2007 NPB All-Star Game

The 2007 NPB All-Star Games were held on July 20 and July 21, 2007. The Central League swept the Pacific League.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 20 at Tokyo Dome with an attendance of 33,618. Yomiuri Giants closer Koji Uehara was the starter for the CL, and this was his only start in the entire 2007 season. Tsuyoshi Nishioka greeted him with a leadoff infield single, and he soon stole second. Uehara then plunked Greg LaRocca, but Nishioka was caught stealing 3rd, and Tuffy Rhodes was retired. LaRocca was the last PL player to reach base in this game, as 8 CL pitchers remained perfect in the next 8 innings while striking out 6.

On the other hand, the PL pitchers also did their job well. The CL only hit singles in the first 6 innings, and they never reach second. The game changed when Takahiro Mahara replaced Hiroyuki Kobayashi in the 7th inning. He struck out Michihiro Ogasawara first, but Tyrone Woods hit a double and Alex Ramirez broke open the scoring with a 2-run shot. Pinch-hitter Tomonori Maeda then added a back-to-back solo shot. Masahiko Morino drove in an insurance run in the 8th inning with a solo shot, and the CL took their 5th consecutive win. Ramirez was the MVP winner.

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

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B (Chiba Lotte Marines)
2. Hichori Morimoto, CF (Nippon Ham Fighters)
3. Greg LaRocca, 3B (Orix Buffaloes)
4. Tuffy Rhodes, LF (Orix)
5. Alex Cabrera, DH (Seibu Lions)
6. Nobuhiko Matsunaka, 1B (Softbank Hawks)
7. Atsunori Inaba, RF (Nippon Ham)
8. Shinji Takahashi, C (Nippon Ham)
9. Munenori Kawasaki, SS (Softbank)

• Yu Darvish, P (Nippon Ham)

Backups Used

• Yosuke Takasu, 2B (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
• Teppei Tsuchiya, CF (Rakuten)
• Hiroki Kokubo, 3B (Softbank)
• Naoyuki Ohmura, LF (Softbank)
• Takeshi Yamasaki, DH (Rakuten)
• Tomoya Satozaki, C (Chiba Lotte)
• Koichi Isobe, RF (Rakuten)
• Motohiro Shima, C (Rakuten)
• Hiroyuki Nakajima, SS (Seibu)
• Hideaki Wakui, P (Seibu)
• Yasuhiko Yabuta, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Hiroyuki Kobayashi, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Takahiro Mahara, P (Softbank)
• Hisashi Takeda, P (Nippon Ham)

Manager

• Trey Hillman

Coaches

• Koji Akiyama
• Tsutomu Ito

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Nori Aoki, CF (Yakult Swallows)
2. Yoshitomo Tani, RF (Yomiuri Giants)
3. Michihiro Ogasawara, 3B (Yomiuri)
4. Tyrone Woods, DH (Chunichi Dragons)
5. Alex Ramirez, LF (Yakult)
6. Kenta Kurihara, 1B (Hiroshima Carp)
7. Shinnosuke Abe, C (Yomiuri)
8. Toshihisa Nishi, 2B (Yokohama BayStars)
9. Hirokazu Ibata, SS (Chunichi)

• Koji Uehara, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Masahiko Morino, RF (Chunichi)
• Motonobu Tanishige, DH (Chunichi)
• Kosuke Fukudome, C (Chunichi)
• Tomonori Maeda, PH (Hiroshima)
• Ryoji Aikawa, C (Yokohama)
• Takahiro Arai, 3B (Hiroshima)
• Shinya Miyamoto, SS (Yakult)
• Shingo Takatsu, P (Yakult)
• Masanori Hayashi P (Yomiuri)
• Atsushi Kizuka P (Yokohama)
• Hitoki Iwase P (Chunichi)
• Hiroki Kuroda P (Hiroshima)
• Tomoyuki Kubota P (Hanshin Tigers)
• Marc Kroon P (Yokohama)
• Kyuji Fujikawa P (Hanshin)

Manager

• Hiromitsu Ochiai

Coaches

• Atsuya Furuta
• Akinobu Okada

Umpires

• Kazuyuki Shirai (Home), Kazuhiro Kobayashi (1B), Natsuo Yamazaki (2B), Shoji Arisumi (3B), Tadayoshi Hayashi (LF), Masanobu Suginaga (RF)

Game 2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	0	6	2	0	0	0	1	2	X	11	13	0
Pacific	2	0	0	1	0	2	0	X	X	5	13	0

The second game was held on July 21 at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi with an attendance of 20,958. The PL scored first as Takeshi Yamasaki blasted a 2-run shot in his home field off Hisanori Takahashi. The CL soon answered, and they destroyed Rakuten rookie Masahiro Tanaka in the 2nd inning. Tyrone Woods singled and Kenta Kurihara doubled, then Shinnosuke Abe blasted a game-winning, 3-run homer. Tanaka still struggled as he gave up 2 singles to Yoshitomo Tani and Morino, then Hirokazu Ibata sent those two home to score with a timely double. Toshihisa Nishi drove in another run, and Tanaka finally retired Ogasawara and Woods to end this long inning.

The CL continued their attack in the next inning. Tani hit a single, Morino walked then Ibata and Nori Aoki's singles each drove in a row. The PL decreased the CL's lead a bit by Cabrera's RBI single in the 4th inning, and they got another two runs with Yosuke Takasu's sacrifice fly and Hichori Morimoto's RBI single in the 6th inning. Arai then guaranteed the CL lead with a solo shot in the 7th inning, and Ramirez blasted his second homer of this series in the 8th inning. The game was then ended early due to heavy rain, and this was the only game in All-Star history that was cut short due to bad weather.

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Aoki, CF
2. Nishi, 2B
3. Ogasawara, 3B
4. Woods, DH
5. Kurihara, 1B
6. Abe, C
7. Tani, RF
8. Morino, LF
9. Ibata, SS

• Hisanori Takahashi, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Ramirez, PH
• Aikawa, C
• Arai, 3B
• Maeda, DH
• Yoshinobu Takahashi, PH (Yomiuri)
• Kenichi Nakata, P (Chunichi)
• Seth Greisinger P (Yakult)
• Tetsuya Utsumi P (Yomiuri)

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Tsuchiya, CF
2. Nakajima, SS
3. Ohmura, LF
4. Yamasaki, 1B
5. Kokubo, 3B
6. Cabrera, DH
7. Isobe, RF
8. Takasu, 2B
9. Shima, C

• Masahiro Tanaka, P (Rakuten)

Backups Used

• Morimoto, CF
• Kawasaki, SS
• Inaba, RF
• LaRocca, 3B
• Matsunaka, DH
• Nishioka, 2B
• Satozaki, C
• Takahashi, C
• Toshiya Sugiuchi, P (Softbank)
• Yoshihisa Naruse, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Daisuke Kato, P (Orix)
• Yasuhiko Yabuta, P (Chiba Lotte)

Umpires

• Suginaga (Home), Hayashi (1B), Arisumi (2B), Yamazaki (3B), Kobayashi (LF), Shirai (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia

Players did not play

• Kazuo Fukumori, P (Rakuten)
• Daisuke Hayakawa, OF (Chiba Lotte)