2007 in Japanese Baseball

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2007 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The 2007 Japanese baseball season was one in which the major leagues of Japan faced some major changes. Star performers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa and Akinori Iwamura had gone to the US via the posting system, the largest exodus since the posting system had been designed. Additionally, the Central League instituted a playoff system for the first time ever. As a result, the team with the best record did not wind up going to the Japan Series, as the second-place Chunichi Dragons beat the Yomiuri Giants in the playoffs en route to their first Japan Series title in over 50 years. Chunichi won despite the absence of injured star Kosuke Fukudome, who would go to the US in 2008 with the Chicago Cubs. The final game was notable as Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase completed the first combined perfect game in NPB history as well as the first perfect game in Japan Series records.

Japan instituted drug testing for 2007 but the only player to be caught, Rick Guttormson, was nabbed for an ingredient that was in his hair-care formula. When the Mitchell Report came out, a couple gaijin were listed as taking steroids while in Japan, most notably Alex Cabrera of the Seibu Lions and Adam Riggs. Cabrera became the quickest player to 250 career homers in NPB history, breaking Ralph Bryant's record.

The number of American managers continued to increase, to a Japan-record four, with the addition of Terry Collins, whose Orix Buffaloes finished last. Trey Hillman guided his team to their second straight Pacific League pennant before it was announced he would be going to the Kansas City Royals in 2008. Marty Brown and Bobby Valentine were the other Americans. The Matsutaro Shoriki Award went to another manager who did not follow traditional Japanese styles, Hiromitsu Ochiai of Chunichi.

It was a season for old-timers. 38-year-old Tuffy Rhodes came out of retirement and led the Pacific League in slugging percentage and walks. He became the first foreigner in NPB history to reach 400 career homers and the first foreigner to 1,000 RBI. He moved up to second on the all-time NPB leader board for 40-homer seasons behind the legendary Sadaharu Oh. Fellow 38-year-old Takeshi Yamasaki, written off by his team three years ago, led the PL in home runs (43) and RBI (108), both career highs. It had been 11 years since Yamasaki's prior home run crown. Kimiyasu Kudoh set a record with a win for the 23rd straight season.

Youth was also served. Yu Darvish was the youngest MVP in 50 years as the Iranian-Japanese hurler celebrated his 21st birthday in August; Darvish drew considerable attention from overseas. On the college level, Yuki Saito set several records and kept making headlines both in Japan and the US. Norichika Aoki reached 500 hits faster than anyone had in NPB history. Aoki lost one record, as teammate Alex Ramirez broke his Central League hit record of 202.

Greg LaRocca took a bruising as he set a new Japanese record for times hit by pitch in a season. Two Dominican hurlers set balk records this year - Esteban Yan had 12 for the season and Domingo Guzman four in a game.

Joining the meikyukai were Yukio Tanaka, Hideki Matsui and Tomonori Maeda, all of whom reached 2,000 career hits.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates playoff team

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Yomiuri Giants*	144	80	63	1	0.559	-.-	692	556	0.276	0.335	0.449	3.58	Tatsunori Hara
Chunichi Dragons*	144	78	64	2	0.549	1.5	623	556	0.261	0.338	0.387	3.59	Hiromitsu Ochiai
Hanshin Tigers*	144	74	66	4	0.529	4	518	561	0.255	0.319	0.368	3.56	Akinobu Okada
Yokohama BayStars	144	71	72	1	0.497	9	569	623	0.265	0.324	0.400	4.01	Akihiko Oya
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	144	60	82	2	0.423	19.5	557	600	0.263	0.318	0.389	4.22	Marty Brown
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	144	60	84	0	0.417	20.5	596	623	0.269	0.331	0.409	4.07	Atsuya Furuta

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	144	79	60	5	0.568	-.-	526	489	0.252	0.312	0.360	3.22	Trey Hillman
Chiba Lotte Marines*	144	76	61	7	0.555	2	629	525	0.262	0.326	0.391	3.26	Bobby Valentine
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	144	73	66	5	0.525	6	575	508	0.267	0.319	0.391	3.18	Sadaharu Oh
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	144	67	75	2	0.472	13.5	575	676	0.262	0.327	0.384	4.31	Katsuya Nomura
Seibu Lions	144	66	76	2	0.465	14.5	564	585	0.264	0.327	0.398	3.82	Tsutomu Ito
Orix Buffaloes	144	62	77	5	0.446	17	536	585	0.259	0.317	0.382	3.67	Terry Collins

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	.327		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	.334
Runs		Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	114		Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	91
Hits		Alex Ramirez	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	204		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	176
Doubles		Alex Ramirez	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	41		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	39
Triples		Hiroyasu Tanaka	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	8		Daisuke Hayakawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	8
Home Runs		Shuichi Murata	Yokohama BayStars	36		Takeshi Yamasaki	Rakuten Golden Eagles	43
Runs Batted In		Alex Ramirez	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	122		Takeshi Yamasaki	Rakuten Golden Eagles	108
Stolen Bases		Masahiro Araki	Chunichi Dragons	31		Yasuyuki Kataoka	Seibu Lions	38
Walks		Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons	121		Tuffy Rhodes	Orix Buffaloes	88

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Hisanori Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	2.75		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	1.82
Wins		Seth Greisinger	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	16		Hideaki Wakui	Seibu Lions	17
Winning Percentage		Hisanori Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants	.778		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	.941
Losses		Daisuke Miura	Yokohama BayStars	13		Yoshihisa Hirano	Orix Buffaloes	13
Saves		Kyuji Fujikawa	Hanshin Tigers	46		Takahiro Mahara	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	38
Innings Pitched		Seth Greisinger	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	209		Hideaki Wakui	Seibu Lions	213
Appearances		Tomoyuki Kubota	Hanshin Tigers	90		Koki Watanabe	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	65
Hits Allowed		Seth Greisinger	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	185		Hideaki Wakui	Seibu Lions	199
Home Runs Allowed		Hisanori Takahashi Kazuhisa Ishii Takahiro Aoki	Yomiuri Giants Tokyo Yakult Swallows Hiroshima Carp	21		Hidetaka Kawagoe	Orix Buffaloes	20
Strikeouts		Tetsuya Utsumi	Yomiuri Giants	180		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	210
Base-on-Balls		Kenichi Nakata	Chunichi Dragons	81		Masahiro Tanaka	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	68

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Games featured two games and was won by the Central League two games to none. The first game was played at Tokyo Dome and was won by the CL, 4 - 0. The second game was played at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium and was won by the CL, 11 - 5.

Postseason

In the first stage of the Climax Series, the second place Chunichi Dragons defeated the third place Hanshin Tigers in two straight games. In the second stage of the playoffs the first-place Yomiuri Giants lost three straight games to Chunichi, giving the Dragons the pennant.

In the first stage of the Climax Series, the second place Chiba Lotte Marines defeated the third place SoftBank Hawks, 2 games to 1. In the second stage of the playoffs the first-place Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters won three of four games from Chiba Lotte giving them the pennant.

In the Nippon Series, the Chunichi Dragons (CL) defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (PL) in five games, 4 - 1, in a rematch of the 2006 Japan Series but with opposite results. It was the team's first title in 53 years. The winning manager was Hiromitsu Ochiai. The series MVP was Norihiro Nakamura.

The Dragons proceeded to the Asia Series, to determine the champion of the four Asian leagues. The champions of Japan lost to the SK Wyverns in round one but won the finale over the Wyverns, 6-5, to be crowned Asian champions.

Award Winners

The winner of the 2007 Sawamura Award was Yu Darvish of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He had a 15 - 5 win-loss record, 210 strikeouts, and a 1.82 ERA in 207.7 innings, leading the league in strikeouts and finishing second in ERA and tied for third in wins.

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	Michihiro Ogasawara	Yomiuri Giants	IF	566	95	177	31	88	4	.313	.363	.539	Did not pitch
	PL	Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	P	8	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	15 - 5	0	207.7	123	9	49	210	1.82
Rookie of the Year	CL	Keiji Uezono	Hanshin Tigers	P	21	0	1	0	1	0	.048	.087	.048	8 - 5	0	85.7	70	9	32	83	2.42
	PL	Masahiro Tanaka	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	P	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	11 - 7	0	186.3	183	17	68	196	3.82

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2007 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Hisanori Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants		C		Tomoya Satozaki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Alex Cabrera	Seibu Lions
Hiroyasu Tanaka	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Michihiro Ogasawara	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Greg LaRocca	Orix Buffaloes
Hirokazu Ibata	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		OF		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Alex Ramirez	Tokyo Yakult Swallows				Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Yoshinobu Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants				Naoyuki Omura	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
			DH		Takeshi Yamasaki	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2007.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenshin Kawakami	Chunichi Dragons		P		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Motonobu Tanishige	Chunichi Dragons		C		Tomoya Satozaki	Chiba Lotte Marines
Andy Sheets	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Kazuya Fukuura	Chiba Lotte Marines
Masahiro Araki	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Norihiro Nakamura	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Toshiaki Imae	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hirokazu Ibata	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Tatsuhiko Kinjo	Yokohama BayStars		OF		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Norichika Aoki	Tokyo Yakult Swallows				Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Yoshinobu Takahashi	Yomiuri Giants				Saburo Omura	Chiba Lotte Marines

High School Baseball

The 89th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4,081 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Saga Kita High School (Saga) defeated Koryo High School (Hiroshima) by a score of 5-4.

The 79th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Tokoha University Kikugawa High School (Shiozuka) defeated Ogaki Nihon University High School (Gifu) by a score of 6-5.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2007 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 26 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Waseda University defeated Tokai University by a score of 4 - 1.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

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

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Season	League	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	1	Toyo	Asia	Komazawa	Rissho	Aoyama Gakuin	Kokugakuin
	2	Nihon	Kokushikan	Chuo	Tokyo Agriculture	Senshu	Takushoku
	3	Taisho	Gakushuin	Shibaura Tech	Sophia	Seikei	Juntendo
	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	Ritsumeikan	Kinki	Kwansei Gakuin	Doshisha	Kansai	Kyoto
Fall	Kinki	Kansai	Kwansei Gakuin	Ritsumeikan	Doshisha	Kyoto

International Baseball

In the 37th Baseball World Cup, the Japanese national baseball team finished third, winning a bronze medal. In the 2007 Asian Championship, Japan won the Gold Medal and clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Jung Ji Cho: GCL Braves, Gulf Coast (ATL-R); Danville Braves, Appalachian (ATL-R); Rome Braves, South Atlantic (ATL-A); Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Carolina (ATL-A-Adv)
• Hiroshi Fujimoto: Chinatrust Whales, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Takumi Hamaoka: GCL Braves (ATL-R)
• Tomokazu Iba: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Kei Igawa: New York Yankees, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International (NYY-AAA) , Tampa Yankees, Florida State (NYY-A-Adv)
• Tadahito Iguchi: Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox
• Daisuke Ikenaga: Long Beach Armada, Golden Baseball League
• Akinori Iwamura: Tampa Bay Rays
• Masumi Kuwata: Indianapolis Indians, International (PIT-AAA); Pittsburgh Pirates
• Yusuke Kurita: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Kazuo Matsui: Colorado Springs SkySox, Pacific Coast (COL-AAA); Colorado Rockies
• Hideki Matsui: New York Yankees
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: Boston Red Sox
• Hideki Nagasaka: Nashua Pride, Canadian-American Association
• Tomokazu Ohka: Toronto Blue Jays; Tacoma Rainiers, Pacific Coast (SEA-AAA); Memphis Redbirds, Pacific Coast (STL-AAA)
• Akira Okamoto: Nashua Pride, Canadian-American Association
• Hideki Okajima: Boston Red Sox
• Dave Roberts: San Francisco Giants; Fresno Grizzlies, Pacific Coast (SFG-AAA)
• Hiroshi Shibakusa: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Ryohei Shimabukuro: GCL Braves, Gulf Coast (ATL-R)
• Ikko Sumi: DSL Angels, Dominican Summer (ANA-R)
• Mac Suzuki: La New Bears, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Kazuhito Tadano: Sacramento River Cats, Pacific Coast (OAK-AAA); Midland RockHounds, Texas (OAK-AA)
• So Taguchi: St. Louis Cardinals
• Keiichi Yabu: Aguilas de Mexicali, Mexican Pacific Winter League

Hall of Fame

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

• Takao Kajimoto, by Sportswriters Committee
• Reiichi Matsunaka, by Special Committee