1995 in Japanese Baseball

1995 in baseball
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1995 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)
Yakult Swallows	130	82	48	0	0.631	0.0	601	495	0.261	3.60	Katsuya Nomura
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	131	74	56	1	0.569	8.0	635	510	0.263	3.57	Toshiyuki Mimura
Yomiuri Giants	131	72	58	1	0.553	10.0	527	494	0.253	3.40	Shigeo Nagashima
Yokohama BayStars	130	66	64	0	0.508	16.0	562	588	0.261	4.37	Akihito Kondo
Chunichi Dragons	130	50	80	0	0.385	32.0	498	651	0.251	4.75	Morimichi Takagi, Sadayuki Tokutake, Ikuo Shimano
Hanshin Tigers	130	46	84	0	0.354	36.0	451	536	0.244	3.83	Katsuhiro Nakamura, Taira Fujita

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Orix BlueWave	130	82	47	1	0.635	0.0	571	428	0.259	2.88	Akira Ogi
Chiba Lotte Marines	130	69	58	3	0.542	12.0	481	461	0.255	3.27	Bobby Valentine
Seibu Lions	130	67	57	6	0.538	12.5	498	428	0.246	2.98	Osamu Higashio
Nippon Ham Fighters	130	59	68	3	0.465	22.0	477	503	0.237	3.56	Toshiharu Ueda
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	130	54	72	4	0.431	26.5	492	580	0.259	4.16	Sadaharu Oh
Kintetsu Buffaloes	130	49	78	3	0.388	32.0	457	577	0.235	3.97	Keishi Suzuki (33-53-2)/Jitsuo Mizutani (16-25-1)

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Alonzo Powell	Chunichi Dragons	.355		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	.342
Runs		Kenjiro Nomura	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	109		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	104
Hits		Kenjiro Nomura	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	173		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	179
Doubles		Katsuyuki Dobashi Bobby Rose	Yakult Swallows Yokohama BayStars	32		Lee Stevens	Kintetsu Buffaloes	29
Triples		Tetsuya Iida	Yakult Swallows	7		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	9
Home Runs		Akira Etoh	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	39		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	28
Runs Batted In		Akira Etoh	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	106		Ichiro Suzuki Kiyoshi Hatsushiba Yukio Tanaka	Orix BlueWave Chiba Lotte Marines Nippon Ham Fighters	80
Stolen Bases		Koichi Ogata	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	47		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	49
Walks		Tom O'Malley	Hanshin Tigers	96		Kazuhiro Kiyohara	Seibu Lions	90

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Terry Bross	Yakult Swallows	2.33		Hideki Irabu	Chiba Lotte Marines	2.53
Wins		Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants	18		Kip Gross	Nippon Ham Fighters	16
Winning Percentage		Kazuhisa Ishii	Yakult Swallows	.765		Masafumi Hirai	Orix BlueWave	.750
Losses		Keiichi Yabu Toshiro Yufune	Hanshin Tigers Hanshin Tigers	13		Kip Gross	Nippon Ham Fighters	13
Saves		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	32		Masafumi Hirai	Orix BlueWave	27
Save Points		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	39		Masafumi Hirai	Orix BlueWave	42
Innings Pitched		Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants	213.0		Kip Gross	Nippon Ham Fighters	231.0
Appearances		Koki Morita	Yokohama BayStars	57		Takehiro Hashimoto	Seibu Lions	58
Hits Allowed		Keiichi Yabu	Hanshin Tigers	185		Kip Gross	Nippon Ham Fighters	219
Home Runs Allowed		Robinson Checo	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	25		Hirofumi Kono	Nippon Ham Fighters	26
Strikeouts		Masaaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants	187		Hideki Irabu	Chiba Lotte Marines	239
Base-on-Balls		Robinson Checo	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	98		Yukihiro Nishizaki	Nippon Ham Fighters	102

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was won by the Central League one game to none with one tie. The first game was played at Yokohama Stadium and was a tie, 4 - 4. The second game was played at Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 7 - 6.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yakult Swallows (CL) defeated the Orix BlueWave (PL), 4 games to 1. The winning manager was Katsuya Nomura and the series MVP was Tom O'Malley.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1995 Sawamura Award was Masaki Saito of the Yomiuri Giants. He had a 18 - 10 win-loss record, 187 strikeouts, and a 2.70 ERA in 213.0 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	Tom O'Malley	Yakult Swallows	1B	421	83	127	31	87	6	.302	.429	.570	Did not pitch
	PL	Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	OF	524	104	179	25	80	49	.342	.432	.544	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Yasuyuki Yamauchi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	P	57	0	4	0	3	0	.070	.070	.070	14 - 10	0	163.1	145	14	67	123	3.03
	PL	Masafumi Hirai	Orix BlueWave	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	15 - 5	27	85.1	77	1	14	82	2.32

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1995 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hideki Irabu	Chiba Lotte Marines
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Satoshi Nakajima	Orix BlueWave
Tom O'Malley	Yakult Swallows		1B		Julio Franco	Chiba Lotte Marines
Bobby Rose	Yokohama BayStars		2B		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Akira Eto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		3B		Kiyoshi Hatsushiba	Chiba Lotte Marines
Kenjiro Nomura	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		SS		Yukio Tanaka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tomoaki Kanemoto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		OF		Darrin Jackson	Seibu Lions
Hideki Matsui	Yomiuri Giants				Makoto Sasaki	Seibu Lions
Alonzo Powell	Chunichi Dragons				Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave
			DH		Troy Neel	Orix BlueWave

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 1995.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masaki Saito	Yomiuri Giants		P		Kimiyasu Kudo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Tsutomu Ito	Seibu Lions
Norihiro Komada	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Julio Franco	Chiba Lotte Marines
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Takuro Ishii	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Toshifumi Baba	Orix BlueWave
Kenjiro Nomura	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		SS		Yukio Tanaka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tetsuya Iida	Yakult Swallows		OF		Koji Akiyama	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Koichi Ogata	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave
Shigeki Oto	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				So Taguchi	Orix BlueWave

High School Baseball

The 77th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4098 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Teikyo High School (East Tokyo) defeated Seiryo High School (Ishikawa) by a score of 3 - 1.

The 67th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Kanonji Chuo High School (Kagawa) defeated Choshi Shogyo High School (Chiba) by a score of 4 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1995 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 25 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Hosei University defeated Tohoku Fukushi University by a score of 9 - 5.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Meiji University defeated Aoyama Gakuin University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

The KBO All-Stars toured Japan in the fall of 1995. The touring team went 2 - 2 - 2 against Japanese competition.

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

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Shoshi Chiyomaru: China Times Eagles, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Masataka Endo: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Yasuhiro Enoki: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Norihiro Hamada: AZL Angels, Arizona (CAL-R)
• Hiroyasu Hayashi: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Kenichiro Idemoto: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Ikuo Ikeda: China Times Eagles, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Katsuhiro Kaneko: Jungo Bears, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Ken Kawashima: China Times Eagles, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara: China Times Eagles, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Jeff McCurry: Pittsburgh Pirates; Calgary Cannons, Pacific Coast (PIT-AAA)
• Keith McDonald: Peoria Chiefs, Midwest (STL-A)
• Hector Miyauchi: GCL Expos, Gulf Coast (MON-R)
• Junichiro Muto: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Fumiya Nishiguchi: Sioux City Explorers, Northern League (Ind)
• Hideo Nomo: Bakersfield Blaze, California (LAD-A-Adv); Los Angeles Dodgers
• Iwao Omura: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Stephen Randolph: GCL Yankees, Gulf Coast (NYY-R); Oneonta Yankees, New York-Penn (NYY-SS); Tampa Yankees, Florida State (NYY-A-Adv)
• Dave Roberts: Lakeland Tigers, Florida State (DET-A-Adv)
• Kiyokazu Seki: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Ken Suzuki: China Times Eagles, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Mac Suzuki: AZL Mariners, Arizona (SEA-R); Riverside Pilots, California (SEA-A-Adv)
• Toshio Suzuki: Wei Chuan Dragons, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Takashi Tachikawa: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Minoru Tanaka: Samsung Lions, Korea Baseball Organization
• Shoji Toyama: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Takashi Wada: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Kazuki Yonemura: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)
• Atsushi Yoshida: Visalia Oaks, California League (Co-op, A-Adv)

Hall of Fame

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

• Shosei Go, by Special Committee
• Minoru Murakami, by Special Committee
• Tadashi Sugiura, by Sportswriters Committee
• Tokichiro Ishii, by Sportswriters Committee