1976 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1976 NPB All-Star Games, and the Pacific League won twice while the Central League won another.

Game 1

Game 1 was July 17 with 25,544 fans coming to Kawasaki Stadium. Michiyo Arito was 2-for-4 to win MVP, and Yutaka Fukumoto added an insurance run with a solo shot in the 9th inning. The starter of the CL, Kojiro Ikegaya, struck out 5 in 3 shutout innings but ended up with a no-decision.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yutaka Fukumoto, CF (Hankyu Braves)
2. Hiroyuki Yamazaki, SS (Lotte Orions)
3. Hideji Kato,1B (Hankyu)
4. Hiromitsu Kadota, RF (Nankai Hawks)
5. Katsuya Nomura, C (Nankai)
6. Masahiro Doi, LF (Taiheiyo Club Lions)
7. Michiyo Arito, 3B (Lotte)
8. Bobby Marcano, 2B (Hankyu)
9. Hisashi Yamada, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Yoshihito Oda, 1B (Nippon Ham Fighters)
• Chiaki Sadaoka, SS (Nankai)
• Tadayoshi Okuma, LF (Hankyu)
• Kohei Shimamoto, LF (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
• Mitsuru Fujiwara, 3B (Nankai)
• Shuzo Arita, C (Kintetsu)
• Bernie Williams, RF (Hankyu)
• Takuji Ota, PH (Taiheiyo)
• Osamu Higashio, P (Taiheiyo)
• Michio Sato, P (Nankai)
• Osamu Nomura, P (Nippon Ham)

Manager

• Toshiharu Ueda

Coaches

• Akira Ohgi
• Yasuo Takiuchi

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Shigeru Takada, 3B (Yomiuri Giants)
2. Koji Yamamoto, CF (Hiroshima Carp)
3. Isao Harimoto, LF (Yomiuri)
4. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri)
5. Koichi Tabuchi, C (Hanshin Tigers)
6. Tsutomu Wakamatsu, RF (Yakult Swallows)
7. Makoto Matsubara, 2B (Taiyo Whales)
8. Taira Fujita, SS (Hanshin)
9. Kojiro Ikegaya, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Gail Hopkins, PH (Hiroshima)
• Sachio Kinugasa, 3B (Hiroshima)
• Masayuki Kakefu, PH (Hanshin)
• Takashi Yoshida, C (Yomiuri)
• Kinji Shimatani, PH (Chunichi Dragons)
• Kenichi Yazawa, RF (Chunichi)
• Hisaaki Fukushima, C (Taiyo)
• Toshimitsu Suetsugu, CF (Yomiuri)
• Kazuyuki Yamamoto, P (Hanshin)
• Hideyuki Okue, P (Taiyo)
• Takamasa Suzuki, P (Chunichi)

Manager

• Takeshi Koba

Coaches

• Wally Yonamine
• Yoshio Yoshida

Umpires

• Yutaka Okada (Home), Hiroya Tomizawa (1B), Yoichi Igarashi (2B), Kiyoshi Hirakou (3B), Noriyuki Fujimoto (LF), Toshio Kashiwagi (RF)

Game 2

The next day, 44,864 fans came to Korakuen Stadium and the PL took the series. Hiromitsu Kadota was 4-for-5 with a homer to win the MVP, and Mitsuru Fujiwara went 3-for-3 while driving in 3 runs; all his 3 hits were doubles. Fukumoto collected 3 RBI with a homer, and Tadayoshi Okuma added an insurance run with a solo shot in the 9th inning. The CL prevented a perfect game thanks to Koji Yamamoto's homer.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	2	1	0	0	1	3	2	1	1	11	16	0
Central	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Yamazaki, 2B
3. Kato, 1B
4. Kadota, RF
5. Arito, SS
6. Shimamoto, LF
7. Fujiwara, 3B
8. Kenichiro Kawamura, C (Hankyu)
9. Takashi Yamaguchi, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Doi, PH
• Marcano, 2B
• Oda, 1B
• Sadaoka, SS
• Nomura, PH
• Okuma, LF
• Ota, PH
• Arita, C
• Williams, CF
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)
• Shinichi Yamauchi, P (Nankai)
• Choji Murata, P (Lotte)

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Yamamoto, CF
2. Fujita, SS
3. Oh, 1B
4. Harimoto, 2B
5. Tabuchi, C
6. Matsubara, PH
7. Suetsugu, PH
8. Takada, RF
9. Shigeru Kobayashi, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Fukushima, PH
• Kinugasa, 3B
• Shimatani, 2B
• Yazawa, PH
• Yoshida, C
• Hopkins, PH
• Kakefu, SS
• Wakamatsu, PH
• Hiromu Matsuoka, P (Yakult)
• Masaji Hiramatsu, P (Taiyo)
• Hisao Niura, P (Yomiuri)

Umpires

• Tomoichi Tanimura (Home), Fujimoto (1B), Hirakou (2B), Igarashi (3B), Kashiwagi (LF), Masatoshi Kato (RF)

Game 3

Game 3 was held July 20 in Osaka Stadium; the attendance was 27,585. The CL drew 4 walks in the first inning and scored 2. Takashi Yoshida won the MVP with his 2-run triple. Their opponents only had 5 hits, and Kadota's double in the first inning drove in their only run.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Yamamoto, CF
2. Kinugasa, SS
3. Harimoto, LF
4. Oh, 1B
5. Tabuchi, C
6. Matsubara, 2B
7. Suetsugu, RF
8. Takada, 3B
9. Takenori Emoto, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Yazawa, PH
• Hopkins, PH
• Yoshida, PH
• Kakefu, 3B
• Fukushima, C
• Wakamatsu, LF
• Shimatani, 3B
• Fujita, SS
• Senichi Hoshino, P (Chunichi)
• Kazushi Saeki, P (Hiroshima)
• Yamamoto, P
• Hajime Kato, P (Yomiuri)
• Suzuki, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Fujiwara, 3B
3. Kato, 1B
4. Kadota, RF
5. Nomura, PH
6. Doi, PH
7. Marcano, 2B
8. Sadaoka, SS
9. Yutaka Enatsu, P (Nankai)

Backups Used

• Oda, PH
• Williams, RF
• Arita, C
• Arito, SS
• Shimamoto, PH
• Ota, PH
• Yamazaki, PH
• Mitsuhiro Adachi, P (Hankyu)
• Yoshinori Toda, P (Hankyu)
• Higashio, P
• Nomura, P
• Sato, P
• Yamaguchi, P
• Murata, P

Umpires

• Kato (Home), Kashiwagi (1B), Fujimoto (2B), Tomizawa (3B), Okada (LF), Tanimura (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry