2006 NPB All-Star Game

The 2006 NPB All-Star Games were held on July 21 and July 23, 2006. The Central League swept the Pacific League.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 21 at Meiji-Jingu Stadium with an attendance of 30,488. The PL took the lead first when their catcher Tomoya Satozaki blasted a solo shot in the 2nd inning, but that was the only run they had in this game. Their opponent answered back soon. Tomoaki Kanemoto drew a walk in the bottom of the inning, and Seung-yuop Lee tied the game with a double. Nori Aoki then crushed a game-winning homer off Masato Yoshii the next inning, and he won the MVP.

Akinori Iwamura added an insurance run with another solo homer in the 6th inning, and the bullpen of the CL did their job well. 6 pitchers combined to shut out the PL with 7 strikeouts, and Marc Kroon got the save. Kyuji Fujikawa announced that he would only use his fastball to deal with batters, and he keep his word, striking out Michihiro Ogasawara and Alex Cabrera.

In his last All-Star appearances of his professional career, legendary Tsuyoshi Shinjo used a rainbow-painted bat while hanging a electronic sign on his waist while playing. However, the bat was broken by Hitoki Iwase's fastball.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Munenori Kawasaki, SS (Softbank Hawks)
2. Yoshitomo Tani, LF (Orix Buffaloes)
3. Tsuyoshi Shinjo, CF (Nippon Ham Fighters)
4. Kazuhiro Kiyohara, DH (Orix)
5. Michihiro Ogasawara, 1B (Nippon Ham)
6. Tomoya Satozaki, C (Chiba Lotte Marines)
7. Toshiaki Imae, 3B (Chiba Lotte)
8. Hiroshi Shibahara, RF (Softbank)
9. Mitsuru Honma, 2B (Softbank)

• Daisuke Matsuzaka, P (Seibu Lions)

Backups Used

• José Fernandez, 3B (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
• Alex Cabrera, DH (Seibu)
• Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B (Chiba Lotte)
• Naoyuki Ohmura, RF (Softbank)
• Hichori Morimoto, LF (Nippon Ham)
• Hiroyuki Nakajima, SS (Seibu)
• Yoshihisa Hirano, P (Orix)
• Masato Yoshii, P (Orix)
• Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara, P (Orix)
• Hisashi Takeda, P (Nippon Ham)

Manager

• Bobby Valentine

Coaches

• Hiroshi Moriwaki
• Tsutomu Ito

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Nori Aoki, RF (Yakult Swallows)
2. Norihiro Akahoshi, CF (Hanshin Tigers)
3. Akinori Iwamura, 3B (Yakult)
4. Tomoaki Kanemoto, LF (Hanshin)
5. Seung-yuop Lee, 1B (Yomiuri Giants)
6. Shuichi Murata, DH (Yokohama BayStars)
7. Takashi Toritani, SS (Hanshin)
8. Akihiro Yano, C (Hanshin)
9. Atsushi Fujimoto, 2B (Hanshin)

• Kenshin Kawakami, P (Chunichi Dragons)

Backups Used

• Akihiro Higashide, 2B (Hiroshima Carp)
• Osamu Hamanaka, LF (Hanshin)
• Alex Ochoa, PH (Chunichi)
• Tatsuhiko Kinjo, RF (Yokohama)
• Andy Sheets, DH (Hanshin)
• Atsuya Furuta, DH (Yakult)
• Tomohiro Nioka, SS (Yomiuri)
• Daisuke Miura, P (Yokohama)
• Masanori Ishikawa P (Yakult)
• Masao Kida P (Yakult)
• Hitoki Iwase P (Chunichi)
• Kyuji Fujikawa P (Hanshin)
• Marc Kroon P (Yokohama)

Manager

• Akinobu Okada

Coaches

• Kazuhiko Ushijima
• Hiromitsu Ochiai

Umpires

• Fumihiro Yoshimoto (Home), Tatsuya Yamamura (1B), Masato Tomoyose (2B), Masao Yanada (3B), Naoto Shikita (LF), Tomiji Iizuka (RF)

Game 2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	2	1	7	15	0
Pacific	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	14	0

The second game was held on July 23 at Sun Marine Stadium with an attendance of 29,777. Kanemoto, Alex Ochoa and Shinnosuke Abe's three straight singles gave the CL the lead, but PL soon took it back with Hichori Morimoto's 2-run shot off Hiroki Kuroda. The CL answered back with the same thing - a 2-run homer by Ochoa in the 4th inning.

The PL rallied again in the 5th inning, as Morimoto singled first, Nishioka's single sent him to third, and Morimoto completed the 3rd steal of home in All-Star history to tie the game. Nakajima added a double, and Cabrera's RBI single helped the PL take the lead again.

However, they couldn't hold it. Andy Sheets soon tied it with a solo shot in the 6th inning, then he and Ochoa each collected a hit in the 8th inning. Atsushi Fujimoto hit a game-winning, two-run double, and he won the MVP. Lee's sacrifice fly added an insurance run in the 9th inning, and Kroon saved it with 2 strikeouts - against Morimoto and Nakajima.

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Aoki, CF
2. Kinjo, RF
3. Nioka, SS
4. Kanemoto, DH
5. Murata, 3B
6. Sheets, 1B
7. Ochoa, SS
8. Shinnosuke Abe, C (Yomiuri)
9. Higashide, 2B

• Tetsuya Utsumi, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Akahoshi, CF
• Toritani, SS
• Hamanaka, DH
• Iwamura, DH
• Lee, 1B
• Furuta, C
• Fujimoto, 2B
• Hiroki Kuroda, P (Hiroshima)
• Kenta Asakura P (Chunichi)
• Katsuhiro Nagakawa P (Hiroshima)
• Fujikawa, P
• Kroon, P

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Nishioka, 2B
2. Nakajima, SS
3. Cabrera, 1B
4. Ogasawara, DH
5. Fernandez, 3B
6. Satozaki, C
7. Shinjo, CF
8. Ohmura, RF
9. Morimoto, LF

• Kazumi Saito, P (Softbank)

Backups Used

• Tani, DH
• Kawasaki, 2B
• Imae, 3B
• Takeshi Hidaka, C (Orix)
• Shibahara, RF
• Kiyohara, PH
• Honma, LF
• Hideaki Wakui, P (Seibu)
• Tomoya Yagi, P (Nippon Ham)
• Kazuo Fukumori, P (Rakuten)
• Takahiro Mahara, P (Softbank)
• Masahide Kobayashi, P (Chiba Lotte)

Umpires

• Iizuka (Home), Shikita (1B), Yamamura (2B), Tomoyose (3B), Yanada (LF), Yoshimoto (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia