1966 in Japanese Baseball

1966 in baseball
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<< 1965 1967 >>

1966 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	134	89	41	4	0.679	0.0	559	335	0.243	2.24	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Chunichi Dragons	132	76	54	2	0.583	13.0	521	400	0.253	2.54	Michio Nishizawa
Hanshin Tigers	135	64	66	5	0.493	25.0	386	399	0.233	2.52	Shigeru Sugishita, Sadayoshi Fujimoto
Hiroshima Carp	136	57	73	6	0.441	32.0	420	512	0.234	3.45	Ryohei Hasegawa
Taiyo Whales	130	52	78	0	0.400	37.0	428	557	0.247	3.74	Osamu Mihara
Sankei Atoms	135	52	78	5	0.404	37.0	364	475	0.215	3.16	Tokuji Iida

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nankai Hawks	133	79	51	3	0.605	0.0	477	394	0.245	2.59	Kazuto Tsuruoka
Nishitetsu Lions	138	75	55	8	0.572	4.0	426	354	0.231	2.13	Futoshi Nakanishi
Toei Flyers	136	70	60	6	0.537	9.0	480	443	0.256	2.75	Shigeru Mizuhara
Tokyo Orions	134	61	69	4	0.470	18.0	462	460	0.240	2.93	Hitoshi Tamaru
Hankyu Braves	134	57	73	4	0.440	22.0	447	491	0.229	3.31	Yukio Nishimoto
Kintetsu Buffaloes	133	48	82	3	0.372	31.0	388	538	0.228	3.60	Yoshiyuki Iwamoto

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	.344		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions	.351
Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	111		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	82
Hits		Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants	163		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions	167
Doubles		Makoto Matsubara	Taiyo Whales	32		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions	31
Triples		Takeshi Koba	Hiroshima Carp	6		Shoichi Busujima	Toei Flyers	9
Home Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	48		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	34
Runs Batted In		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	116		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	97
Stolen Bases		Isao Shibata	Yomiuri Giants	46		Koshi Yamamoto	Hankyu Braves	32
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	142		Daryl Spencer Katsuya Nomura	Hankyu Braves Nankai Hawks	71

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants	1.39		Kazuhisa Inao	Nishitetsu Lions	1.79
Wins		Minoru Murayama	Hanshin Tigers	24		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	25
Winning Percentage		Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants	.889		Mutsuo Minagawa	Nankai Hawks	.720
Losses		Susumu Oba Susumu Sato	Hiroshima Carp Sankei Atoms	18		Shigemasa Yamamoto	Kintetsu Buffaloes	19
Innings Pitched		Minoru Murayama	Hanshin Tigers	290.1		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	310.0
Appearances		Kiyotake Suzuki	Sankei Swallows	62		Yukio Ozaki	Toei Flyers	65
Hits Allowed		Kunio Jonouchi	Yomiuri Giants	231		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	289
Home Runs Allowed		Hidetoshi Ikeda Makoto Inagawa	Hiroshima Carp Taiyo Whales	20		Katsuji Sakai	Tokyo Orions	31
Strikeouts		Minoru Murayama	Hanshin Tigers	207		Tsutomu Tanaka	Nishitetsu Lions	217
Base-on-Balls		Tsuneo Horiuchi Gene Bacque	Yomiuri Giants Hanshin Tigers	69		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	81

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Pacific League two games to one. The first game was played at Nishikyougoku Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 6 - 2. The second game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 6 - 3. The third game was played at Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 5 - 1.

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 Isao Shibata.

Award Winners

The winners of the 1966 Sawamura Award were Tsuneo Horiuchi of the Yomiuri Giants and Minoru Murayama of the Hanshin Tigers . Horiuchi had a 16 - 2 win-loss record, 117 strikeouts, and a 1.39 ERA in 181.0 innings. Murayama had a 24 - 9 win-loss record, 207 strikeouts, and a 1.55 ERA in 290.1 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	474	83	163	26	105	14	.344	.413	.586	Did not pitch
	PL	Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	C	474	82	148	34	97	8	.312	.406	.568	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants	P	64	6	16	2	6	0	.250	.250	.422	16 - 2		181.0	125	5	69	117	1.39
	PL	Not Awarded			Not Available

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1966 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Minoru Murayama	Hanshin Tigers		P		Tsutomu Tanaka	Nishitetsu Lions
Masaaki Mori	Yomiuri Giants		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Kihachi Enomoto	Tokyo Orions
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Yasuhiro Kunisada	Nankai Hawks
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Tony Roig	Nishitetsu Lions
Shuhei Ichieda	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Kenji Koike	Nankai Hawks
Shinichi Eto	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Shoichi Busujima	Toei Flyers
Toshio Naka	Chunichi Dragons				Isao Harimoto	Toei Flyers
Kazuyoshi Yamamoto	Hiroshima Carp				Teruyuki Takakura	Nishitetsu Lions

High School Baseball

The 48th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2415 schools competing for 30 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Chukyo University Senior High School (Aichi) defeated Matsuyama Shogyo High School (Ehime) by a score of 3 - 1.

The 38th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 24 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Chukyo University Senior High School (Aichi) defeated Tosa High School (Kochi) by a score of 1 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1966 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 14 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Nihon University defeated Kinki University by a score of 3 - 2.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The Mexico City Tigers of the Mexican League toured Japan in the spring of 1966. The touring team went 0 - 13 - 0 against Japanese competition. The Los Angeles Dodgers toured Japan in the fall of 1966. The touring team went 9 - 8 - 1 against Japanese competitio.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Hidehiko Koga: Decatur Commodores, Midwest (SFG-A)

Hall of Fame

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

• Tsunetaro Moriyama, by Special Committee