1975 in Japanese Baseball

1975 in baseball
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1975 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The Pacific League adopts the designated hitter.

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)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	72	47	11	0.596	0.0	510	421	0.256	2.96	Joe Lutz, Takeshi Koba
Chunichi Dragons	130	69	53	8	0.562	4.5	521	466	0.271	3.18	Wally Yonamine
Hanshin Tigers	130	68	55	7	0.550	6.0	477	487	0.252	3.34	Yoshio Yoshida
Yakult Swallows	130	57	64	9	0.473	16.0	437	470	0.245	3.31	Hiroshi Arakawa
Taiyo Whales	130	51	69	10	0.431	21.5	484	548	0.249	3.93	Noboru Akiyama
Yomiuri Giants	130	47	76	7	0.388	27.0	473	510	0.236	3.53	Shigeo Nagashima

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	71	50	9	0.581	0.0	498	448	0.246	3.09	Yukio Nishimoto
Hankyu Braves	130	64	59	7	0.519	8.0	541	506	0.257	3.49	Toshiharu Ueda
Taiheiyo Club Lions	130	58	62	10	0.485	4.5	530	563	0.261	3.73	Shinichi Eto
Lotte Orions	130	59	65	6	0.477	5.5	514	494	0.259	3.33	Masaichi Kaneda
Nankai Hawks	130	57	65	8	0.469	6.5	524	478	0.246	2.98	Katsuya Nomura
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	55	63	12	0.469	6.5	458	576	0.258	3.89	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		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	.319		Jinten Haku	Taiheiyo Club Lions	.319
Runs		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	86		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	79
Hits		Hiroaki Inoue	Chunichi Dragons	149		Sumio Hirota	Lotte Orions	148
Doubles		Kinji Shimatani	Chunichi Dragons	27		Matty Alou	Taiheiyo Club Lions	32
Triples		Ron Woods	Chunichi Dragons	7		Bobby Marcano Narihiro Abe Kazuo Hasegawa Sumio Hirota	Hankyu Braves Kintetsu Buffaloes Lotte Orions Lotte Orions	6
Home Runs		Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers	43		Masahiro Doi	Taiheiyo Club Lions	34
Runs Batted In		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	96		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	97
Stolen Bases		Tsuyoshi Oshita	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	44		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	63
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	123		Clarence Jones	Kintetsu Buffaloes	88

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Sohachi Aniya	Hanshin Tigers	1.91		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	2.20
Wins		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	20		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	23
Winning Percentage		Senichi Hoshino	Chunichi Dragons	.773		Osamu Nomura Keishi Suzuki	Nippon Ham Fighters Kintetsu Buffaloes	.786
Losses		Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants	18		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	15
Saves		Takamasa Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons	21		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	13
Innings Pitched		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	287.0		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	317.2
Appearances		Takamasa Suzuki	Chunichi Dragons	67		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	54
Hits Allowed		Kojiro Ikegaya	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	242		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	287
Home Runs Allowed		Yukitsura Matsumoto	Chunichi Dragons	30		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves	36
Strikeouts		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	193		Osamu Higashio	Taiheiyo Club Lions	154
Base-on-Balls		Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	79		Takenori Emoto	Nankai Hawks	78

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Central League two games to one. The first game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 8 - 0. The second game was played at Chunichi Stadium and was won by the CL, 4 - 3. The third game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 3 - 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		Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	40	20	5	0.667	0.0
Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	30	29	6	0.508	6.0		2		Lotte Orions	65	32	31	2	0.508	9.5
Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	34	29	2	0.540	3.5		3		Nankai Hawks	65	30	33	2	0.476	11.5
Nippon Ham Fighters	65	27	30	8	0.474	8.0		4		Taiheiyo Club Lions	65	28	33	4	0.459	12.5
Nankai Hawks	65	27	32	6	0.458	9.0		5		Nippon Ham Fighters	65	28	33	4	0.459	12.5
Lotte Orions	65	27	34	4	0.443	14.0		6		Hankyu Braves	65	26	34	5	0.433	14.0

In the playoffs, the Hankyu Braves, winners of the first-half, defeated the second-half winners, the Kintetsu Buffaloes, 3 games to 1.

In the Nippon Series, the Hankyu Braves (PL) defeated the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (CL), 4 games to 0 with one tie. The winning manager was Toshiharu Ueda and the series MVP was Takashi Yamaguchi.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1975 Sawamura Award was Yoshiro Sotokoba of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. He had a 20 - 13 win-loss record, 193 strikeouts, and a 2.95 ERA in 287.0 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	Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	OF	451	86	144	30	84	24	.319	.406	.565	Did not pitch
	PL	Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	1B	456	74	141	32	97	12	.309	.388	.572	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Not Awarded			Not Available
	PL	Takashi Yamaguchi	Hankyu Braves	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	12 - 13	1	203.0	169	14	75	149	2.93

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1975 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Yoshiro Sotokoba	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		P		Keishi Suzuki	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Koichi Tabuchi	Hanshin Tigers		C		Katsuya Nomura	Nankai Hawks
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves
Tsuyoshi Oshita	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		2B		Bobby Marcano	Hankyu Braves
Sachio Kinugasa	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Toshiyuki Mimura	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		SS		Yutaka Ohashi	Hankyu Braves
Hiroaki Inoue	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Jinten Haku	Taiheiyo Club Lions
Roger Repoz	Yakult Swallows				Sumio Hirota	Lotte Orions
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Kyosuke Sasaki	Kintetsu Buffaloes
			DH		Atsushi Nagaike	Hankyu Braves

Diamond Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1975.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tsuneo Horiuchi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Mitsuhiro Adachi	Hankyu Braves
Akihiko Oya	Yakult Swallows		C		Shuzo Arita	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves
Tsuyoshi Oshita	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		2B		Bobby Marcano	Hankyu Braves
Kinji Shimatani	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Yutaka Ohashi	Hankyu Braves
Shigeru Takada	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Ron Woods	Chunichi Dragons				Sumio Hirota	Lotte Orions
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Ikuo Shimano	Nankai Hawks

High School Baseball

The 57th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2798 schools competing for 38 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Narashino High School (Chiba) defeated Niihama Shogyo High School (Ehime) by a score of 5 - 4.

The 47th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 29 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Kochi High School (Kochi) defeated Tokai University Sagami High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 10 - 5.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1975 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Komazawa University defeated Osaka University of Commerce by a score of 1 - 0.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

Hall of Fame

There was no one elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in this year.