2006 in Japanese Baseball

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2006 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The 2006 season in Japan was marked by a surprising champion, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Going from fifth in the six-team Pacific League to first in the course of a year, the Fighters then took the playoffs easily and topped the Chunichi Dragons in the 2006 Japan Series. They became the second straight Japan Series champion with an American manager as they were guided by Trey Hillman. Leading their attack were 1B Michihiro Ogasawara, RF Atsunori Inaba and DH Fernando Seguignol, while a fine young pitching staff was anchored by sophomore Yu Darvish and Rookie of the Year Tomoya Yagi. The Chiba Lotte Marines, meanwhile, fell from first in 2005 to the second division and missed the playoffs.

In the Central League, there was a tight pennant race between the defending champion Hanshin Tigers and Chunichi, with both teams having fine finishing runs to keep the action alive. Unfortunately, it would be the last true pennant race in CL history as the league decided to copy the Pacific League's playoff structure for 2007.

The season marked the return of the player-manager to Japan as Atsuya Furuta guided the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Furuta was the first player-manager in NPB in 30 years, since his mentor Katsuya Nomura had filled the role. The former two-time MVP spent most of the year on the bench, but the 40-year-old still contributed at times.

It was a year for no-hitters of note in Japan. On April 15, there was the first combined no-hitter in NPB in 65 years when Yagi (10 IP), Hisashi Takeda (1 IP) and Micheal Nakamura (1 IP) combined to keep the Softbank Hawks hitless for twelve innings. On May 25, Rick Guttormson pitched the first no-hitter in NPB during interleague play. Using 139 pitches, he became the 7th foreigner in league annals to throw a no-hitter, stopping the Rakuten Golden Eagles flat. He was sent down afterwards on a technicality to free up a roster space for Dicky Gonzalez as NPB rules limit the number of foreigners on the active roster. The third historical no-hitter came in September when 41-year-old Masahiro Yamamoto became the oldest pitcher in league history to throw a no-hitter.

Hanshin Tigers LF Tomoaki Kanemoto, the 2005 Central League MVP, made note this year for a durability mark. He played in his 903rd consecutive game without missing an inning, breaking the world record previously held by Cal Ripken Jr.. Later in the year, Kanemoto reached 1,000 consecutive games played.

Yomiuri Giants SS Tomohiro Nioka provided his club with one of their bright spots in a rare second straight bad season for the most successful team in Japanese history. On April 30, Nioka set a Yomiuri record with 10 RBI in a game, something never done by the likes of Sadaharu Oh, Tetsuharu Kawakami or Shigeo Nagashima. He also became the first player in NPB history to hit grand slams in consecutive at-bats in that game against Chunichi.

While Kazumi Saitoh took home the pitching Triple Crown, most American eyes were on another Pacific League hurler, Daisuke Matsuzaka. The MVP of the 2006 World Baseball Classic (won by Japan), Matsuzaka was finally posted after the season after much anticipation and a denied request a year earlier.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates Pacific League playoffs team

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Chunichi Dragons	146	87	54	5	0.617	-.-	669	496	0.270	0.333	0.409	3.10	Hiromitsu Ochiai
Hanshin Tigers	146	84	58	4	0.592	3.5	597	508	0.267	0.328	0.396	3.13	Akinobu Okada
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	146	70	73	3	0.490	18	669	642	0.269	0.326	0.415	3.91	Atsuya Furuta
Yomiuri Giants	146	65	79	2	0.451	23.5	552	592	0.251	0.307	0.380	3.65	Tatsunori Hara
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	146	62	79	5	0.440	25	549	648	0.266	0.311	0.386	3.96	Marty Brown
Yokohama BayStars	146	58	84	4	0.408	29.5	575	662	0.257	0.311	0.387	4.25	Kazuhiko Ushijima

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	136	82	54	0	0.603	-.-	567	452	0.269	0.323	0.418	3.05	Trey Hillman
Seibu Lions*	136	80	54	2	0.597	1	645	556	0.275	0.342	0.419	3.64	Tsutomu Ito
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	136	75	56	5	0.573	4.5	553	472	0.259	0.324	0.373	3.13	Sadaharu Oh1/Hiroshi Moriwaki
Chiba Lotte Marines	136	65	70	1	0.481	16.5	502	562	0.252	0.315	0.382	3.78	Bobby Valentine
Orix Buffaloes	136	52	81	3	0.391	28.5	481	570	0.253	0.311	0.373	3.84	Katsuhiro Nakamura
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	136	47	85	4	0.356	33	452	651	0.258	0.320	0.355	4.30	Katsuya Nomura

¹ After Oh was hospitalized with stomach cancer on July 6, chief coach Moriwaki took over the team for the rest of the season.

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons	.351		Nobuhiko Matsunaka	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	.324
Runs		Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons	117		Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	84
Hits		Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	192		Naoyuki Omura	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	165
Doubles		Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons	47		Fernando Seguignol	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	37
Triples		Eishin Soyogi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	8		Shogo Akada Munenori Kawasaki Tsuyoshi Nishioka Teppei Tsuchiya	Seibu Lions Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Chiba Lotte Marines Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	7
Home Runs		Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons	47		Michihiro Ogasawara	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	32
Runs Batted In		Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons	144		Alex Cabrera Michihiro Ogasawara	Seibu Lions Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	100
Stolen Bases		Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	41		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines	33
Walks		Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons	84		Nobuhiko Matsunaka	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	102

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Hiroki Kuroda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	1.85		Kazumi Saito	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	1.75
Wins		Kenshin Kawakami	Chunichi Dragons	17		Kazumi Saito	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	18
Winning Percentage		Kenshin Kawakami	Chunichi Dragons	.708		Kazumi Saito	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	.783
Losses		Kan Otake Tetsuya Utsumi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Yomiuri Giants	13		Yasuhiro Ichiba	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	14
Saves		Hitoki Iwase	Chunichi Dragons	40		Micheal Nakamura	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	39
Innings Pitched		Daisuke Miura	Yokohama BayStars	216.2		Kazumi Saito	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	201.0
Appearances		Takeharu Kato Katsuhiro Nagakawa	Yokohama BayStars Hiroshima Toyo Carp	75		Hisashi Takeda	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	75
Hits Allowed		Daisuke Miura	Yokohama BayStars	194		Yasuhiro Ichiba	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	205
Home Runs Allowed		Kan Otake	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	25		Yasuhiro Ichiba Fumiya Nishiguchi	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Seibu Lions	22
Strikeouts		Kei Igawa Kenshin Kawakami	Hanshin Tigers Chunichi Dragons	194		Kazumi Saito	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	205
Base-on-Balls		Kazuhisa Ishii	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	59		Yasuhiro Ichiba	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	71

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was won by the Central League two games to none. The first game was played at Meiji-Jingu Stadium and was won by the CL, 3 - 1. The second game was played at Sun Marine Stadium and was won by the CL, 7 - 4.

Postseason

In the first stage of the playoffs at the Invoice Seibu Dome, the third place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeated the second place Seibu Lions in two straight games. In the second stage of the playoffs the first-place Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters began the best-of-five series with a one-game advantage over the Hawks for finishing ahead of them. The Fighters swept the two games at the Sapporo Dome giving them pennant.

In the Nippon Series, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (PL) defeated the Chunichi Dragons (CL) in five games, 4 - 1. It was the team's first title in 44 years. The winning manager was Trey Hillman. The series MVP was Toshiaki Imae.

The Fighters proceeded to the Asia Series, to determine the champion of the four Asian leagues. The champions of Japan swept through the round-robin winning each of their three games to advance to the title match against the La New Bears of the CPBL. The Fighters won the game 1 - 0 to be crowned Asian champions.

Award Winners

The winner of the 2006 Sawamura Award was Kazumi Saito of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He had a 18 - 5 win-loss record, 205 strikeouts, and a 1.75 ERA in 201.0 innings; winning the Pacific League's pitching triple crown.

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	Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons	OF	496	117	174	31	104	11	.351	.438	.653	Did not pitch
	PL	Michihiro Ogasawara	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	1B	496	77	155	32	100	4	.312	.397	.573	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	CL	Eishin Soyogi	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	IF	450	78	138	8	36	13	.289	.332	.422	Did not pitch
	PL	Tomoya Yagi	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	P	26	1	1	0	1	0	.143	.143	.286	12 - 8	0	170.2	134	12	51	108	2.48

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2006 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenshin Kawakami	Chunichi Dragons		P		Kazumi Saitoh	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Akihiro Yano	Hanshin Tigers		C		Tomoya Satozaki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Michihiro Ogasawara	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Masahiro Araki	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Akinori Iwamura	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		3B		Jose Fernandez	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Hirokazu Ibata	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Munenori Kawasaki	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		OF		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons				Nobuhiko Matsunaka	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Tomoaki Kanemoto	Hanshin Tigers				Kazuhiro Wada	Seibu Lions
			DH		Fernando Seguignol	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2006.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenshin Kawakami	Chunichi Dragons		P		Daisuke Matsuzaka	Seibu Lions
Motonobu Tanishige	Chunichi Dragons		C		Tomoya Satozaki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Andy Sheets	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Michihiro Ogasawara	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Masahiro Araki	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Akinori Iwamura	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		3B		Toshiaki Imae	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hirokazu Ibata	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Munenori Kawasaki	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Norihiro Akahoshi	Hanshin Tigers		OF		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows				Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Kosuke Fukudome	Chunichi Dragons				Tsuyoshi Shinjo	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

High School Baseball

The 88th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4112 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Waseda Jitsugyo High School (West Tokyo) defeated Komadai Tomakomai High School (North Hokkaido) by a score of 4 - 3 in a replay of the championship game. The first game between the teams ended after 15 innings in a 1 - 1 tie.

The 78th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Yokohama High School (Kanagawa) defeated Seihou High School (Nagasaki) by a score of 21 - 0.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2006 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 26 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences defeated Aoyama Gakuin University by a score of 7 - 6.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Asia University defeated Waseda University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

In the first World Baseball Classic, the Japanese national baseball team won the championship.

In the second World University Baseball Championship in Cuba, the Japanese national baseball team placed fourth. In the sixteenth Intercontinental Cup in Taiwan, the Japanese national baseball team placed fourth. In the 2006 Women's Baseball World Cup in Canada, the Japanese women's national baseball team won a silver medal. At the twenty-third Haarlemse Honkbalweek in Haarlem, the Netherlands, the Japanese national baseball team placed fourth.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Yugo Amano, SK Wyverns, Korea Baseball Organization
• Satoru Fujii: Sparta/Feyenoord, Hoofdklasse
• Takumi Hamaoka: GCL Braves (COL-R)
• Tadahito Iguchi: Chicago White Sox
• Daisuke Ikenaga: Mainz Athletics, Bundesliga
• Yusaku Iriki: St. Lucie Mets, Florida State (NYM-A-Adv); Norfolk Tides, International (NYM-AAA)
• Kenji Johjima: Seattle Mariners
• Ryokan Kobayashi: Calgary Vipers, Northern League
• Kazuo Matsui: New York Mets; St. Lucie Mets, Florida State (NYM-A-Adv); Norfolk Tides, International (NYM-AAA); Colorado Springs SkySox, Pacific Coast (COL-AAA); Colorado Rockies
• Hideki Matsui: New York Yankees; Trenton Thunder, Eastern (NYY-AA)
• Keith McDonald: Colorado Springs SkySox, Pacific Coast (COL-AAA)
• Hideki Nagasaka: Reno Silver Sox; Chico Heat, Golden Baseball League
• Hayato Nakamura: Brother Elephants, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Yuji Nerei: Neptunus, Hoofdklasse
• Hideo Nomo: Charlotte Knights, International (CWS-AAA)
• Tomokazu Ohka: Milwaukee Brewers; Brevard County Manatees, Florida State (MIL-A-Adv); AZL Brewers, Arizona (MIL-R);
• Akira Okamoto: ADO, Hoofdklasse
• Akinori Otsuka: Texas Rangers
• Stephen Randolph: Charlotte Knights, International (CWS-AAA)
• Dave Roberts: San Diego Padres; Lake Elsinore Storm, California (SDP-A-Adv)
• Kazuhiko Shiotani, SK Wyverns, Korea Baseball Organization
• Kenta Suzumegano: Sioux Falls Canaries, American Association
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Mac Suzuki: Iowa Cubs, Pacific Coast (CHC-AAA) and Tijuana Colts, Mexican
• Kazuhito Tadano: Sacramento River Cats, Pacific Coast (OAK-AAA); Stockton Ports, California (OAK-A-Adv)
• So Taguchi: St. Louis Cardinals
• Koji Takekiyo: Uni-President Lions, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Masayoshi Tokuda: unknown (ATL)
• Keisuke Ueno: AZL Rangers, Arizona (TEX-R)
• Keiichi Yabu: Potros de Tijuana, Mexican League
• Tetsu Yofu: Brother Elephants, Chinese Professional Baseball League

Hall of Fame

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

• Hiromitsu Kadota, by Sportswriters Committee
• Morimichi Takagi, by Sportswriters Committee
• Hisashi Yamada, by Sportswriters Committee
• Hiromori Kawashima, by Special Committee
• Yasumitsu Toyoda, by Special Committee