1974 in Japanese Baseball

1974 in baseball
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1974 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The V-9 era for the Yomiuri Giants ends as the Chunichi Dragons win the Central League pennant by a single-percentage point, ending the Giants streak at nine. After the season, Shigeo Nagashima retires.

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)
Chunichi Dragons	130	70	49	11	0.581	0.0	561	537	0.264	3.75	Wally Yonamine
Yomiuri Giants	130	71	50	9	0.581	0.0	589	460	0.253	3.05	Tetsuharu Kawakami
Yakult Swallows	130	60	63	7	0.488	12.0	453	458	0.233	3.14	Hiroshi Arakawa
Hanshin Tigers	130	57	64	9	0.473	14.0	457	498	0.237	3.45	Masayasu Kaneda
Taiyo Whales	130	55	69	6	0.446	17.5	528	596	0.265	4.28	Kaoru Betto
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	54	72	4	0.431	19.5	448	487	0.242	3.61	Katsuya Morinaga

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Lotte Orions	130	69	50	11	0.573	0.0	539	462	0.265	3.18	Masaichi Kaneda
Hankyu Braves	130	69	51	10	0.569	0.5	577	524	0.258	3.52	Toshiharu Ueda
Nankai Hawks	130	59	55	16	0.515	7.5	504	460	0.246	3.06	Katsuya Nomura
Taiheiyo Club Lions	130	59	64	7	0.481	12.0	436	482	0.235	3.46	Kazuhisa Inao
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	56	66	8	0.462	14.5	472	503	0.230	3.63	Yukio Nishimoto
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	49	75	6	0.400	22.5	472	569	0.246	4.11	Futoshi Nakanishi

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	.332		Isao Harimoto	Nippon Ham Fighters	.340
Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	105		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	84
Hits		Makoto Matsubara	Taiyo Whales	157		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	156
Doubles		Kenichi Yazawa	Chunichi Dragons	31		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Lotte Orions	32
Triples		Kazumasa Kono	Yomiuri Giants	7		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	7
Home Runs		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	49		Clarence Jones	Kintetsu Buffaloes	38
Runs Batted In		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	107		Atsushi Nagaike	Hankyu Braves	96
Stolen Bases		Masayuki Nakatsuka	Taiyo Whales	28		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	94
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	158		Clarence Jones	Kintetsu Buffaloes	96

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Shitoshi Sekimoto	Yomiuri Giants	2.28		Michiro Sato	Nankai Hawks	1.91
Wins		Yukitsura Matsumoto Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Chunichi Dragons Hiroshima Toyo Carp	20		Tomehiro Kaneda	Lotte Orions	16
Winning Percentage		Yukitsura Matsumoto	Chunichi Dragons	.690		Kazuyoshi Takemura	Hankyu Braves	.750
Losses		Yoshiro Sotokoba Masaji Hiramatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Taiyo Whales	16		Keishi Suzuki	Kintetsu Buffaloes	15
Saves		Senichi Hoshino	Chunichi Dragons	10		Michiro Sato	Nankai Hawks	13
Innings Pitched		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	310.1		Keishi Suzuki	Kintetsu Buffaloes	229.0
Appearances		Hideyuki Okue	Taiyo Whales	51		Michiro Sato	Nankai Hawks	68
Hits Allowed		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	259		Keishi Suzuki	Kintetsu Buffaloes	195
Home Runs Allowed		Masaji Hiramatsu	Taiyo Whales	37		Satoshi Niimi	Nippon Ham Fighters	25
Strikeouts		Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	207		Keishi Suzuki	Kintetsu Buffaloes	141
Base-on-Balls		Hiromu Matsuoka	Yakult Swallows	95		Takenori Emoto	Nankai Hawks	111

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Pacific League three games to none. The first game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 3 - 2. The second game was played at Nishinomiya 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 PL, 1 - 0.

Postseason

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
Hankyu Braves	65	38	25	2	0.603	0.0		1		Lotte Orions	65	38	23	4	0.623	0.0
Lotte Orions	65	31	27	7	0.534	4.5		2		Nankai Hawks	65	32	27	6	0.542	5.0
Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	30	30	5	0.500	6.5		3		Hankyu Braves	65	33	28	4	0.541	5.0
Nankai Hawks	65	27	28	10	0.491	7.0		4		Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	29	34	2	0.460	10.0
Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	27	32	6	0.458	9.0		5		Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	29	34	2	0.460	10.0
Nippon Ham Fighters	65	25	36	4	0.410	12.0		6		Nippon Ham Fighters	65	24	39	2	0.381	15.0

In the playoffs, the Lotte Orions, winners of the second-half, defeated the first-half winners, the Hankyu Braves, 3 games to 0.

In the Nippon Series, the Lotte Orions (PL) defeated the Chunichi Dragons (CL), 4 games to 2. The winning manager was Masaichi Kaneda and the series MVP was Sumio Hirota.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1974 Sawamura Award was Senichi Hoshino of the Chunichi Dragons. He had a 15 - 9 win-loss record, 137 strikeouts, and a 2.87 ERA in 188.0 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	385	105	128	49	107	1	.332	.532	.761	Did not pitch
	PL	Tomehiro Kaneda	Lotte Orions	P	57	6	12	3	5	0	.211	.237	.368	16 - 7	0	201.2	167	18	51	138	2.90
Rookie of the Year	CL	Yukio Fujinami	Chunichi Dragons	OF	114	13	33	1	15	1	.289	.372	.351	Did not pitch
	PL	Masaharu Mitsui	Lotte Orions	P	26	0	4	0	0	0	.154	.154	.192	6 - 5	4	85.2	69	9	34	84	3.26

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1974 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Tomehiro Kaneda	Lotte Orions
Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers		C		Kimiyasu Murakami	Lotte Orions
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Clarence Jones	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Lotte Orions
Shigeo Nagashima	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Yutaka Ohashi	Hankyu Braves
Gene Martin	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Don Buford	Taiheiyo Club Lions
Toshimitsu Suetsugu	Yomiuri Giants				Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Tsutomu Wakamatsu	Yakult Swallows				Isao Harimoto	Nippon Ham Fighters

Diamond Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1974.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Mitsuhiro Adachi	Hankyu Braves
Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers		C		Kimiyasu Murakami	Lotte Orions
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Wes Parker	Nankai Hawks
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Teruhide Sakurai	Nankai Hawks
Clete Boyer	Taiyo Whales		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Kazumasa Kono	Yomiuri Giants		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 56th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2709 schools competing for 34 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Choshi Shogyo High School (Chiba) defeated Hofu Shogyo High School (Yamaguchi) by a score of 7 - 0.

The 46th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 30 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Hotoku Gakuen High School (Hyogo) defeated Ikeda High School (Tokushima) by a score of 3 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1974 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Maruyama Baseball Stadium. In the championship game Waseda University defeated Komazawa University by a score of 3 - 2.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Chuo University defeated Hosei University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The New York Mets toured Japan in the fall of 1974. The touring team went 9 - 7 - 2 against Japanese competition.

Hall of Fame

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

• Sadayoshi Fujimoto, by Sportswriters Committee
• Fumio Fujimura, by Sportswriters Committee
• Seizo Noda, by Special Committee