1979 NPB All-Star Game

There were three 1979 NPB All-Star Games. The Central League won twice while the Pacific League won another.

Game 1

Game 1 took place July 21 at Osaka Stadium, with an attendance of 22,429. Sadaharu Oh was 2-for-4 with a homer to win the MVP, and Koji Yamamoto went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and a triple. The starters, Takenori Emoto and Yutaka Yanagida, both pitched 3 shutout innings, and Yutaka Enatsu saved it despite allowing 2 runs in the 9th inning.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	5	11	13	0
Pacific	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	5	1

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Yoshihiko Takahashi, SS (Hiroshima Carp)
2. Koji Yamamoto, CF (Hiroshima)
3. Masayuki Kakefu, 3B (Hanshin Tigers)
4. Sadaharu Oh, 1B (Yomiuri Giants)
5. John Sipin, RF (Yomiuri)
6. Mike Reinbach, LF (Hanshin)
7. Kazumasa Kono, 2B (Yomiuri)
8. Yoshiharu Wakana, C (Hanshin)
9. Takenori Emoto, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Yasunori Oshima, 1B (Chunichi Dragons)
• Masayuki Nakatsuka, PH (Taiyo Whales)
• Morimichi Takagi, PH (Chunichi)
• Akihiko Ohya, C (Yakult Swallows)
• Toru Sugiura, RF (Yakult)
• Hiroaki Inoue, LF (Chunichi)
• Tsutomu Wakamatsu, PH (Yakult)
• Toshiyuki Mimura, 2B (Hiroshima)
• Kenichi Kajima, P (Yakult)
• Hajime Kato, P (Yomiuri)
• Yutaka Enatsu, P (Hiroshima)

Manager

• Tatsuro Hirooka

Coaches

• Takeshi Koba
• Shigeo Nagashima

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Yutaka Fukumoto, CF (Hankyu Braves)
2. Mitsuru Fujiwara, SS (Nankai Hawks)
3. Kinji Shimatani, 3B (Hankyu)
4. Hideji Kato, 1B (Hankyu)
5. Leron Lee, LF (Lotte Orions)
6. Bobby Marcano, RF (Hankyu)
7. Mitsuyasu Hirano, 2B (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
8. Masataka Nashida, C (Kintetsu)
9. Yutaka Yanagida, P (Kintetsu)

Backups Used

• Hideo Furuya, PH (Nippon Ham Fighters)
• Koichi Tabuchi,C (Seibu Lions)
• Masahiro Doi, LF (Seibu)
• Makoto Shimada, RF (Nippon Ham)
• Michiyo Arito, RF (Lotte)
• Junichi Kashiwabara, 1B (Nippon Ham)
• Takayuki Kono, 2B (Nankai)
• Nobuhiro Takashiro, PH (Nippon Ham)
• In-chun Baek, PH (Lotte)
• Shinichi Yamauchi, P (Nankai)
• Tatsumi Murata, P (Kintetsu)
• Yutaro Imai, P (Hankyu)
• Hiroyuki Miura, P (Hankyu)

Manager

• Takao Kajimoto

Coaches

• Keiji Osawa
• Yukio Nishimoto

Umpires

• Tadayuki Inoue (Home), Tadatoshi Saida (1B), Isao Okada (2B), Noboru Makino (3B), Osamu Kubota (LF), Koichi Murata (RF)

Game 2

Game 2 was held July 22 and was held in front of 28,200 fans at Nagoya Baseball Stadium. Hisashi Yamada set the All-Star record as he collected his 6th win with 3 shutout innings, and Choji Murata notched the save. He struck out 4 in 3 innings with only a homer allowed to Koji Yamamoto, and that was the only run for the CL in this game. Bobby Marcano was the MVP winner with his clutch game-winning, two-run double in the 6th inning.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Fujiwara, SS
3. Baek, LF
4. Kato, 1B
5. Marcano, 2B
6. Shimatani, 3B
7. Shimada, RF
8. Shinji Nakazawa, C (Hankyu)
9. Hisashi Yamada, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Kashiwabara, RF
• Takashiro, SS
• Kono, 2B
• Arito, 3B
• Doi, PH
• Nashida, C
• Furuya, PH
• Lee, PH
• Takashi Imoto, P (Kintetsu)
• Hirohisa Matsunuma, P (Seibu)
• Choji Murata, P

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Takahashi, SS
2. Takagi, 2B
3. Kakefu, 3B
4. Oh, 1B
5. Yamamoto, CF
6. Sipin, RF
7. Reinbach, LF
8. Kimata, C
9. Senichi Hoshino, P (Chunichi)

Backups Used

• Oshima, PH
• Kono, SS
• Wakamatsu, PH
• Inoue, LF
• Mimura, 2B
• Sugiura, PH
• Nakatsuka, PH
• Wakana, C
• Jun Misawa, P (Chunichi)
• Kimiya Fujisawa, P (Chunichi)
• Kajima, P
• Manabu Kitabeppu, P (Hiroshima)

Umpires

• Murata (Home), Tomoichi Tanimura (1B), Masataka Ono (2B), Kubota (3B), Makino (LF), Inoue (RF)

Game 3

Game 3 was held July 24 in Meiji-Jingu Stadium; the attendance was 28,438. Another All-Star record was broken as there were 8 homers combined in this game. Yamamoto won the MVP with his 2 homers and 3 RBI, and the second one was a sayonara, 2-run shot off Yanagita. Oh also hit 2 homers, and they were all solo shots. The PL's In-chun Baek, Junichi Kashiwabara, Michiyo Arito and Leron Lee each hit a homer, but only Lee had more than one RBI, and the PL lost the 2-run game.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Fukumoto, CF
2. Baek, LF
3. Arito, SS
4. Kato, 1B
5. Marcano, 2B
6. Furuya, 3B
7. Shimada, RF
8. Nashida, C
9. Naoki Takahashi, P (Hankyu)

Backups Used

• Kono, SS
• Nakazawa, C
• Shimatani, PH
• Takashiro, PR
• Tabuchi, C
• Kashiwabara, RF
• Fujiwara, SS
• Lee, PH
• Doi, PH
• Hirano, PH
• Miura, P
• T.Murata, P
• Imoto, P
• Yanagida, P

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Takahashi, SS
2. Sugiura, RF
3. Kakefu, 3B
4. Oh, 1B
5. Yamamoto, CF
6. Reinbach, LF
7. Oya, C
8. Kono, 2B
9. Shigeru Kobayashi, P (Hanshin)

Backups Used

• Wakamatsu, PH
• Takagi, 2B
• Sipin, PH
• Oshima, RF
• Nakatsuka, PH
• Wakana, C
• Kazuhiko Endo, P (Taiyo)
• Kajima, P
• Kitabeppu, P
• Hisao Niura, P (Yomiuri)

Umpires

• Kubota (Home), Makino (1B), Okada (2B), Ono (3B), Tanimura (LF), Saida (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry