1998 Central League Most Valuable Player Award

The 1998 Central League Most Valuable Player Award went to Yokohama Bay Stars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who set the Central League record for most saves in a season with 45 and had an insane 0.64 ERA.

Voting Results

Finish	Name	Team	Position	1st Place Votes	2nd Place Votes	3rd Place Votes	Points
1	Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama Bay Stars	Pitcher	178	10	3	923
2	Takanori Suzuki	Yokohama Bay Stars	Outfielder	0	82	48	294
3	Bobby Rose	Yokohama Bay Stars	2nd Baseman	5	31	27	145
4	Takuro Ishii	Yokohama Bay Stars	Shortstop	7	23	24	128
5	Hideki Matsui	Yomiuri Giants	Outfielder	2	17	33	94
6	Motonobu Tanishige	Yokohama Bay Stars	Catcher	0	11	12	45
7	Toshio Haru	Yokohama Bay Stars	Outfielder	1	0	2	7
	Norihiro Komada	Yokohama Bay Stars	1st Baseman	0	2	1	7
	Hiroki Nomura	Yokohama Bay Stars	Pitcher	0	1	4	7
	Takashi Saito	Yokohama Bay Stars	Pitcher	0	1	4	7
11	Tomonori Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Outfielder	0	0	3	3
12	Shigeki Noguchi	Chunichi Dragons	Pitcher	0	0	2	2
	Eiji Ochiai	Chunichi Dragons	Pitcher	0	0	2	2
14	Kenjiro Kawasaki	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	0	1	1
	Nate Minchey	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Pitcher	0	0	1	1