hawks
Shozo Shigematsu	Taiyo Whales				Teruyuki Takakura	Nishitetsu Lions

High School Baseball

The 46th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2270 schools competing for 30 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Kochi High School (Kochi) defeated Hayatomo High School (Yamaguchi) by a score of 2 - 0.

The 36th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 23 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Tokushima Kainan High School (Tokushima) defeated Onomichi Shogyo High School (Hiroshima) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1964 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 9 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Komazawa University defeated Waseda University by a score of 2 - 0.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

The Katsuhiro Nishikawa signing scandal caused Kansai's season to be suspended.

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

International Baseball

Baseball was a single-day demonstration event at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. A doubleheader was played on October 11, between a touring team of college players from the United States and two all-Japan teams. In the first game, an all-Japan University team tied the American team, 2 - 2. In the second game, the American defeated a all-Japan Industrial League team by a score of 3 - 0.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Masanori Murakami: San Francisco Giants; Fresno Giants, California (SFG-A)
• Hiroshi Takahashi: Magic Valley Cowboys, Pioneer (SFG-R)
• Shozo Nishimura: AIL Giants, Arizona (SFG-R)
• Tatsuhiko Tanaka: Magic Valley Cowboys, Pioneer (SFG-R)

Hall of Fame

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

• Kiyoshi Miyahara, by Special Committee
• Tadashi Wakabayashi, by Sportswriters Committee