1977 in Japanese Baseball

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1977 in baseball
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1977 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball[edit]

On September 3, Sadaharu Oh hits the 756th home run of his career to surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time home run king.

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)
Yomiuri Giants 130 80 46 4 0.631 0.0 648 504 0.280 3.48 Shigeo Nagashima
Yakult Swallows 130 62 58 10 0.515 15.0 593 553 0.267 4.01 Tatsuro Hirooka
Chunichi Dragons 130 64 61 5 0.512 15.5 575 614 0.275 4.38 Wally Yonamine
Hanshin Tigers 130 55 63 12 0.469 21.0 558 590 0.267 4.38 Yoshio Yoshida
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 130 51 67 12 0.438 25.0 603 672 0.268 4.83 Takeshi Koba
Taiyo Whales 130 51 68 11 0.435 25.5 643 687 0.268 4.94 Kaoru Betto

Pacific League[edit]

Team G W L T WPCT GB RS RA AVG ERA Manager(s)
Hankyu Braves 130 69 51 10 0.569 0.0 569 475 0.269 3.23 Toshiharu Ueda
Nankai Hawks 130 63 55 12 0.531 5.0 502 471 0.250 3.15 Katsuya Nomura
Lotte Orions 130 60 57 13 0.512 7.5 526 485 0.270 3.17 Masaichi Kaneda
Kintetsu Buffaloes 130 59 61 10 0.492 10.0 453 483 0.245 3.31 Yukio Nishimoto
Nippon Ham Fighters 130 58 61 11 0.488 10.5 479 485 0.246 3.36 Keiji Osawa
Crown Lighter Lions 130 49 73 8 0.408 21.0 468 598 0.250 4.27 Masakazu Kito

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 Tsutomu Wakamatsu Yakult Swallows .358 Michiyo Arito Lotte Orions .329
Runs Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 114 Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves 89
Hits Tsutomu Wakamatsu Yakult Swallows 158 Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves 165
Doubles Jitsuo Mizutani Hiroshima Toyo Carp 31 Leron Lee Lotte Orions 30
Triples Isao Shibata Yomiuri Giants 7 Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves 9
Home Runs Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 50 Leron Lee Lotte Orions 34
Runs Batted In Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 124 Leron Lee Lotte Orions 109
Stolen Bases Isao Shibata Yomiuri Giants 34 Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves 61
Walks Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 126 Mitsuo Motoi
Masahiro Doi
Crown Lighter Lions
Crown Lighter Lions
57

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Central League Pacific League
Leader Team Number Leader Team Number
ERA Hisao Niura Yomiuri Giants 2.32 Hisashi Yamada Hankyu Braves 2.28
Wins Satoshi Takahashi Hiroshima Toyo Carp 20 Keishi Suzuki Kintetsu Buffaloes 20
Winning Percentage Hisao Niura Yomiuri Giants .786 Mitsuo Inaba Hankyu Braves .739
Losses Kenji Furusawa Hanshin Tigers 17 Osamu Higashio Crown Lighter Lions 20
Saves Takamasa Suzuki
Kazuyuki Yamamoto
Hisao Niura
Chunichi Dragons
Hanshin Tigers
Yomiuri Giants
9 Yutaka Enatsu Nankai Hawks 19
Save Points Takamasa Suzuki Chunichi Dragons 23 Yutaka Enatsu Nankai Hawks 22
Innings Pitched Satoshi Takahashi Hiroshima Toyo Carp 284.2 Naoki Takahashi Nippon Ham Fighters 278.2
Appearances Kazuyuki Yamamoto Hanshin Tigers 58 Masanori Murakami Nippon Ham Fighters 61
Hits Allowed Satoshi Takahashi Hiroshima Toyo Carp 289 Osamu Higashio Crown Lighter Lions 259
Home Runs Allowed Kojiro Ikegaya Hiroshima Toyo Carp 48 Osamu Higashio Crown Lighter Lions 30
Strikeouts Kojiro Ikegaya Hiroshima Toyo Carp 176 Choji Murata Lotte Orions 180
Base-on-Balls Satoshi Takahashi Hiroshima Toyo Carp 111 Takashi Yamaguchi Hankyu Braves 85

All-Star Game[edit]

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 Heiwadai Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 2 - 1. The second game was played at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 0. The third game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 4 - 3.

