1973 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1973 NPB All-Star Games. The Pacific League won twice while the Central League won the other.

Game 1

Game 1 was July 21 with 31,583 fans coming to Meiji-Jingu Stadium. Tsutomu Wakamatsu's game-winning, 2-run single in the 4th inning earned him the MVP, and Shigeru Takada blasted the only homer. Tsuyoshi Oshita was 2-for-4 and drove in 2 of 3 runs for the PL.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yutaka Fukumoto, CF (Hankyu Braves)
2. Hideji Kato, 1B (Hankyu)
3. Isao Harimoto, LF (Nittaku Home Flyers)
4. Atsushi Nagaike, RF (Hankyu)
5. Katsuya Nomura, C (Nankai Hawks)
6. Michiyo Arito, 3B (Lotte Orions)
7. Tsuyoshi Oshita, SS (Nittaku Home)
8. Hiroyuki Yamazaki, 2B (Lotte)
9. Fumio Narita, P (Lotte)

Backups Used

• Don Buford, LF (Taiheiyo Club Lions)
• Katsuo Osugi, 1B (Nittaku Home)
• George Altman, PH (Lotte)
• Mitsuo Motoi, 2B (Taiheiyo)
• Masahiro Doi, DH (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
• Toshio Kato, PH (Nittaku Home)
• Kazuo Hasegawa, RF (Lotte)
• Yutaka Ohashi, SS (Hankyu)
• Teruhide Sakurai, PH (Nankai)
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)
• Masaaki Kitaru, P (Lotte)
• Akira Tanaka, P (Taiheiyo)
• Kouji Ota, P (Kintetsu)

Manager

• Yukio Nishimoto

Coaches

• Takashi Iwamoto
• Don Blasingame

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Morimichi Takagi, 2B (Chunichi Dragons)
2. Shigeru Takada, LF (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri)
4. Shigeo Nagashima, 3B (Yomiuri)
5. Koichi Tabuchi, C (Hanshin Tigers)
6. Taira Fujita, SS (Hanshin)
7. Koji Yamamoto, CF (Hiroshima Carp)
8. Junichi Ikeda, RF (Hanshin)
9. Hiromu Matsuoka, P (Yakult Atoms)

Backups Used

• Yukinobu Kuroe, PR (Yomiuri)
• John Sipin, 2B (Taiyo Whales)
• Shozo Doi, 2B (Yomiuri)
• Tsutomu Wakamatsu, RF (Yakult)
• Isao Shibata, CF (Yomiuri)
• Isao Ito, C (Taiyo)
• Kenichi Yazawa, PH (Chunichi)
• Toshimitsu Suetsugu, RF (Yomiuri)
• Kazumi Takahashi, P (Yomiuri)
• Tsuneo Horiuchi, P (Yomiuri)
• Takeshi Yasuda, P (Yakult)
• Masaji Hiramatsu, P (Taiyo)

Manager

• Tetsuharu Kawakami

Coaches

• Wally Yonamine
• Masayasu Kaneda

Umpires

• Yoshiki Matsuhashi (Home), Satoshi Dobutsu (1B), Hiroya Tomizawa (2B), Masatoshi Kato (3B), Hiroshi Fukui (LF), Isamu Teramoto (RF)

Game 2

The next day, 27,565 fans came to Osaka Stadium and the PL tied the series. Yutaka Fukumoto scored the only run of this game while drawing 2 walks, and won the MVP. Shinichi Yamauchi, Sanshiro Nishioka, Tetsuya Yoneda and Osamu Higashio combined to shut out the CL, and they didn't even allow an extra-base hit.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Wakamatsu, RF
2. Takada, LF
3. Oh, 1B
4. Nagashima, 3B
5. Sipin, 2B
6. Tabuchi, C
7. Fujita, SS
8. Jiro Ueda, P (Hanshin)
9. Shibata, CF

Backups Used

• Ikeda, RF
• Takagi, PH
• Doi, 2B
• Kuroe, SS
• Yazawa, PH
• Suetsugu, RF
• Akira Ejiri, PH (Taiyo)
• Kazushi Saeki, P (Hiroshima)
• Yutaka Enatsu, P (Hanshin)
• Yukiharu Shibuya, P (Chunichi)
• Mitsuo Inaba, P (Chunichi)

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Sakurai, 2B
3. Nagaike, RF
4. Nomura, C
5. Doi, LF
6. H.Kato, 1B
7. Arito, 3B
8. Ohashi, SS
9. Shinichi Yamauchi, P (Nankai)

Backups Used

• Buford, LF
• Hasegawa, RF
• Osugi, 1B
• Altman, PH
• Yamazaki, SS
• Harimoto, PH
• Sanshiro Nishioka, P (Nankai)
• Tetsuya Yoneda, P (Hankyu)
• Osamu Higashio, P (Taiheiyo)

Umpires

• Yutaka Tagawa (Home), Fukui (1B), Kato (2B), Tomizawa (3B), Teramoto (LF), Tomoichi Tanimura (RF)

Game 3

The PL won the series on July 24 at Heiwadai Stadium with 28,247 in attendance. Tsutomu Wakamatsu took the lead for the CL with a leadoff solo shot, but Katsuya Nomura tied the game with a RBI grounder. The CL's manager Tetsuharu Kawakami made an unusual move as he changed pitchers in every inning. However, he still couldn't stop Hiroyuki Yamazaki, who hit a walk-off single and won the MVP.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Wakamatsu, RF
2. Shibata, CF
3. Oh, 1B
4. Nagashima, 3B
5. Tabuchi, C
6. Fujita, SS
7. Yazawa, LF
8. Inaba, P
9. Takagi, 2B

Backups Used

• Kuroe, SS
• Sipin, PH
• Yamamoto, PH
• Suetsugu, CF
• Ejiri, PH
• Ikeda, PH
• Takada, LF
• Doi, 2B
• Ueda, P
• Shibuya, P
• Saeki, P
• Enatsu, P
• Matsuoka, P
• Horiuchi, P
• Yasuda, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Oshita, RF
3. Nagaike, RF
4. Harimoto, LF
5. Altman, 1B
6. Motoi, 2B
7. Arito, 3B
8. Katsutoshi Miyadera, C (Taiheiyo)
9. Hajime Kato, P (Taiheiyo)

Backups Used

• Buford, LF
• Ohashi, SS
• Sakurai, PH
• Nomura, C
• Doi, PH
• Yamazaki, 2B
• Hasegawa, PH
• Osugi, PH
• Higashio, P
• Suzuki, P
• Tanaka, P

Umpires

• Tanimura (Home), Teramoto (1B), Matsuhashi (2B), Dobutsu (3B), Fukui (LF), Tomizawa (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry