1993 in Japanese Baseball

1993 in baseball
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1993 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

Free agency is introduced into the NPB.

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)
Yakult Swallows	132	80	50	2	0.614	0.0	622	475	0.263	3.20	Katsuya Nomura
Chunichi Dragons	132	73	57	2	0.561	7.0	538	453	0.257	3.12	Morimichi Takagi
Yomiuri Giants	131	64	66	1	0.492	16.0	446	465	0.238	3.22	Shigeo Nagashima
Hanshin Tigers	132	63	67	2	0.485	17.0	478	542	0.253	3.88	Katsuhiro Nakamura
Yokohama BayStars	130	57	73	0	0.438	23.0	477	544	0.249	3.83	Akihito Kondo
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	131	53	77	1	0.408	27.0	530	612	0.253	4.29	Koji Yamamoto

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Seibu Lions	130	74	53	3	0.581	0.0	512	421	0.260	2.96	Masahiko Mori
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	71	52	7	0.573	1.0	558	478	0.259	3.37	Keiji Osawa
Orix BlueWave	130	70	56	4	0.554	3.5	516	471	0.253	3.24	Shozo Doi
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	66	59	5	0.527	7.0	562	520	0.258	3.62	Keishi Suzuki
Chiba Lotte Marines	130	51	77	2	0.400	23.5	487	583	0.251	4.08	Soroku Yagisawa
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	130	45	80	5	0.365	28.0	434	596	0.246	4.22	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		Tom O'Malley	Hanshin Tigers	.329		Hatsuhiko Tsuji	Seibu Lions	.319
Runs		Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows	90		Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes	83
Hits		Atsuya Furuta Yutaka Wada	Yakult Swallows Hanshin Tigers	161		Hiroo Ishii	Kintetsu Buffaloes	147
Doubles		Bobby Rose Tomonori Maeda	Yokohama BayStars Hiroshima Toyo Carp	33		Yukio Tanaka	Nippon Ham Fighters	32
Triples		Takuro Ishii	Yokohama BayStars	5		Chihiro Hamana	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	9
Home Runs		Akira Etoh	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	34		Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes	42
Runs Batted In		Katsumi Hirosawa Bobby Rose	Yakult Swallows Yokohama BayStars	94		Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes	107
Stolen Bases		Tetsuya Iida	Yakult Swallows	37		Daijiro Oishi	Kintetsu Buffaloes	31
Walks		Hiromitsu Ochiai	Chunichi Dragons	96		Matt Winters	Nippon Ham Fighters	90

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	2.05		Kimiyasu Kudoh	Seibu Lions	2.06
Wins		Shinji Imanaka Masahiro Yamamoto Hiroki Nomura	Chunichi Dragons Chunichi Dragons Yokohama BayStars	17		Hideo Nomo Koji Noda	Kintetsu Buffaloes Orix BlueWave	17
Winning Percentage		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	.773		Kimiyasu Kudoh	Seibu Lions	.833
Losses		Shinji Sasaoka	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	17		Kazumi Sonokawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	15
Saves		Hiroshi Ishige	Yomiuri Giants	30		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	26
Save Points		Hiroshi Ishige	Yomiuri Giants	36		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	32
Innings Pitched		Shinji Imanaka	Chunichi Dragons	249.0		Hideo Nomo	Kintetsu Buffaloes	243.1
Appearances		Yoshihisa Kondo	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	60		Kento Sugiyama	Seibu Lions	54
Hits Allowed		Shinji Sasaoka	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	206		Hideo Nomo	Kintetsu Buffaloes	201
Home Runs Allowed		Hiroshi Nagatomi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	22		Takehiro Ishii	Seibu Lions	25
Strikeouts		Shinji Imanaka	Chunichi Dragons	247		Hideo Nomo	Kintetsu Buffaloes	276
Base-on-Balls		Kazuhisa Kawaguchi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	74		Hideo Nomo	Kintetsu Buffaloes	148

