1971 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1971 NPB All-Star Games.

Game 1

Game 1 took place on July 17 at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium and attendance was 28,160. The Central League was absolutely dominant with the only NPB All-Star Game no-hitter (as of 2023). Yutaka Enatsu set the tone by fanning all nine Pacific League batters (no NPB batter fanned more than nine in a row before Roki Sasaki died it 41 years later), then Hidetake Watanabe, Kazumi Takahashi, Hisanobu Mizutani and Tadakatsu Kotani closed it out with 7 more whiffs. The PL got a couple base-runners thanks to CL errors and a walk from Takahashi to player-coach Katsuya Nomura in the 6th. Enatsu added a three-run homer for most of the offense and was an easy pick of Game MVP.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

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

Backups Used

• Sachio Kinugasa, 1B (Hiroshima Carp)
• Makoto Matsubara, 3B (Taiyo Whales)
• Jitsuo Mizutani, RF (Hiroshima)
• Isao Shibata, CF (Yomiuri)
• Akihiko Oya, C (Yakult)
• Yasuhiro Kunisada, 2B (Hiroshima)
• Yukinobu Kuroe, PH (Yomiuri)
• Hidetake Watanabe, P (Yomiuri)
• Kazumi Takahashi, P (Yomiuri)
• Kunio Fukutomi, PH (Yakult)
• Hisanobu Mizutani, P (Chunichi)
• Tadakatsu Kotani, P (Taiyo)

Manager

• Tetsuharu Kawakami

Coaches

• Minoru Murayama
• Kaoru Betto

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Michiyo Arito, 3B (Lotte Orions)
2. Mitsuo Motoi, 2B (Nishitetsu Lions
3. Atsushi Nagaike, CF (Hankyu Braves)
4. Shinichi Eto, 1B (Lotte)
5. Masahiro Doi, LF (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
6. Masayoshi Higashida, RF (Nishitetsu)
7. Toshizo Sakamoto, SS (Hankyu)
8. Koji Okamura, C (Hankyu)
9. Tetsuya Yoneda, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Hiroshi Takahashi, 3B (Nankai Hawks)
• Isao Harimoto, PH (Toei Flyers)
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)
• Kohei Shimamoto, PH (Nankai)
• Koji Ota, P (Kintetsu)
• Takenori Ikebe, CF (Lotte)
• Yasuo Minagawa, P (Toei)
• Choji Murata, P (Lotte)
• Tsuyoshi Oshita, SS (Toei)
• George Altman, PH (Lotte)
• Takeo Daigo, C (Lotte)
• Hideji Kato, 1B (Hankyu)
• Katsuya Nomura, 1B (Nankai)

Manager

• Wataru Nonin

Coaches

• Takashi Iwamoto
• Katsuya Nomura

Umpires

• Isao Okada, Isao Kiyuki, Hiroshi Fukui, Masatoshi Kato, Fumio Yamamoto, Hiromichi Nakamura

Game 2

Game 2 was held July 19 at Chunichi Baseball Stadium with 30,759 fans. Atsushi Nagaike had 3 hits, including a 3-run homer, and drove in 4, to power the PL to victory and won the MVP. Tomehiro Kaneda got the win over Hiromu Matsuoka. A game after their no-hit gem, the CL nearly gets no-no'ed. Only Taira Fujita and Sadaharu Oh collect hits for their cause.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Arito, 3B
2. Harimoto, CF
3. Nagaike, RF
4. Eto, 1B
5. Altman, LF
6. Nomura, C
7. Motoi, 2B
8. Takahashi, SS
9. Tomehiro Kaneda, P (Toei)

Backups Used

• Masanori Murakami, P (Nankai)
• Higashida, PH
• Mitsuhiro Adachi, P (Hankyu)
• Kato, 1B
• Ikebe, CF
• Masaaki Kitaru, P (Lotte)
• Doi, CF
• Shimamoto, PH
• Oshita, 2B
• Sakamoto, SS

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Yazawa, CF
2. Fujita, SS
3. Oh, 1B
4. Nagashima, 3B
5. Roberts, RF
6. Takada, LF
7. Kunisada, 2B
8. Tatsuhiko Kimata, C (Chunichi)
9. Hiromu Matsuoka, P (Yakult)

Backups Used

• Shibata, CF
• Tabuchi, PH
• J. Mizutani, RF
• Fukutomi, LF
• Takada, LF
• Kuroe, 2B
• Oya, C
• Takegami, PH
• Hisatoshi Ito, P (Chunichi)
• Yukiharu Shibuya, P (Chunichi)
• Yataro Oishi, P (Hiroshima)
• Matsubara, PH
• Tsuneo Horiuchi, P (Yomiuri)

Umpires

• Keigen Sunagawa, Yamamoto, Kiyuki, Harunobu Osato, Kato, Fukui

Game 3

Game 3, at Korakuen Baseball Stadium on July 20, drew a crowd of 39,035. Hideji Kato was named Game MVP as the PL edged the CL, 3-2, in the only one of this year's three games not to feature a shutout. Hisashi Yamada gave up two runs in three but got the win while Masaji Hiramatsu took the loss. The CL was held to two hits for the second straight day, but one was Shigeo Nagashima's two-run shot off Yamada; he had both of their hits.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Kato, 1B
2. Sakamoto, SS
3. Harimoto, RF
4. Doi, CF
5. Altman, LF
6. Nomura, C
7. Takahashi, 3B
8. Oshita, 2B
9. Yasuo Minagawa, P (Toei)

Backups Used

• Shimamoto, 1B
• Murakami, P
• Arito, 3B
• Eto, PH
• Ikebe, CF
• Daigo, C
• Murata, P
• Fumio Narita, P (Lotte)
• Nagaike, PH
• Hisashi Yamada, P (Hankyu)
• Higashida, RF

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Shibata, CF
2. Fujita, SS
3. Oh, 1B
4. Nagashima, 3B
5. Tabuchi, RF
6. Roberts, LF
7. Kuroe, 2B
8. Oya, C
9. Masaji Hiramatsu, P (Taiyo)

Backups Used

• Kinugasa, RF
• Takegami, 2B
• Takada, LF
• J. Mizutani, RF
• Yazawa, PH
• Watanabe, P
• Fukutomi, PH
• Horiuchi, P
• Matsubara, PH
• Enatsu, P
• Kimata, C

Umpires

• Osato, Nakamura, Okada, Sunagawa, Fukui, Kato

Sources

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