1977 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1977 NPB All-Star Games.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 23 at Heiwadai Baseball Stadium in front of 27,271 fans. Tsutomu Wakamatsu went 3 for 5 to be named game MVP, while Kenichi Kajima got the win and Takamasa Suzuki a 3-inning save. Mitsuo Inaba gave up both CL runs to take the loss.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Tsutomu Wakamatsu, RF (Yakult Swallows)
2. Isao Shibata, CF (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Masayuki Kakefu, 3B (Hanshin Tigers)
4. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri)
5. Isao Harimoto, LF (Yomiuri)
6. Katsuhiro Nakamura, 2B (Hanshin)
7. Kazumasa Kono, SS (Yomiuri)
8. Takashi Yoshida, C (Yomiuri)
9. Takenori Emoto, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Koji Yamamoto, CF (Hiroshima Carp)
• Tatsuhiko Kimata, C (Chunichi Dragons)
• Takamasa Suzuki, P (Chunichi)
• John Sipin, 2B (Taiyo Whales)
• Tomio Tashiro, 3B (Taiyo)
• Hal Breeden, 1B (Hanshin)
• Yoshikazu Takagi, PH (Taiyo)
• Yasujiro Suzuki, P (Yakult)
• Kenichi Kajima, P (Yakult)
• Katsuo Osugi, PH (Yakult)
• Sachio Kinugasa, PR (Hiroshima)
• Hisaaki Fukushima, C (Hanshin)
• Yasunori Oshima, RF (Chunichi)

Manager

• Shigeo Nagashima

Coaches

• Takeshi Koba
• Yoshio Yoshida

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yutaka Fukumoto, CF (Hankyu Braves)
2. Hiroyuki Yamazaki, 2B (Lotte Orions)
3. Hideji Kato, 1B (Hankyu)
4. Hiromitsu Kadota, RF (Nankai Hawks
5. Koji Ota, P (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
6. Michiyo Arito, 3B (Lotte)
7. Katsuya Nomura, C (Nankai)
8. Kohei Shimamoto, LF (Kintetsu)
9. Chiaki Sadaoka, SS (Nankai)

Backups Used

• Tamotsu Nagai, P (Crown Lighter Lions)
• Leron Lee, PH (Lotte)
• Mitsuo Inaba, P (Hankyu)
• Takashi Yamaguchi, P (Hankyu)
• Sumio Hirota, PH (Lotte)
• Manabu Fujita, P (Nankai)
• Kinji Shimatani, 3B (Hankyu)
• Kazumi Takahashi, P (Nippon Ham)
• Shigeru Ishiwata, SS (Kintetsu)
• Yoshiharu Wakana, C (Crown Lighter)
• Walt Williams, LF (Nippon Ham)
• Takahiro Tokutsu, PH (Lotte)
• Motoyasu Kaneshiro, P (Nankai)
• Mitsuo Motoi, 2B (Crown Lighter)

Manager

• Toshiharu Ueda

Coaches

• Michihiro Takabatake
• Hiromitsu Tsuchiya

Umpires

• Hiroshi Fukui, Makoto Kuboyama, Isao Okada, Masao Yoshida, Yoshiki Matsuhashi, Hiromichi Nakamura

Game 2

Game 2 was held July 24 and was held in front of 28,085 fans at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium. The PL tied the Series with a 4-0 win, with 42-year-old legendary catcher Katsuya Nomura winning MVP honors. Hisashi Yamada got the win over Kenji Furusawa.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Wakamatsu, RF
2. Shibata, CF
3. Kakefu, 3B
4. Oh, 1B
5. Harimoto, LF
6. Nakamura, 2B
7. Kono, SS
8. Yoshida, C
9. Kenji Furusawa, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Yamamoto, CF
• Shigeru Kobayashi, P (Yomiuri)
• Breeden, PH
• Kinugasa, LF
• Sipin, 2B
• Tashiro, 3B
• Fukushima, C
• Takagi, PH
• Kimata, C
• Tomotaka Sugiyama, P
• Osugi, PH
• Oshima, RF

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Yamazaki, 2B
3. H. Kato, 1B
4. Kadota, RF
5. Arito, 3B
6. Sadaoka, SS
7. Nomura, C
8. Shimamoto, LF
9. Hisashi Yamada, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Naoki Takahashi, P (Nippon Ham)
• Williams, PH
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)
• Ishiwata, SS
• Shimatani, 3B
• Toshio Kato, C (Nippon Ham)
• Nagai, P
• Tokotsu, PH
• Motoi, 2B
• Lee, LF
• Hirota, LF

Umpires

• Noriyuki Fujimoto, Matsuhashi, Yoshida, Hiroshi Maruyama, Nakamura, Fukui

Game 3

Game 3 was held July 26 in Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium; the attendance was 34,363. The CL won, 4-3, to take the Series, with Sadaharu Oh homering and being named game MVP. Kazumasa Kono had two steals and two runs. As in game 1, Kenichi Kajima got the win and Takamasa Suzuki the save. Manabu Fujita took the loss.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Wakamatsu, RF
2. Kakefu, 3B
3. Harimoto, LF
4. Oh, 1B
5. Shibata, CF
6. Nakamura, 2B
7. Kono, SS
8. Yoshida, C
9. Takeshi Yasuda, P (Yakult)

Backups Used

• Kinugasa, 3B
• Yamamoto, CF
• Sipin, 2B
• Osugi, 1B
• Takagi, RF
• Fukushima, C
• Kimata, C
• Oshima, PH
• Satoshi Takahashi, P (Hiroshima)
• Kajima, P
• Tashiro, PH
• Y. Suzuki, P
• Breeden, PH
• T. Suzuki, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Yamazaki, 2B
3. H. Kato, 1B
4. Kadota, RF
5. Arito, 3B
6. Sadaoka, SS
7. Nomura, C
8. Shimamoto, LF
9. K. Suzuki, P

Backups Used

• Ishiwata, SS
• Lee, PH
• Wakana, C
• Choji Murata, P (Lotte)
• Nagai, P
• Yamaguchi, P
• Hirota, 2B
• Shimatani, 3B
• T. Kato, C
• Tokotsu, RF
• K. Takahashi, P
• Fujita, P
• Williams, LF

Umpires

• Maruyama, Nakamura, Okada, Kuboyama, Fukui, Fujimoto

Sources

• Michael Westbay database
• Information from the now-defunct japanbaseballdaily.com site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry