1996 NPB All-Star Game

The 1996 NPB All-Star Games featured three contests. For the first time in six years, the Pacific League won the series to end a five-year run by the Central League.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 20 at Fukuoka Dome in front of 32,296 fans. Kazunori Yamamoto hit a 3-run pinch-hit homer off Keiichi Yabu in the 6th and was named MVP. Hiroshi Takamura saved it for Kip Gross; each PL hurler worked three innings and it would be 23 years before another hurler matched Takamura's 3-inning save in an All-Star Game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	4	10	0
Pacific	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	-	7	10	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Hideki Matsui, RF (Yomiuri Giants)
2. Kenjiro Nomura, SS (Hiroshima Carp)
3. Akira Eto, 3B (Hiroshima)
4. Hiromitsu Ochiai, DH (Yomiuri)
5. Tom O'Malley, 1B (Yakult Swallows)
6. Alonzo Powell, CF (Chunichi Dragons)
7. Takeshi Yamasaki, LF (Chunichi)
8. Hatsuhiko Tsuji, 2B (Yakult)
9. Shuji Nishiyama, C (Hiroshima)

• Makoto Kito, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Atsuya Furuta, C (Yakult)
• Teruyoshi Kuji, SS (Hanshin Tigers)
• Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, 2B (Chunichi)
• Yasuaki Taiho, PH (Chunichi)
• Tomonori Maeda, CF (Hiroshima)
• Tomoaki Kanemoto, RF (Hiroshima)
• Keiichi Yabu, P (Hanshin Tigers)
• Kazuya Tabata, P (Yakult)
• Shinji Sasaoka, P (Hiroshima)

Manager

• Katsuya Nomura

Coaches

• Toshiyuki Mimura
• Shigeo Nagashima

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF (Orix BlueWave)
2. Arihito Muramatsu, LF (Daiei Hawks)
3. Yukio Tanaka, SS (Nippon Ham Fighters)
4. Kazuhiro Kiyohara, 1B (Seibu Lions
5. Bernardo Brito, DH (Nippon Ham)
6. Koji Akiyama, CF (Daiei)
7. Kiyoshi Hatsushiba, 3B (Chiba Lotte Marines)
8. Hiroki Kokubo, 2B (Daiei)
9. Tsutomu Itoh, C (Seibu)

• Eric Hillman, P (Chiba Lotte)

Backups Used

• So Taguchi, CF (Orix)
• Chihiro Hamana, SS (Daiei)
• Norihiro Nakamura, 3B (Kintetsu Buffaloes)
• Kazunori Yamamoto, PH (Kintetsu)
• Eiji Mizuguchi, 2B (Kintetsu)
• Koichiro Yoshinaga, C (Daiei)
• Satoshi Nakajima, C (Orix)
• Kip Gross, P (Nippon Ham)
• Hiroshi Takamura, P (Kintetsu)

Manager

• Akira Ogi

Coaches

• Akira Ejiri
• Osamu Higashio

Umpires

• Osamu Ino (Home), Yoshio Maekawa (1B), Tadayuki Inoue (2B), Susumu Momoi (3B)

Game 2

Game 2 took place at the Tokyo Dome July 21 with an attendance of 42,938. The PL sealed the deal; after being shut out for four, they scored twice in the 6th then exploded for four in the 7th off Balvino Galvez. Kazuhiro Kiyohara drove in 3 and won the MVP. Takeshi Shimazaki got the win. In an odd move, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki pitched the final out, facing pinch-hitter Shingo Takatsu, usually a pitcher.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	6	1
Pacific	0	0	0	0	2	4	1	0	-	7	7	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Maeda, CF
2. Tatsunami, 2B
3. O'Malley, 3B
4. Ochiai, 1B
5. Taiho, DH
6. Matsui, RF
7. Furuta, C
8. Takahiro Saeki, LF (Yokohama)
9. Kuji, SS

• Masaki Saito, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Yutaka Wada, 2B (Hanshin)
• Etoh, 3B
• Shingo Takatsu, PH (Yakult)
• Kanemoto, LF
• Takeshi Nakamura, C (Chunichi)
• Nomura, SS
• Futoshi Yamabe, P (Yakult)
• Balvino Galvez, P (Yomiuri)
• Kazuhiro Sasaki, P (Yokohama)

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Suzuki, RF
2. Koichi Hori, 2B (Chiba Lotte)
3. Tanaka, SS
4. Kiyohara, 1B
5. Brito, DH
6. Akiyama, CF
7. Nakamura, 3B
8. Yoshinaga, C
9. Taguchi, LF

• Hideki Irabu, P (Chiba Lotte)

Backups Used

• Muramatsu, LF
• Hamana, SS
• Hatsushiba, DH
• Mizuguchi, 2B
• Kokubo, 2B
• Nakajima, C
• Yamamoto, PH
• Itoh, C
• Nobuyuki Hoshino, P (Orix)
• Takeshi Shimazaki, P (Nippon Ham)
• Yukihiro Nishizaki, P (Nippon Ham)

Umpires

• Koichi Murata (Home), Inoue (1B), Maekawa (2B), Ino (3B)

Game 3

With the Series decided, only 19,340 fans came to Toyama Civil Stadium on July 23 to see the CL escape a sweep; MVP Tomoaki Kanemoto hit a 3-run homer in the 2nd off Masaru Imazeki. Shinji Sasaoka saved the game for Takashi Saito. Ichiro was the bright spot for the PL, going 2 for 3 with a steal and scoring both their runs.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	0
Central	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	-	4	6	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Maeda, CF
2. Nomura, SS
3. Etoh, 3B
4. O'Malley, 1B
5. Powell, DH
6. Matsui, RF
7. Kanemoto, LF
8. Wada, 2B
9. Nakamura, C

• Takashi Saito, P (Yokohama)

Backups Used

• Yamasaki, LF
• Tatsunami, SS
• Taiho, 1B
• Ochiai, DH
• Tsuji, DH
• Furuta, C
• Nishiyama, C
• Hiroaki Nakayama, P (Chunichi)
• Tabata, P
• Masato Yoshii, P (Yakult)
• Takatsu, P
• Sasaki, P
• Sasaoka, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Suzuki, RF
2. Muramatsu, LF
3. Akiyama, CF
4. Kiyohara, 1B
5. Hatsushiba, 3B
6. Hori, 2B
7. Tanaka, DH
8. Nakajima, C
9. Hamana, SS

• Masaru Imazeki, P (Nippon Ham)

Backups Used

• Taguchi, CF
• Nakamura, 3B
• Kokubo, DH
• Yoshinaga, C
• Brito, PH
• Yamamoto, PH
• Mizuguchi, 2B
• Taira Suzuki, P (Orix)
• Kazuhiro Takeda, P (Daiei)
• Takahito Nomura, P (Orix)
• Fumiya Nishiguchi, P (Seibu)
• Toshihide Narimoto, P (Chiba Lotte)

Umpires

• Momoi (Home), Ino (1B), Murata (2B), Inoue (3B)

Sources

• Michael Westbay's Japanese Baseball Database
• Defunct Japanbaseballdaily.com site by Gary Garland
• Japanese Wikipedia