1973 in Japanese Baseball

1973 in baseball
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1973 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The Pacific League adopts a half-season system.

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	130	66	60	4	0.523	0.0	565	470	0.253	3.25	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Hanshin Tigers	130	64	59	7	0.519	0.5	433	404	0.234	2.82	Masayasu Kaneda
Chunichi Dragons	130	64	61	5	0.512	1.5	441	433	0.242	2.98	Wally Yonamine
Yakult Atoms	130	62	65	3	0.488	4.5	377	406	0.229	2.60	Osamu Mihara
Taiyo Whales	130	60	64	6	0.485	5.0	423	480	0.243	3.30	Noboru Aota
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	60	67	3	0.473	6.5	390	436	0.223	3.04	Kaoru Betto

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hankyu Braves	130	77	48	5	0.612	0.0	645	499	0.270	3.30	Yukio Nishimoto
Lotte Orions	130	70	49	11	0.581	4.0	548	491	0.264	3.43	Masaichi Kaneda
Nankai Hawks	130	68	58	4	0.538	9.5	508	493	0.260	3.35	Katsuya Nomura
Taiheiyo Club Lions	130	59	64	7	0.481	7.5	499	509	0.239	3.58	Kazuhisa Inao
Nittaku Home Flyers	130	55	69	6	0.446	12.0	511	563	0.254	3.97	Kenjiro Tamiya, Masayuki Dobashi
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	42	83	5	0.342	25.5	424	580	0.237	3.83	Takashi 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		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	.355		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	.337
Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	111		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	100
Hits		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	152		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	152
Doubles		Tsutomu Wakamatsu	Yakult Atoms	29		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	29
Triples		Isao Shibata	Yomiuri Giants	6		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	10
Home Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	51		Atsushi Nagaike	Hankyu Braves	43
Runs Batted In		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	114		Atsushi Nagaike	Hankyu Braves	109
Stolen Bases		Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons	28		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	95
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	124		Isao Harimoto	Nittaku Home Flyers	93

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Takeshi Yasuda	Yakult Atoms	2.02		Tetsuya Yoneda	Hankyu Braves	2.47
Wins		Yutaka Enatsu	Hanshin Tigers	24		Fumio Narita	Lotte Orions	21
Winning Percentage		Makoto Kurata	Yomiuri Giants	.667		Soroku Yagisawa	Lotte Orions	.875
Losses		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	19		Toshihiko Sei	Kintetsu Buffaloes	17
Innings Pitched		Yutaka Enatsu	Hanshin Tigers	307.0		Fumio Narita	Lotte Orions	273.2
Appearances		Takeshi Yasuda Yutaka Enatsu	Yakult Atoms Hanshin Tigers	53		Michiro Sato	Nankai Hawks	60
Hits Allowed		Yutaka Enatsu	Hanshin Tigers	258		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	250
Home Runs Allowed		Kazumi Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	32		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves	32
Strikeouts		Kazumi Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	238		Fumio Narita	Lotte Orions	178
Base-on-Balls		Kazumi Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	139		Osamu Higashio Keishi Suzuki	Taiheiyo Club Lions Kintetsu Buffaloes	91

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 CL, 9 - 3. The second game was played at Osaka Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 1 - 0. The third game was played at Heiwadai Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 2 - 1.

Postseason

This was the first year of the Pacific League's split-season playoff format. The winners of each half met in a best-of-three series to determine the league's champion.

The standings for each half of the Pacific League's season were:

First Half								Place		Second Half
Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB				Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB
Nankai Hawks	65	38	26	1	0.594	0.0		1		Hankyu Braves	65	43	19	3	0.694	0.0
Lotte Orions	65	35	27	3	0.565	2.0		2		Lotte Orions	65	35	22	8	0.614	5.5
Hankyu Braves	65	34	29	2	0.540	3.5		3		Nankai Hawks	65	30	32	3	0.484	13.0
Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	32	30	3	0.516	5.0		4		Nittaku Home Flyers	65	30	32	3	0.484	13.0
Nittaku Home Flyers	65	25	37	3	0.403	12.0		5		Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	27	34	4	0.443	15.5
Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	23	38	4	0.377	13.5		6		Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	19	45	1	0.297	25.5

In the playoffs, the Nankai Hawks, winners of the first-half, defeated the second-half winners, the Hankyu Braves, 3 games to 2.

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 1. It was the Giants' ninth consecutive title and the last of the V-9 era. The winning manager was Tetsuharu Kawakami and the series MVP was Tsuneo Horiuchi.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1973 Sawamura Award was Kazumi Takahashi of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 23 - 13 win-loss record, 238 strikeouts, and a 2.20 ERA in 306.1 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	428	111	152	51	114	2	.355	.500	.755	Did not pitch
	PL	Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks	C	475	65	147	28	96	3	.309	.373	.524	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Not Awarded			Not Available
	PL	Satoshi Niimi	Nittaku Home Flyers	P	65	1	11	0	4	0	.169	.229	.200	12 - 13		222.1	223	13	78	117	3.64

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1973 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kazumi Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Fumio Narita	Lotte Orions
Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves
John Sipin	Taiyo Whales		2B		Teruhide Sakurai	Nankai Hawks
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Yutaka Ohashi	Hankyu Braves
Akira Ejiri	Taiyo Whales		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Isao Shibata	Yomiuri Giants				Isao Harimoto	Nittaku Home Flyers
Tsutomu Wakamatsu	Yakult Atoms				Atsushi Nagaike	Hankyu Braves

Diamond Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1973.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Fumio Narita	Lotte Orions
Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Clarence Jones	Nankai Hawks
John Sipin	Taiyo Whales		2B		Teruhide Sakurai	Nankai Hawks
Clete Boyer Shigeo Nagashima	Taiyo Whales Yomiuri Giants		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Yutaka Ohashi	Hankyu Braves
Isao Shibata	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Shigeru Takada	Yomiuri Giants				Sumio Hirota	Lotte Orions
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Ikuo Shimano	Nankai Hawks

High School Baseball

The 55th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2660 schools competing for 48 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Hiroshima Shogyo High School (Hiroshima) defeated Shizuoka High School (Shizuoka) by a score of 3 - 2.

The 45th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 30 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Yokohama High School (Kanagawa) defeated Hiroshima Shogyo High School (Hiroshima) by a score of 3 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1973 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Chuo University defeated Aichi Gakuin University by a score of 3 - 0.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Komazawa University defeated Doshisha University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Doshisha	Kinki	Osaka Commerce	Osaka Gakuin	Kansai	Kwansei Gakuin
Fall	Doshisha	Kinki	Kyoto Sangyo	Osaka Commerce	Kansai	Osaka Gakuin

International Baseball

In the first Intercontinental Cup in Italy, the Japanese national baseball team won a gold medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Bobby Fenwick: St. Louis Cardinals
• Toru Hamaura: Fresno Giants, California (SFG-A)
• Haruki Ihara: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)
• Akira Kawahara: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)
• Akinobu Mayumi: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)
• Hiromi Nakajima: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)
• Fumio Takahashi: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)
• Yoshiharu Wakana: Lodi Lions, California League (A-Adv)

Hall of Fame

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

• Teiyu Amano, by Special Committee
• Kenzo Hirose, by Special Committee
• Kohzo Utsumi, by Special Committee