1983 in Japanese Baseball

1983 in baseball
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1983 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The Hankyu Braves' Yutaka Fukumoto steals his 939th base, passing the Major League record of Lou Brock.

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	72	50	8	0.585	0.0	622	542	0.275	3.77	Motoshi Fujita
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	65	55	10	0.538	6.0	610	527	0.269	3.65	Takeshi Koba
Yokohama Taiyo Whales	130	61	61	8	0.500	11.0	561	631	0.272	4.52	Junzo Sekine
Hanshin Tigers	130	62	63	5	0.496	11.5	598	604	0.274	4.22	Motoo Ando
Chunichi Dragons	130	54	69	7	0.442	18.5	563	603	0.263	4.11	Sadao Kondo
Yakult Swallows	130	53	69	8	0.438	19.0	557	604	0.266	4.52	Shiro Takegami

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Seibu Lions	130	86	40	4	0.677	0.0	700	440	0.278	3.20	Tatsuro Hirooka
Hankyu Braves	130	67	55	8	0.546	17.0	632	592	0.272	4.16	Toshiharu Ueda
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	64	59	7	0.519	20.5	581	540	0.275	3.82	Keiji Osawa
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	52	65	13	0.450	29.5	581	626	0.263	4.49	Seiji Sekiguchi
Nankai Hawks	130	52	69	9	0.435	31.5	548	659	0.268	4.75	Yoshio Anabuki
Lotte Orions	130	43	76	11	0.373	39.5	525	710	0.264	5.12	Kazuyoshi Yamamoto

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Akinobu Mayumi	Hanshin Tigers	.353		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Lotte Orions	.332
Runs		Tatsunori Hara	Yomiuri Giants	94		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Seibu Lions	96
Hits		Yasushi Tao	Chunichi Dragons	161		Boomer Wells	Hankyu Braves	171
Doubles		Kenichi Yazawa Daisuke Yamashita	Chunichi Dragons Yokohama Taiyo Whales	33		Hiroyuki Yamazaki	Seibu Lions	30
Triples		Yutaka Takagi Ryuzo Yamazaki Toru Sugiura	Yokohama Taiyo Whales Hiroshima Toyo Carp Yakult Swallows	5		Yutaka Fukumoto Hiromichi Ishige Hiromi Matsunaga	Hankyu Braves Seibu Lions Hankyu Braves	7
Home Runs		Koji Yamamoto Yasunori Oshima	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Chunichi Dragons	36		Hiromitsu Kadota	Nankai Hawks	40
Runs Batted In		Tatsunori Hara	Yomiuri Giants	103		Jitsuo Mizutani	Hankyu Braves	114
Stolen Bases		Tadashi Matsumoto	Yomiuri Giants	76		Daijiro Oishi	Kintetsu Buffaloes	60
Walks		Koji Yamamoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	87		Yutaka Fukumoto Hiromitsu Kadota	Hankyu Braves Nankai Hawks	85

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Osamu Fukuma	Hanshin Tigers	2.62		Osamu Higashio	Seibu Lions	2.92
Wins		Kazuhiko Endo	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	18		Osamu Higashio Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Seibu Lions Nankai Hawks	18
Winning Percentage		Tsunemi Tsuda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	.750		Naoki Takahashi	Seibu Lions	.813
Losses		Shigeru Kobayashi Tatsuo Komatsu Takashi Imoto Hiromu Matsuoka	Hanshin Tigers Chunichi Dragons Yakult Swallows Yakult Swallows	14		Yutaka Yanagida Takanori Yamauchi Norihiro Mizutani	Kintetsu Buffaloes Nankai Hawks Lotte Orions	14
Saves		Akio Saito	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	22		Yutaka Enatsu Shigekazu Mori	Nippon Ham Fighters Seibu Lions	34
Save Points		Akio Saito	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	32		Shigekazu Mori	Seibu Lions	39
Innings Pitched		Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants	239.1		Kazuhiro Yamauchi	Nankai Hawks	249.2
Appearances		Osamu Fukuma	Hanshin Tigers	69		Shigekazu Mori Shoji Kawahara	Seibu Lions Nippon Ham Fighters	59
Hits Allowed		Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants	265		Takanori Yamauchi	Nankai Hawks	264
Home Runs Allowed		Tsugio Kanazawa	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	33		Keishi Suzuki Norihiro Mizutani	Kintetsu Buffaloes Lotte Orions	31
Strikeouts		Kazuhiko Endo	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	186		Yukihiko Yamaoki	Hankyu Braves	143
Base-on-Balls		Kazuhisa Kawaguchi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	104		Kazuhiro Yamauchi Yoshio Fukazawa	Nankai Hawks Lotte Orions	99

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Pacific League three games to none. The first game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 5 - 3. The second game was played at Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 3. The third game was played at Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 1.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Seibu Lions (PL) defeated the Yomiuri Giants (CL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Tatsuro Hirooka and the series MVP was Takuji Ota.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1983 Sawamura Award was Kazuhiko Endo of the Yokohama Taiyo Whales. He had a 18 - 9 win-loss record, 186 strikeouts, and a 2.87 ERA in 238.1 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	Tatsunori Hara	Yomiuri Giants	3B	500	94	151	32	103	9	.302	.375	.574	Did not pitch
	PL	Osamu Higashio	Seibu Lions	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	18 - 9	2	213.0	198	14	51	72	2.92
Rookie of the Year	CL	Hiromi Makihara	Yomiuri Giants	P	58	2	5	0	2	0	.086	.117	.103	12 - 9	1	184.0	165	19	66	124	3.67
	PL	Tadami Futamura	Nippon Ham Fighters	OF	294	37	83	13	35	6	.282	.324	.459	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1983 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kazuhiko Endo	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		P		Osamu Higashio	Seibu Lions
Kazuhiro Yamakura	Yomiuri Giants		C		Nobuyuki Kagawa	Nankai Hawks
Kenichi Yazawa	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Lotte Orions
Akinobu Mayumi	Hanshin Tigers		2B		Daijiro Oishi	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Tatsunori Hara	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Steve Ontiveros	Seibu Lions
Yoshihiko Takahashi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		SS		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Tadashige Matsumoto	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Koji Minoda	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 1983.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants		P		Osamu Higashio	Seibu Lions
Kazuhiro Yamakura	Yomiuri Giants		C		Masataka Nashida	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kiyoshi Nakahata	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Shinsaku Katahira	Seibu Lions
Yutaka Takagi	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		2B		Daijiro Oishi	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Masayuki Kakefu	Hanshin Tigers		3B		Hideo Furuya	Nippon Ham Fighters
Daisuke Yamashita	Yokohama Taiyo Whales		SS		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Terufumi Kitamura	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Yutaka Fukumoto	Hankyu Braves
Tadashige Matsumoto	Yomiuri Giants				Koji Minoda	Hankyu Braves
Kiyoyuki Nagashima	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Makoto Shimada	Nippon Ham Fighters

High School Baseball

The 65th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3568 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game PL Gakuen (Osaka) defeated Yokohama High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 3 - 0.

The 55th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Ikeda High School (Tokushima) defeated Yokohama High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 3 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1983 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 16 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Komazawa University defeated Kinki University by a score of 5 - 1.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

Season	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	Kinki	Kwansei Gakuin	Doshisha	Ritsumeikan	Kansai	Kyoto
Fall	Doshisha	Kinki	Kwansei Gakuin	Kansai	Ritsumeikan	Kyoto

International Baseball

Japanese Players in Other Countries

• Osamu Abe: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)
• Koji Akiyama: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)
• Hiroaki Fukushi: Sammi Superstars, Korea Baseball Organization
• Jinten Haku: MBC Blue Dragons and Sammi Superstars, Korea Baseball Organization
• Eikyu Kiyama: Sammi Superstars, Korea Baseball Organization
• Yukiichi Komazaki: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)
• Takahiro Shirahata: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)
• Katsuya Soma: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)
• Toshoku Uda: Haitai Tigers, Korea Baseball Organization
• Sadahito Ueda: San Jose Bees, California League (A-Adv)

Hall of Fame

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

• Osamu Mihara, by Sportswriters Committee
• Yushi Uchimura, by Special Committee