1979 in Japanese Baseball

1979 in baseball
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1979 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

Standings

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

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	67	50	13	0.565	0.0	601	523	0.257	3.74	Takeshi Koba
Yokohama Taiyo Whales	130	59	54	17	0.519	6.0	595	562	0.266	4.05	Kaoru Betto
Chunichi Dragons	130	59	57	14	0.508	7.5	589	566	0.268	3.97	Toshio Naka
Hanshin Tigers	130	61	60	9	0.504	8.0	559	602	0.268	4.15	Don Blasingame
Yomiuri Giants	130	58	62	10	0.485	10.5	554	549	0.259	3.85	Shigeo Nagashima
Yakult Swallows	130	48	69	13	0.419	19.0	550	646	0.252	4.60	Tatsuro Hirooka (31-45-9), Takao Sato (17-24-4)

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hankyu Braves	130	75	44	11	0.619	0.0	695	546	0.281	3.84	Takao Kajimoto
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	74	45	11	0.612	1.0	672	531	0.285	3.70	Yukio Nishimoto
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	63	60	7	0.512	13.0	592	569	0.267	4.09	Keiji Osawa
Lotte Orions	130	55	63	12	0.469	18.5	576	597	0.274	4.30	Kazuhiro Yamauchi
Nankai Hawks	130	46	73	11	0.396	28.0	558	689	0.277	4.86	Yoshinori Hirose
Seibu Lions	130	45	73	12	0.392	28.5	525	686	0.259	4.60	Rikuo Nemoto

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Félix Millán	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	.346		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	.364
Runs		Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers	107		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	101
Hits		Yasunori Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	159		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	163
Doubles		Yasunori Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	33		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	32
Triples		Yoshihiko Takahashi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	7		Yutaka Fukumoto Koji Minoda	Hankyu Braves Kintetsu Buffaloes	9
Home Runs		Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers	48		Charlie Manuel	Kintetsu Buffaloes	37
Runs Batted In		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	113		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves	104
Stolen Bases		Yoshihiko Takahashi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	55		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	60
Walks		Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants	89		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	79

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Masaji Hiramatsu	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	2.39		Tetsuji Yamaguchi	Kintetsu Buffaloes	2.49
Wins		Shigeru Kobayashi	Hanshin Tigers	22		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves	21
Winning Percentage		Kimiya Fujisawa	Chunichi Dragons	.722		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves	.808
Losses		Kazuhiko Endo Takenori Emoto Kenichi Kajima	Yokohama Taiyo Whales Hanshin Tigers Yakult Swallows	12		Tomotaka Sugiyama	Nippon Ham Fighters	17
Saves		Yutaka Enatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	22		Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Nankai Hawks	16
Save Points		Yutaka Enatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	31		Motoyasu Kaneshiro	Nankai Hawks	20
Innings Pitched		Shigeru Kobayashi	Hanshin Tigers	273.2		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	255.0
Appearances		Yutaka Ono	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	58		Tamotsu Nagai	Seibu Lions	63
Hits Allowed		Shigeru Kobayashi	Hanshin Tigers	227		Naoki Takahashi	Nippon Ham Fighters	257
Home Runs Allowed		Kojiro Ikegawa	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	38		Yutaka Yanagida	Kintetsu Buffaloes	34
Strikeouts		Hisao Niura	Yomiuri Giants	223		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	230
Base-on-Balls		Yoshio Tanaka	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	80		Hirohisa Matsunuma	Seibu Lions	80

All-Star Game

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 Osaka Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 11 - 2. The second game was played at Nagoya Stadium and was won by the PL, 3 - 1. The third game was played at Seibu Lions Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 7 - 5.

Postseason

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
Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	39	19	7	0.672	0.0		1		Hankyu Braves	65	36	23	6	0.610	0.0
Hankyu Braves	65	39	21	5	0.650	1.0		2		Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	35	26	4	0.574	2.0
Nippon Ham Fighters	65	34	26	5	0.567	6.0		3		Lotte Orions	65	29	29	7	0.500	6.5
Lotte Orions	65	26	34	5	0.433	14.0		4		Nippon Ham Fighters	65	29	34	2	0.460	9.0
Nankai Hawks	65	23	39	3	0.371	18.0		5		Seibu Lions	65	27	33	5	0.450	9.5
Seibu Lions	65	18	40	7	0.310	21.0		6		Nankai Hawks	65	23	34	8	0.404	12.0

In the playoffs, the Kintetsu Buffaloes, winners of the first-half, defeated the second-half winners, the Hankyu Braves, 3 games to 0.

In the Nippon Series, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (CL) defeated the Kintetsu Buffaloes (PL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Takeshi Koba and the series MVP was Yoshihiko Takahashi.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1979 Sawamura Award was Shigeru Kobayashi of the Hanshin Tigers. He had a 22 - 9 win-loss record, 200 strikeouts, and a 2.89 ERA in 273.2 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	Yutaka Enatsu	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	P	16	1	3	0	2	0	.188	.188	.250	9 - 5	22	104.2	77	10	36	117	2.66
	PL	Charlie Manuel	Kintetsu Buffaloes	OF	333	69	108	37	94	0	.324	.434	.712	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Kimiya Fujisawa	Chunichi Dragons	P	60	3	8	0	2	0	.133	.188	.133	13 - 5	0	185.1	158	15	69	129	2.82
	PL	Hirohisa Matsunuma	Seibu Lions	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	16 - 10	0	212.1	189	25	80	134	4.03

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1979 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Shigeru Kobayashi	Hanshin Tigers		P		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves
Tatsuhiko Kimata	Chunichi Dragons		C		Masataka Nashida	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Hideji Kato	Hankyu Braves
Felix Millan	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		2B		Bobby Marcano	Hankyu Braves
Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Kinji Shimatani	Hankyu Braves
Yoshihiko Takahashi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		SS		Shigeru Ishiwata	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Mike Reinbach	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Hiromasa Arai	Nankai Hawks
Tsutomu Wakamatsu	Yakult Swallows				Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Shigeru Kurihashi	Kintetsu Buffaloes
			DH		Charlie Manuel	Kintetsu Buffaloes

Diamond Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1979.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves
Yoshiharu Wakana	Hanshin Tigers		C		Masataka Nashida	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Sadaharu Oh	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Junichi Kashiwabara	Nippon Ham Fighters
Morimichi Takagi	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Bobby Marcano	Hankyu Braves
Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Kinji Shimatani	Hankyu Braves
Daisuke Yamashita	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		SS		Nobuhiro Takashiro	Nippon Ham Fighters
Jim Lyttle	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
John Scott	Yakult Swallows				Mitsuyasu Hirano	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Koji Minoda	Hankyu Braves

High School Baseball

The 61st National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3170 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Minoshima High School (Wakayama) defeated Ikeda High School (Tokushima) by a score of 4 - 3.

The 51st National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 30 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Minoshima High School (Wakayama) defeated Naniwa Shogyo High School (Osaka) by a score of 8 - 7.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1979 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Chuo University defeated Waseda University by a score of 7 - 3.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Meiji University defeated Meijo University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The AL/NL All-Stars toured Japan in the fall of 1979. The AL and NL All-Stars played 7 games versus each other, with the NL recording 4 wins to the AL's 2 wins with 1 tie. The Major League teams then combined to face Japanese competition andwpos ed a1 - 1 - 0 arecord.

In the fourth Intercontinental Cup in Cuba, the Japanese national baseball team won a silver medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Kunikazu Ogawa: Vancouver Canadians, Pacific Coast (MIL-AAA)

Hall of Fame

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

• Takehiko Bessho, by Sportswriters Committee
• Ryozo Hiranuma, by Special Committee
• Goro Taniguchi, by Special Committee