1978 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1978 NPB All-Star Games. There was some scandal involved as the Nippon Ham Fighters (with excellent attendance due to strong promotions) stuffed the ballot, with 8 of the 9 players being voted in (though not necessarily as starters; managers pick the starting lineup rather than it being voted in). Two picks, 3B Hideo Furuya and SS Mitsuo Sugano, rejected their nominations, reportedly under the advise of Nippon Ham president Osamu Mihara. Yutaka Fukumoto was the only non-Fighter to be voted in. This mirrored controversy over the Cincinnati Reds in the 1957 All-Star Game in the US (a similar complaint arose with the 1988 All-Star Game and the A's).

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 22 at Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium in front of 29,137 fans. Adrian Garrett made history with the first three-homer effort in the NPB All-Star Game, now in its 28th year; he easily won game MVP with his 3-homer, 6-RBI display. Hiroaki Fukushi got the win with three perfect innings while Naoki Takahashi took the loss.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	5	12	0
Central	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	-	7	7	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Dave Hilton, 2B (Yakult Swallows)
2. Tsutomu Wakamatsu, RF (Yakult)
3. Koji Yamamoto, CF (Hiroshima Carp)
4. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri Giants)
5. Koichi Tabuchi, C (Hanshin Tigers)
6. Masayuki Kakefu, 3B (Hanshin)
7. Adrian Garrett, LF (Hiroshima)
8. Daisuke Yamashita, SS (Taiyo Whales)
9. Hiroaki Fukushi, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Yutaka Enatsu, P (Hiroshima)
• Fujio Sumi, 3B (Yakult)
• Makoto Matsubara, 1B (Taiyo)
• Akihiko Oya, C (Yakult)
• Isao Harimoto, PH (Yomiuri)
• Tatsuhiko Kimata, C (Chunichi Dragons)
• Shigeyuki Takahashi, P (Taiyo)
• Isao Shibata, PH (Yomiuri)
• Kazumasa Kono, SS (Yomiuri)
• Shinichiro Ihara, P (Yakult)
• Takamasa Suzuki, P (Chunichi)
• Yoshikazu Takagi, RF (Taiyo)

Manager

• Shigeo Nagashima

Coaches

• Tatsuro Hirooka
• Toshio Naka

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yutaka Fukumoto, CF (Hankyu Braves)
2. Koji Minoda, RF (Hankyu)
3. Hideji Kato, 1B (Hankyu)
4. Masahiro Doi, LF (Crown Lighter Lions)
5. Bobby Marcano, 2B (Hankyu)
6. Michiyo Arito, SS (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
7. Kinji Shimatani, 3B (Hankyu)
8. Toshio Kato, C (Nippon Ham Fighters)
9. Naoki Takahashi, P (Nippon Ham)

Backups Used

• Junichi Kashiwabara, 1B (Nippon Ham)
• Yutaka Yanagida, P (Kintetsu)
• Mitsuru Fujiwara, 3B (Nankai Hawks)
• Akinobu Mayumi, SS (Crown Lighter)
• Shigeru Kurihashi, PH (Kintetsu)
• Shinji Nakazawa, C (Hankyu)
• Bobby Mitchell, PH (Nippon Ham)
• Mikio Sendo, PH (Nippon Ham)
• Manabu Fujita, P (Nankai)
• Masaru Tomita, PH (Nippon Ham)
• Yoshinori Sato, P (Hankyu)
• Kyosuke Sasaki, RF (Kintetsu)

Manager

• Yoshinori Hirose (filling in for Toshiharu Ueda)

Coaches

• Michihiro Takabatake
• Yoshihiro Nakata

Umpires

• Isamu Teramoto, Hiroya Tomizawa, Isao Kyuki, Kiyoshi Hirako, Tatsuya Hayashi, Katsuo Takemoto

Game 2

Game 2 took place July 23 at Hanshin Koshien Baseball Stadium with an attendance of 37,787. The PL tied the Series thanks to a stellar effort from game MVP Koji Minoda (3 for 5, 3 R, 4 RBI, the first steal of home in a NPB All-Star Game). Hisashi Yamada got the win and Osamu Higashio the save while Kazuyuki Yamamoto lost it. Yamada, Keishi Suzuki and Higashio each tossed three shutout innings in the four-hit gem.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Hilton, 2B
2. Wakamatsu, RF
3. Ko. Yamamoto, CF
4. Oh, 1B
5. Tabuchi, C
6. Kakefu, 3B
7. Garrett, LF
8. Kono, SS
9. Kazuyuki Yamamoto, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Matsubara, RF
• Shibata, CF
• Takagi, PH
• Hisao Niura, P (Yomiuri)
• Harimoto, PH
• Terashi Donoue, P (Chunichi)
• Sumi, PH
• Akio Saito, P (Taiyo)
• Yamashita, SS

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Minoda, RF
3. Marcano, 2B
4. Doi, LF
5. Shimatani, 3B
6. Kashiwabara, 1B
7. Mayumi, SS
8. Nakazawa, C
9. Hisashi Yamada, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Tomita, 2B
• Mitchell, PH
• Sasaki, RF
• Kurihashi, RF
• Osamu Higashio, P (Crown Lighter)
• H. Kato, 1B
• Arito, 1B
• Shuzo Arita, C (Kintetsu)
• T. Kato, C
• Keishi Suzuki, P (Kintetsu)
• Sendo, PH
• Fujiwara, 3B

Umpires

• Fumio Yamamoto, Hayashi, Takemoto, Kyuki, Hirako, Yoshio Maekawa

Game 3

Game 3 was July 5 in Korakuen Baseball Stadium. 39,233 fans showed up. Just two games after Garrett became the first three-homer man in NPB All-Star annals, teammate Masayuki Kakefu went deep in all three at-bats today to be named MVP. Through 2022, he remains the only player to homer in three straight NPB All-Star Game at-bats. The other third baseman, the PL's Mitsuru Fujiwara was 3 for 4 with four RBI. Osamu Nomura had the win, Yutaka Enatsu the save and Kazushi Saeki the loss.

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

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Shibata, CF
2. Hilton, 2B
3. Kakefu, 3B
4. Oh, RF
5. Tabuchi, C1B
6. Garrett, LF
7. Kono, SS
8. Oya, C
9. Shigeru Kobayashi, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Takagi, PH
• Yasujiro Suzuki, P (Yakult)
• Harimoto, PH
• T. Suzuki, P
• Donoue, P
• Sumi, PH
• Fukushi, P
• Enatsu, P
• Matsubara, 1B
• Ko. Yamamoto, CF
• Yamashita, SS
• Kimata, C
• Nomura, P
• Wakamatsu, CF/RF

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Minoda, RF
3. H. Kato, 1B
4. Mitchell, LF
5. Arito, SS
6. Tomita, 2B
7. Fujiwara, 3B
8. Arita, C
9. Choji Murata, P (Lotte Orions)

Backups Used

• Kurihashi, RF
• Sasaki, PH
• Kashiwabara, LF
• Marcano, 2B
• T. Kato, C
• Nakazawa, C
• Sendo, PH
• Kazushi Saeki, P (Nippon Ham)
• Sato, P
• Shimatani, PH
• Fujita, P
• Takashi Yamaguchi, P (Hankyu)
• Yanagida, P
• Doi, PH
• Mayumi, RF

Umpires

• Maekawa, Hirako, Hayashi, Tomizawa, Teramoto, Yamamoto

Sources

• Michael Westbay database
• Information from the now-defunct japanbaseballdaily.com site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry
• 1978 article from the Tokyo Weekender