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 35 25 5 0.583 0.0 1 Lotte Orions 65 33 24 8 0.579 0.0
Nankai Hawks 65 33 26 6 0.559 1.5 2 Hankyu Braves 65 34 26 5 0.567 0.5
Kintetsu Buffaloes 65 31 26 8 0.544 2.5 3 Nankai Hawks 65 30 29 6 0.509 4.0
Nippon Ham Fighters 65 31 29 5 0.517 4.0 4 Nippon Ham Fighters 65 27 32 6 0.458 7.0
Lotte Orions 65 27 33 5 0.450 8.0 5 Crown Lighter Lions 65 29 35 1 0.453 7.5
Crown Lighter Lions 65 20 38 7 0.345 14.0 6 Kintetsu Buffaloes 65 28 35 2 0.444 8.0

In the playoffs, the Hankyu Braves, winners of the first-half, defeated the second-half winners, the Lotte Orions, 3 games to 2.

In the Nippon Series, the Hankyu Braves (PL) defeated the Yomiuri Giants (CL), 4 games to 1. It was the Braves third consecutive title. The winning manager was Toshiharu Ueda and the series MVP was Hisashi Yamada.

Award Winners[edit]

The winner of the 1977 Sawamura Award was Shigeru Kobayashi of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 18 - 8 win-loss record, 155 strikeouts, and a 2.92 ERA in 216.1 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 432 114 140 50 124 1 .324 .477 .706 Did not pitch
PL Hisashi Yamada Hankyu Braves P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .--- .--- .--- 16 - 10 7 240.2 204 19 46 132 2.28
Rookie of the Year CL Akio Saito Yokohama Taiyo Whales P 45 0 4 0 2 0 .089 .109 .089 8 - 9 0 141.1 156 17 61 87 4.40
PL Yoshinori Sato Hankyu Braves P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .--- .--- .--- 7 - 3 1 109.2 104 11 50 75 3.86

Best Nine[edit]

The following players were part of the 1977 Best Nine teams.

Central League Position Pacific League
Player Team Player Team
Shigeru Kobayashi Yomiuri Giants P Hisashi Yamada Hankyu Braves
Tatsuhiko Kimata Chunichi Dragons C Toshio Kato Nippon Ham Fighters
Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 1B Hideji Kato Hankyu Braves
Morimichi Takagi Chunichi Dragons 2B Bobby Marcano Hankyu Braves
Masayuki Kakefu Hanshin Tigers 3B Michiyo Arito Lotte Orions
Kazumasa Kono Yomiuri Giants SS Shigeru Ishiwata Kintetsu Buffaloes
Isao Harimoto Yomiuri Giants OF Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves
Tsutomu Wakamatsu Yakult Swallows Hiromitsu Kadota Nankai Hawks
Koji Yamamoto Hiroshima Toyo Carp Leron Lee Lotte Orions
DH Yasuhiro Takai Hankyu Braves

Diamond Gloves[edit]

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1977.

Central League Position Pacific League
Player Team Player Team
Tsuneo Horiuchi Yomiuri Giants P Hisashi Yamada Hankyu Braves
Tatsuhiko Kimata Chunichi Dragons C Toshio Kato Nippon Ham Fighters
Sadaharu Oh Yomiuri Giants 1B Hideji Kato Hankyu Braves
Morimichi Takagi Chunichi Dragons 2B Hiroyuki Yamazaki Lotte Orions
Shigeru Takada Yomiuri Giants 3B Kinji Shimatani Hankyu Braves
Daisuke Yamashita Taiyo Whales SS Yutaka Ohashi Hankyu Braves
Isao Shibata Yomiuri Giants OF Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves
Tsutomu Wakamatsu Yakult Swallows Sumio Hirota Lotte Orions
Koji Yamamoto Hiroshima Toyo Carp Tadayoshi Okuma Hankyu Braves

High School Baseball[edit]

The 59th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 2985 schools competing for 41 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Toyo University Himeji High School (Hyogo) defeated Toho High School (Aichi) by a score of 4 - 1 with the game being won on a The game is won on a three-run sayonara homerun The bottom of the tenth.

The 49th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 30 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Minoshima High School (Wakayama) defeated Nakamura High School (Kochi) by a score of 3 - 1.

University Baseball[edit]

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series[edit]

The 1977 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Komazawa University defeated Tokai University by a score of 4 - 3.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention[edit]

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League[edit]

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

Tohto University Base Ball League[edit]

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League[edit]

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

International Baseball[edit]

In the third Intercontinental Cup in Nicaragua, the Japanese national baseball team won a bronze medal.

Hall of Fame[edit]

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

Japanese Baseball Seasons

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