1974 in Japanese Baseball

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1974 in baseball
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1974 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series[edit]

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[edit]

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Hall of Fame[edit]

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

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