2003 in Japanese Baseball

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(Redirected from 2003 Pacific League)

2003 in baseball
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2003 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball[edit]

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner

Central League[edit]

Team G W L T WPCT GB RS RA AVG ERA Manager(s)
Hanshin Tigers 140 87 51 2 0.629 0.0 728 538 0.287 3.53 Senichi Hoshino
Chunichi Dragons 140 73 66 1 0.525 14.5 616 578 0.268 3.80 Hisashi Yamada (59-61), Kyosuke Sasaki (14-5-1)
Yomiuri Giants 140 71 66 3 0.518 15.5 654 681 0.262 4.43 Tatsunori Hara
Yakult Swallows 140 71 66 3 0.518 15.5 683 627 0.283 4.12 Tsutomu Wakamatsu
Hiroshima Carp 140 67 71 2 0.486 20.0 558 653 0.259 4.23 Koji Yamamoto
Yokohama BayStars 140 45 94 1 0.325 42.5 563 725 0.258 4.80 Daisuke Yamashita

Pacific League[edit]

Team G W L T WPCT GB RS RA AVG ERA Manager(s)
Daiei Hawks 140 82 55 3 0.596 0.0 822 588 0.297 3.94 Sadaharu Oh
Seibu Lions 140 77 61 2 0.557 5.5 692 660 0.272 4.43 Haruki Ihara
Kintetsu Buffaloes 140 74 64 2 0.536 8.5 718 632 0.274 4.30 Masataka Nashida
Chiba Lotte Marines 140 68 69 3 0.496 14.0 651 665 0.271 4.37 Koji Yamamoto
Nippon Ham Fighters 140 62 74 4 0.457 19.5 675 738 0.269 4.88 Trey Hillman
Orix BlueWave 140 48 88 4 0.357 33.5 652 927 0.276 5.95 Hiromichi Ishige, Leon Lee

Leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Central League Pacific League
Leader Team Number Leader Team Number
Batting Average Makoto Imaoka Hanshin Tigers .340 Michihiro Ogasawara Nippon Ham Fighters .360
Runs Kosuke Fukudome Chunichi Dragons 107 Tadahito Iguchi Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 112
Hits Alex Ramirez Yakult Swallows 189 Yoshitomo Tani Orix BlueWave 189
Doubles Ken Suzuki Yakult Swallows 36 Kazuya Fukuura Chiba Lotte Marines 50
Triples Kosuke Fukudome Chunichi Dragons 11 Arihito Muramatsu Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 13
Home Runs Alex Ramirez
Tyrone Woods
Yakult Swallows
Yokohama BayStars
40 Tuffy Rhodes Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 51
Runs Batted In Alex Ramirez Yakult Swallows 124 Nobuhiko Matsunaka Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 123
Stolen Bases Norihiro Akahoshi Hanshin Tigers 61 Tadahito Iguchi Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 42
Walks Tomoaki Kanemoto Hanshin Tigers 93 Tuffy Rhodes Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 98

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Central League Pacific League
Leader Team Number Leader Team Number
ERA Kei Igawa Hanshin Tigers 2.80 Daisuke Matsuzaka
Kazumi Saito
Seibu Lions
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.83
Wins Kei Igawa Hanshin Tigers 20 Kazumi Saito Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 20
Winning Percentage Kei Igawa Hanshin Tigers .800 Kazumi Saito Fukuoka Daiei Hawks .870
Losses Chris Holt Yokohama BayStars 14 Itsuki Shoda Nippon Ham Fighters 15
Saves Shingo Takatsu Yakult Swallows 34 Kiyoshi Toyoda Seibu Lions 38
Save Points Shingo Takatsu Yakult Swallows 36 Kiyoshi Toyoda Seibu Lions 40
Innings Pitched Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants 207.1 Naoyuki Shimizu Chiba Lotte Marines 204.1
Appearances Ryota Igarashi Yakult Swallows 66 Hideo Koike Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 65
Hits Allowed Masanori Ishikawa Yakult Swallows 201 Nate Minchey Chiba Lotte Marines 233
Home Runs Allowed Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants 28 Mitsutaka Goto Seibu Lions 29
Strikeouts Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants 194 Daisuke Matsuzaka Seibu Lions 215
Base-on-Balls Shigeki Noguchi Chunichi Dragons 59 Mac Suzuki Orix BlueWave 74

All-Star Game[edit]

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 Osaka Dome and was a tie, 4 - 4. The second game was played at Chiba Marine Stadium and was won by the CL, 5 - 3.

Postseason[edit]

In the Nippon Series, the Daiei Hawks (PL) defeated the Hanshin Tigers (CL), 4 games to 3. The winning manager was Sadaharu Oh and the series MVP was Toshiya Sugiuchi.

