1989 in Japanese Baseball

1989 in baseball
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1989 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	84	44	2	0.654	0.0	520	358	0.264	2.56	Motoshi Fujita
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	130	73	51	6	0.585	9.0	510	431	0.271	3.01	Koji Yamamoto
Chunichi Dragons	130	68	59	3	0.535	15.5	538	524	0.256	3.68	Senichi Hoshino
Yakult Swallows	130	55	72	3	0.435	28.5	507	559	0.254	3.97	Junzo Sekine
Hanshin Tigers	130	54	75	1	0.419	30.5	497	580	0.257	4.15	Minoru Murayama
Yokohama Taiyo Whales	130	47	80	3	0.373	36.5	474	594	0.260	4.07	Takeshi Koba

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	71	54	5	0.565	0.0	606	558	0.261	3.86	Akira Ogi
Orix Braves	130	72	55	3	0.565	0.0	665	616	0.278	4.26	Toshiharu Ueda
Seibu Lions	130	69	53	8	0.562	0.5	644	543	0.271	3.86	Masahiko Mori
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	130	59	64	7	0.481	11.0	610	678	0.257	4.74	Tadashi Sugiura
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	54	73	3	0.427	18.0	527	571	0.266	4.20	Sadao Kondo
Lotte Orions	130	48	74	8	0.400	21.5	558	644	0.266	4.50	Michiyo Arito

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Warren Cromartie	Yomiuri Giants	.378		Boomer Wells	Orix Braves	.322
Runs		Toshikatsu Hikono	Chunichi Dragons	83		Hiromi Matsunaga	Orix Braves	106
Hits		Jim Paciorek	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	172		Jim Traber	Kintetsu Buffaloes	150
Doubles		Warren Cromartie Carlos Ponce	Yomiuri Giants Yokohama Taiyo Whales	33		Takeshi Aiko	Lotte Orions	34
Triples		Kozo Shoda Carlos Ponce	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Yokohama Taiyo Whales	7		Ken Hirano	Seibu Lions	7
Home Runs		Larry Parrish	Yakult Swallows	42		Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes	49
Runs Batted In		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Chunichi Dragons	116		Boomer Wells	Orix Braves	124
Stolen Bases		Kozo Shoda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	34		Norifumi Nishimura	Lotte Orions	42
Walks		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Chunichi Dragons	75		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions	98

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants	1.62		Choji Murata	Lotte Orions	2.50
Wins		Masaaki Saito Takashi Nishimoto	Yomiuri Giants Chunichi Dragons	20		Hideyuki Awano	Kintetsu Buffaloes	19
Winning Percentage		Takashi Nishimoto	Chunichi Dragons	.769		Nobuyuki Hoshino	Orix Braves	.714
Losses		Hisao Niura Kazuhiko Daimon	Yokohama Taiyo Whales Yokohama Taiyo Whales	13		Katsuo So	Lotte Orions	15
Saves		Tsunemi Tsuda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	28		Yuji Inoue	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	21
Save Points		Tsunemi Tsuda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	40		Yuji Inoue	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	27
Innings Pitched		Masumi Kuwata	Yomiuri Giants	249.0		Hideyuki Awano	Kintetsu Buffaloes	235.2
Appearances		Makoto Kito	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	61		Yuji Inoue	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	57
Hits Allowed		Takashi Nishimoto	Chunichi Dragons	231		Hisanobu Watanabe	Seibu Lions	210
Home Runs Allowed		Manabu Kitabeppu Hiroshi Nagatomi Takashi Nishimoto Kazuhiko Endo	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Hiroshima Toyo Carp Chunichi Dragons Yokohama Taiyo Whales	22		Hisanobu Watanabe	Seibu Lions	34
Strikeouts		Kazuhisa Kawaguchi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	192		Hideyuki Awano	Kintetsu Buffaloes	183
Base-on-Balls		Hisao Niura	Yokohama Taiyo Whales	75		Katsuo So	Lotte Orions	112

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was a tie, one game to one. The first game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 6 - 0. The second game was played at Fujiidera Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 4 - 1.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Kintetsu Buffaloes (PL), 4 games to 3. The Buffaloes won the first three games, but the Giants rallied back to take the series. The winning manager was Motoshi Fujita and the series MVP was Norihiro Komada.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1989 Sawamura Award was Masaki Saito of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 20 - 7 win-loss record, 182 strikeouts, and a 1.62 ERA in 245.0 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	Warren Cromartie	Yomiuri Giants	OF	439	70	166	15	72	7	.378	.449	.560	Did not pitch
	PL	Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes	OF	494	91	140	49	121	5	.283	.377	.628	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Kenji Tomashino	Yakult Swallows	2B	429	57	113	5	27	32	.263	.334	.352	Did not pitch
	PL	Tsutomu Sakai	Orix Braves	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	9 - 7	9	154.2	141	25	49	118	3.61

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1989 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hideyuki Awano	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Takayoshi Nakao	Yomiuri Giants		C		Kazuhiko Yamashita	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Larry Parrish	Yakult Swallows		1B		Boomer Wells	Orix Braves
Kozo Shoda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		2B		Hatsuhiko Tsuji	Seibu Lions
Hiromitsu Ochiai	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Hiromi Matsunaga	Orix Braves
Takahiro Ikeyama	Yakult Swallows		SS		Norio Tanabe	Seibu Lions
Warren Cromartie	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Koji Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Toshikatsu Hikono	Chunichi Dragons				Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kenichi Yamazaki	Yokohama Taiyo Whales				Yasuo Fujii	Orix Braves
			DH		Hiromitsu Kadota	Orix Braves

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 1989.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Takashi Nishimoto	Chunichi Dragons		P		Hideyuki Awano	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Takayoshi Nakao	Yomiuri Giants		C		Satoshi Nakajima	Orix Braves
Norihiro Komada	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Takeshi Aiko	Lotte Orions
Kozo Shoda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		2B		Hatsuhiko Tsuji	Seibu Lions
Wade Rowdon	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		3B		Hiromi Matsunaga	Orix Braves
Masahiro Kawai	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Norio Tanabe	Seibu Lions
Toshikatsu Hikono	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Koji Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Hideki Kuriyama	Yakult Swallows				Ken Hirano	Seibu Lions
Kenichi Yamazaki	Yokohama Taiyo Whales				Atsuhiro Motonishi	Orix Braves

High School Baseball

The 71st National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3990 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Teikyou High School (East Tokyo) defeated Sendai Ikuei High School (Miyagi) by a score of 2 - 0.

The 61st National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Toho High School (Aichi) defeated Uenomiya High School (Osaka) by a score of 3 - 2.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1989 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 17 schools competing in the tournament at Green Stadium Kobe. In the championship game Kinki University defeated Senshu University by a score of 10 - 7.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Kinki University defeated Rikkyo University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

In the ninth Intercontinental Cup in Puerto Rico, the Japanese national baseball team won a silver medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

• Wataru Adachi: Peninsula Pilots, Carolina (A-Adv)
• Toyotoshi Chikada: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Kenji Fujimoto: Visalia Oaks, California (MIN-A-Adv)
• Akihiro Fukushima: Salt Lake City Trappers, Pioneer (R)
• Masaaki Kamanaka: Vero Beach Dodgers, Florida State (LAD-A-Adv)
• Seikichi Kanamoto: Samsung Lions, Korea Baseball Organization
• Nobuo Kaneshiro: Taepyungyang Dolphins, Korea Baseball Organization
• Yuki Kaseda: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Tetsuya Katahira: Peninsula Pilots, Carolina (A-Adv)
• Yasuhiro Kawabata: Vero Beach Dodgers, Florida State (LAD-A-Adv)
• Masahiro Koda: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Shingo Matsukubo: Salt Lake City Trappers, Pioneer (R)
• Takaaki Matsumura: Butte Copper Kings, Pioneer (TEX-R)
• Hiroaki Miyagi: Binggrae Eagles, Korea Baseball Organization
• Koichi Ogata: Peninsula Pilots, Carolina (A-Adv)
• Tatsuo Ota: Samsung Lions, Korea Baseball Organization
• Koichi Ozawa: Visalia Oaks, California (MIN-A-Adv)
• Kiyoshi Sagawa: Visalia Oaks, California (MIN-A-Adv)
• Koji Sugiura: Butte Copper Kings, Pioneer (TEX-R)
• Yasuhiro Suzuki: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Shigeki Taguchi: Salt Lake City Trappers, Pioneer (R); Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Mitsukuni Takeda: Samsung Lions, Korea Baseball Organization
• Fumimune Tokuyama: Taepyungyang Dolphins, Korea Baseball Organization
• Yuji Yamaguchi: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Minoru Yojo: Visalia Oaks, California (MIN-A-Adv)
• Koichiro Yoshinaga: Salinas Spurs, California (A-Adv)
• Hiroshi Yoshimoto: OB Bears, Korea Baseball Organization
• Motomi Yoshimura: Binggrae Eagles, Korea Baseball Organization

Hall of Fame

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

• Masao Date, by Special Committee
• Tsuneo Ikeda, by Special Committee
• Jiro Noguchi, by Sportswriters Committee
• Katsuya Nomura, by Sportswriters Committee
• Hidenosuke Shima, by Sportswriters Committee