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was a tie one games to one. The first game was played at Tokyo Dome and was won by the PL, 10 - 8. The second game was played at Green Stadium Kobe and was won by the CL, 10 - 8.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yakult Swallows (CL) defeated the Seibu Lions (PL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Katsuya Nomura and the series MVP was Kenjiro Kawasaki.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1993 Sawamura Award was Shinji Imanaka of the Chunichi Dragons. He had a 17 - 7 win-loss record, 247 strikeouts, and a 2.20 ERA in 249.0 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	Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows	C	522	90	161	17	75	11	.308	.381	.462	Did not pitch
	PL	Kimiyasu Kudo	Seibu Lions	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	15 - 3	0	170.0	129	10	65	130	2.06
Rookie of the Year	CL	Tomohito Ito	Yakult Swallows	P	38	1	7	0	3	0	.184	.184	.184	7 - 2	0	109.0	70	3	35	126	0.91
	PL	Kento Sugiyama	Seibu Lions	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	7 - 2	5	74.0	68	6	29	82	2.80

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1993 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Shinji Imanaka	Chunichi Dragons		P		Kimiyasu Kudo	Seibu Lions
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Fujio Tamura	Nippon Ham Fighters
Katsumi Hirosawa	Yakult Swallows		1B		Hiroo Ishii	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Bobby Rose	Yokohama BayStars		2B		Hatsuhiko Tsuji	Seibu Lions
Akira Etoh	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		3B		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Takahiro Ikeyama	Yakult Swallows		SS		Tetsuro Hirose	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tomonori Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		OF		Koji Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Alonzo Powell	Chunichi Dragons				Yasuo Fujii	Orix BlueWave
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	Hanshin Tigers				Makoto Sasaki	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
			DH		Ralph Bryant	Kintetsu Buffaloes

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 1993.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Shinji Imanaka Masumi Kuwata	Chunichi Dragons Yomiuri Giants		P		Koji Noda	Orix BlueWave
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Fujio Tamura	Nippon Ham Fighters
Norihiro Komada	Yomiuri Giants		1B		Yutaka Wada	Hanshin Tigers
Yutaka Wada	Hanshin Tigers		2B		Hatsuhiko Tsuji	Seibu Lions
Takuro Ishii	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Hiromichi Ishige	Seibu Lions
Masahiro Kawai	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Tetsuro Hirose	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tetsuya Iida	Yakult Swallows		OF		Koji Akiyama	Seibu Lions
Tomonori Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Ken Hirano	Seibu Lions
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	Hanshin Tigers				Makoto Shimada	Nippon Ham Fighters

High School Baseball

The 75th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4071 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Ikuei High School (Hyogo) defeated Kasukabe Kyoei High School (Saitama) by a score of 3 - 2.

The 65th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 34 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Uenomiya High School (Osaka) defeated Omiya Higashi High School (Saitama) by a score of 3 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1993 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 24 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Aoyama Gakuin University defeated Kanto Gakuin University by a score of 3 - 1.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The Los Angeles Dodgers toured Japan in the fall of 1993. The touring team went 0 - 2 - 0 against Japanese competition.

In the eleventh Intercontinental Cup in Italy, the Japanese national baseball team won a bronze medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Yasutaka Furusato, Bristol Tigers, Appalachian (DET-Rookie)
• Seikichi Kanamoto: Ssangbangwool Raiders, Korea Baseball Organization
• Jeff McCurry: Salem Buccaneers, Carolina (PIT-A-Adv); Carolina Mudcats, Southern (PIT-AA)
• Shinya Nakagawa, Bristol Tigers, Appalachian (DET-A)
• Yukihiro Narita: Jungo Bears, CPBL
• Tetsuhiro Nonaka: Brother Elephants, CPBL
• Yoshihiro Seo, Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks, Northern (Ind)
• Mac Suzuki: San Bernardino Spirit, California (1993-A-Adv)
• Toshio Tajima: San Bernardino Spirit, California (1993-A-Adv)
• Yoshiie Tachibana: Brother Elephants, CPBL
• Kazuya Yano: China Times Eagles, CPBL

Hall of Fame

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

• Kazuhisa Inao, by Sportswriters Committee
• Minoru Murayama, by Sportswriters Committee