Award Winners[edit]

The winners of the 2003 Sawamura Award were Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers and Kazumi Saito of the Daiei Hawks. Igawa had a 20 - 5 win-loss record, 179 strikeouts, and a 2.80 ERA in 206.0 innings. Saito had a 20 - 3 win-loss record, 160 strikeouts, and a 2.83 ERA in 194.0 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 Kei Igawa Hanshin Tigers P 62 5 8 0 5 0 .129 .194 .145 20 - 5 0 206.0 184 15 58 179 2.80
PL Kenji Johjima Daiei Hawks C 551 101 182 34 119 9 .330 .399 .593 Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year CL Hiroshi Kisanuki Yomiuri Giants P 56 0 4 0 0 0 .071 .071 .089 10 - 7 0 175.0 168 18 44 180 3.34
PL Tsuyoshi Wada Daiei Hawks P 0 0 0 0 0 0 .--- .--- .--- 14 - 5 0 189.0 165 26 61 195 3.38

Best Nine[edit]

The following players were part of the 2003 Best Nine teams.

Central League Position Pacific League
Player Team Player Team
Kei Igawa Hanshin Tigers P Kazumi Saito Daiei Hawks
Akihiro Yano Hanshin Tigers C Kenji Johjima Daiei Hawks
George Arias Hanshin Tigers 1B Nobuhiko Matsunaka Daiei Hawks
Makoto Imaoka Hanshin Tigers 2B Tadahito Iguchi Daiei Hawks
Ken Suzuki Yakult Swallows 3B Michihiro Ogasawara Nippon Ham Fighters
Tomohiro Nioka Yomiuri Giants SS Kazuo Matsui Seibu Lions
Norihiro Akahoshi Hanshin Tigers OF Tuffy Rhodes Kintetsu Buffaloes
Kosuke Fukudome Chunichi Dragons Yoshitomo Tani Orix BlueWave
Alex Ramirez Yakult Swallows Kazuhiro Wada Seibu Lions
DH Alex Cabrera Seibu Lions

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2003.

Central League Position Pacific League
Player Team Player Team
Koji Uehara Yomiuri Giants P Daisuke Matsuzaka Seibu Lions
Akihiro Yano Hanshin Tigers C Kenji Johjima Daiei Hawks
George Arias Hanshin Tigers 1B Kazuya Fukuura Chiba Lotte Marines
Makoto Imaoka Hanshin Tigers 2B Tadahito Iguchi Daiei Hawks
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami Chunichi Dragons 3B Michihiro Ogasawara Nippon Ham Fighters
Shinya Miyamoto Yakult Swallows SS Kazuo Matsui Seibu Lions
Norihiro Akahoshi Hanshin Tigers OF Arihito Muramatsu Daiei Hawks
Kosuke Fukudome Chunichi Dragons OF Naoyuki Ohmura Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
Yoshinobu Takahashi Yomiuri Giants OF Hiroshi Shibahara Daiei Hawks
OF Yoshitomo Tani Orix BlueWave

High School Baseball[edit]

The 85th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4163 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Joso Gakuin High School (Ibaraki) defeated Tohoku High School (Miyagi) by a score of 4 - 2.

The 75th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 34 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Koryo High School (Hiroshima) defeated Yokohama High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 15 - 3.

University Baseball[edit]

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series[edit]

The 2003 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 26 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Nippon Bunri University defeated Asia University by a score of 4 - 3.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention[edit]

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention University of East Asia defeated Kanagawa University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League[edit]

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

Tohto University Base Ball League[edit]

Season League First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth
Spring 1 Asia Aoyama Gakuin Chuo Toyo Komazawa Nihon
2 Komazawa Kokugakuin Rissho Takushoku Kokushikan Tokyo Agriculture
3 Juntendo Taisho Shibaura Tech Seikei Sophia Gakushuin
4 Hitotsubashi Musashi Tech Tokyo Tech
Fall 1 Aoyama Gakuin Nihon Komazawa Toyo Chuo Asia
2 Rissho Kokushikan Kokugakuin Takushoku Tokyo Agriculture
3 Juntendo Taisho Seikei Shibaura Tech Sophia Tokyo Tech
4 Gakushuin Hitotsubashi Musashi Tech

Kansai 6 University Baseball League[edit]

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

International Baseball[edit]

In the fifth AAA Asia Baseball Championship in Thailand, the Japanese national baseball team won a bronze medal. At the thirty-fifth Baseball World Cup in Cuba, the Japanese national baseball team won a bronze medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries[edit]

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

Hall of Fame[edit]

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

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