1969 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1969 NPB All-Star Games. Masaichi Kaneda made his 18th and final All-Star Game while his brother Tomehiro Kaneda made it for the first time.

Game 1

Game 1 was held July 19 at Tokyo Stadium; 29,043 fans showed up. In a 7-6 game, the MVP went to Pacific Leaguer Masahiro Doi, who hit a two-run pinch-hit homer. Atsushi Nagaike had two hits and two RBI for the PL while Toshizo Sakamoto had two hits and two runs. Toshihiko Sei got the win and Minoru Murayama the loss. Sadaharu Oh (2 R, 2 RBI), Shinichi Eto (2 RBI) and Koichi Tabuchi all homered in a losing cause.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	0	4	1	1	0	0	6	10	2
Pacific	0	1	0	0	4	2	0	0	-	7	12	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Taira Fujita, SS (Hanshin Tigers)
2. Shigeru Takada, CF (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri)
4. Shinichi Eto, LF (Chunichi Dragons)
5. Shigeo Nagashima, 3B (Yomiuri)
6. Dave Roberts, RF (Atoms)
7. Koichi Tabuchi, C (Hanshin)
8. Kentaro Ogawa, P (Chunichi)
9. Shiro Takegami, 2B (Atoms)

Backups Used

• Toshio Naka, CF (Chunichi)
• Makoto Matsubara, 3B (Taiyo Whales)
• Kazuhiro Yamauchi, RF (Hiroshima Carp)
• Masahiko Mori, C (Yomiuri)
• Kazuyoshi Yamamoto, PH (Hiroshima)
• Yukinobu Kuroe, PH (Yomiuri)
• Isao Ito, C (Taiyo)
• Shozo Doi, 2B (Yomiuri)
• Masaichi Kaneda, PH (Yomiuri)
• Yoshiro Sotokoba, P (Hiroshima)
• Shiroku Ishido, P (Atoms)
• Minoru Murayama, P (Hanshin)
• Kazumi Takahashi, P (Yomiuri)

Manager

• Tetsuharu Kawakami

Coaches

• Tsuguo Goto
• Rikuo Nemoto

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Hiroyuki Yamazaki, 2B (Lotte Orions)
2. Yozo Nagabuchi, RF (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
3. Atsushi Nagaike, CF (Hankyu Braves)
4. Isao Harimoto, LF (Toei Flyers
5. Katsuo Osugi, 1B (Toei)
6. Kazuhide Funada, 3B (Nishitetsu Lions)
7. Toshizo Sakamoto, SS (Hankyu)
8. Takeo Daigo, C (Lotte)
9. Fumio Narita, P (Lotte)

Backups Used

• Yoshinori Hirose, PH (Nankai)
• Masahiro Doi, CF (Kintetsu)
• Takenori Ikebe, CF (Lotte)
• Isao Hirono, 1B (Nishitetsu)
• Toshinori Yasui, SS (Kintetsu)
• Don Blasingame, 2B (Nankai Hawks)
• Mitsugu Tanaka, P (Toei)
• Masaaki Kitaru, P (Lotte)
• Tomehiro Kaneda, P (Toei)
• Toshihiko Sei, P (Kintetsu)
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)

Manager

• Yukio Nishimoto

Coaches

• Tokuji Iida
• Wataru Nonin

Umpires

• Hiroya Tomizawa, Shigeru Sakamoto, Kiyoshi Hirako, Kazuo Kuboyama, Toshio Kashiwagi, Masao Yoshida

Game 2

Game 2 took place July 20 at Hanshin Koshien Baseball Stadium with an attendance of 35,050. The CL led 3-0 entering the 7th but the PL won again with MVP Kazuhide Funada going 3 for 3 with a walk and two runs. Yoshinori Hirose hit their second two-run pinch-hit homer in two days and Tetsuya Yoneda got the win. Toshio Naka drove in a pair in a losing cause, while Yutaka Enatsu took the decision for the CL.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	6	13	0
Central	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	10	1

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Ikebe, CF
2. Sakamoto, SS
3. Nagaike, RF
4. M. Doi, LF
5. Osugi, 1B
6. Funada, 3B
7. Yamazaki, 2B
8. Koji Okamura, C (Hankyu)
9. Suzuki, P

Backups Used

• Yasui, SS
• Nagabuchi, RF
• Blasingame, 2B
• Kiyoshi Yano, PH (Hankyu)
• Masaaki Ikenaga, PR (Nishitetsu)
• Takao Kajimoto, P (Hankyu)
• Hirose, PH
• Tetsuya Yoneda, P (Hankyu)
• Yoshiyuki Sano, PH (Toei)
• Daigo, C
• Koichiro Sasaki, P (Kintetsu)
• Harimoto, PH
• Kimiyasu Murakami, C (Nishitetsu)
• Hirono, PH
• T. Kaneda, P

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Fujita, SS
2. Naka, CF
3. Oh, 1B
4. Eto, LF
5. Nagashima, 3B
6. Yamauchi, RF
7. Tabuchi, C
8. Shoichi Ono, P (Chunichi)
9. Takegami, 2B

Backups Used

• Roberts, RF
• Ito, C
• Takada, PH
• Tomoo Wako, P (Hanshin)
• Matsubara, PH
• Yutaka Enatsu, P (Hanshin)
• Masaji Hiramatsu, P (Taiyo)
• Yamamoto, PH
• S. Doi, 2B

Umpires

• Yoshida, Kaname Aritsu, Yutaka Tagawa, Kashiwagi, Kuboyama, Tomizawa

Game 3

Game 3 was July 22 at Heiwadai Baseball Stadium in front of 30,435. The game was a dramatic one, going 13 innings with each team scoring in the 13th before a power outage ended the contest at that point. For the first time in 17 years, there was no NPB All-Star Game MVP for one of the contests. Toshio Naka and Shigeru Takada each had 3 hits for the CL and Oh homered again, while Yoshiro Sotokoba pitched shutout ball from the 9th through the 11th. Yozo Nagabuchi (3 H) and Kiyoshi Yano both went deep for the PL while Masaaki Ikenaga tossed scoreless innings for the 1st through the 3rd.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	13	0
Pacific	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	9	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Fujita, SS
2. Naka, CF
3. Oh, 1B
4. Eto, LF
5. Yamauchi, RF
6. Matsubara, 3B
7. Tabuchi, C
8. Tsuneo Horiuchi, P (Yomiuri)
9. S. Doi, 2B

Backups Used

• Yamauchi, PH
• Senichi Hoshino, P (Chunichi)
• M. Kaneda, P
• Ito, C
• Yamamoto, RF
• Kuroe, SS
• Roberts, PH
• Mori, C
• Sotokoba, P
• Murayama, PH
• Hiramatsu, P
• Takahashi, P
• Takada, RF
• Takegami, 2B

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Funada, 3B
2. Blasingame, 2B
3. Nagabuchi, RF
4. Harimoto, LF
5. Nagaike, CF
6. Hirono, 1B
7. Yasui, SS
8. Murakami, C
9. Ikenaga, P

Backups Used

• Sakamoto, SS
• Yamazaki, 2B
• M. Doi, CF
• Yano, PH
• Okamura, C
• Daigo, C
• Ikebe, PH
• Sei, P
• Osugi, PH
• Tanaka, P
• Narita, P
• T. Kaneda, P
• Hirose, PH
• Sasaki, P
• Sano, PH

Umpires

• Hirako, Tagawa, Aritsu, Sakamoto, Kashiwagi, Kuboyama

Sources

• Michael Westbay database
• Information from the now-defunct japanbaseballdaily.com site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry