1981 in Japanese Baseball

1981 in baseball
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1981 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Yomiuri Giants	130	73	48	9	0.596	0.0	517	418	0.268	2.88	Motoshi Fujita
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	67	54	9	0.550	6.0	605	519	0.274	3.66	Takeshi Koba
Hanshin Tigers	130	67	58	5	0.535	8.0	523	480	0.272	3.32	Futoshi Nakanishi
Yakult Swallows	130	56	58	16	0.492	13.5	520	591	0.255	4.30	Shiro Takegami
Chunichi Dragons	130	58	65	7	0.473	16.0	545	537	0.268	3.71	Sadao Kondo
Yokohama Taiyo Whales	130	42	80	8	0.354	31.5	444	609	0.252	4.41	Kiyoshi Doi

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	68	54	8	0.554	0.0	610	554	0.276	3.81	Keiji Osawa
Hankyu Braves	130	68	58	4	0.538	2.0	579	597	0.267	4.01	Toshiharu Ueda
Lotte Orions	130	63	57	10	0.523	4.0	567	597	0.277	4.16	Kazuhiro Yamauchi
Seibu Lions	130	61	61	8	0.500	7.0	599	513	0.267	3.62	Rikuo Nemoto
Nankai Hawks	130	53	65	12	0.454	13.0	544	619	0.273	4.37	Don Blasingame
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	54	72	4	0.431	16.0	557	576	0.253	4.10	Yukio Nishimoto

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers	.358		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Lotte Orions	.326
Runs		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	102		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Seibu Lions	97
Hits		Yasushi Tao	Chunichi Dragons	174		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Lotte Orions	150
Doubles		Daisuke Yamashita	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	31		Tommy Cruz	Nippon Ham Fighters	30
Triples		Kiyoshi Nakahata Shintaro Mizutani	Yomiuri Giants Yakult Swallows	7		Hiromasa Arai	Nankai Hawks	8
Home Runs		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	43		Hiromitsu Kadota Tony Solaita	Nankai Hawks Nippon Ham Fighters	44
Runs Batted In		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	103		Tony Solaita	Nippon Ham Fighters	108
Stolen Bases		Minoru Aoki	Yakult Swallows	34		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves	54
Walks		Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers	87		Hiromitsu Kadota	Nankai Hawks	92

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants	2.29		Noriaki Okabe	Nippon Ham Fighters	2.70
Wins		Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants	20		Yutaro Imai Choji Murata	Hankyu Braves Lotte Orions	19
Winning Percentage		Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants	.769		Shigekuni Mashiba	Nippon Ham Fighters	1.000
Losses		Akio Saito	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	15		Yutaro Imai	Hankyu Braves	15
Saves		Mitsuo Sumi	Yomiuri Giants	20		Yutaka Enatsu	Nippon Ham Fighters	25
Save Points		Mitsuo Sumi	Yomiuri Giants	28		Yutaka Enatsu	Nippon Ham Fighters	28
Innings Pitched		Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants	257.1		Yutaro Imai	Hankyu Braves	231.1
Appearances		Yutaka Ono Masao Sato	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Yokohama Taiyo Whales	57		Tamotsu Nagai	Seibu Lions	61
Hits Allowed		Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants	232		Shinichi Yamauchi	Nankai Hawks	260
Home Runs Allowed		Hiromu Matsuoka	Yakult Swallows	29		Yutaro Imai	Hankyu Braves	30
Strikeouts		Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants	221		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	154
Base-on-Balls		Hiroaki Fukushi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	76		Norihiro Mizutani	Lotte Orions	87

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 Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 5 - 3. The second game was played at Yokohama Stadium and was won by the CL, 6 - 3. The third game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 6 - 0.

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
Lotte Orions	65	35	26	4	0.574	0.0		1		Nippon Ham Fighters	65	37	23	5	0.617	0.0
Seibu Lions	65	33	28	4	0.541	2.0		2		Hankyu Braves	65	36	28	1	0.563	3.0
Hankyu Braves	65	32	30	3	0.516	3.5		3		Lotte Orions	65	28	31	6	0.475	8.5
Nippon Ham Fighters	65	31	31	3	0.500	4.5		4		Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	29	34	2	0.460	9.5
Nankai Hawks	65	29	32	4	0.475	6.0		5		Seibu Lions	65	28	33	3	0.459	9.5
Kintetsu Buffaloes	65	25	38	2	0.397	11.0		6		Nankai Hawks	65	24	33	8	0.421	11.5

In the playoffs, the Nippon Ham Fighters, winners of the second-half, defeated the first-half winners, the Lotte Orions, 3 games to 1 with one tie.

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nippon Ham Fighters (PL), 4 games to 2. The winning manager was Motoshi Fujita and the series MVP was Takashi Nishimoto.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1981 Sawamura Award was Takashi Nishimoto of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 18 - 12 win-loss record, 126 strikeouts, and a 2.58 ERA in 257.2 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	Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants	P	80	3	14	1	8	0	.175	.179	.250	20 - 6	0	240.1	187	27	38	221	2.29
	PL	Yutaka Enatsu	Nippon Ham Fighters	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	3 - 6	25	83.0	69	10	24	75	2.82
Rookie of the Year	CL	Tatsunori Hara	Yomiuri Giants	3B	470	64	126	22	67	6	.268	.308	.483	Did not pitch
	PL	Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions	SS	409	82	127	21	55	25	.311	.380	.531	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1981 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Suguru Egawa	Yomiuri Giants		P		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions
Kazuhiro Yamakura	Yomiuri Giants		C		Masataka Nashida	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Junichi Kashiwabara	Nippon Ham Fighters
Kazunori Shinozuka	Yomiuri Giants		2B		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Lotte Orions
Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Michiyo Arito	Lotte Orions
Daisuke Yamashita	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		SS		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Jim Lyttle	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Yasushi Tao	Chunichi Dragons				Makoto Shimada	Nippon Ham Fighters
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Terry Whitfield	Seibu Lions
			DH		Hiromitsu Kadota	Nankai Hawks

Diamond Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Diamond Glove Award in 1981.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hisashi Yamada	Hankyu Braves
Kazuhiro Yamakura	Yomiuri Giants		C		Masataka Nashida	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Taira Fujita	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Junichi Kashiwabara	Nippon Ham Fighters
Kazunori Shinozuka	Yomiuri Giants		2B		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Seibu Lions
Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Mitsuru Fujiwara	Nankai Hawks
Daisuke Yamashita	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		SS		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Jim Lyttle	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Tadashi Matsumoto	Yomiuri Giants				Koji Minoda	Hankyu Braves
Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Makoto Shimada	Nippon Ham Fighters

High School Baseball

The 63rd National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3394 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Hotoku Gakuen High School (Hyogo) defeated Kyoto Shogyo High School (Kyoto) by a score of 2 - 0.

The 53rd National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 30 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game PL Gakuen High School (Osaka) defeated Inba High School (Chiba) by a score of 2 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1981 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 15 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Meiji University defeated Kinki University by a score of 8 - 2.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The Kansas City Royals toured Japan in the fall of 1981. The touring team went 9 - 7 - 1 against Japanese competition.

In the fifth Intercontinental Cup in Canada, the Japanese national baseball team placed sixth.

Hall of Fame

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

• Tokuji Iida, by Sportswriters Committee
• Yoshiyuki Iwamoto, by Sportswriters Committee
• Shotaro Ogawa, by Special Committee
• Tatsuo Saeki, by Special Committee