2008 in Japanese Baseball

2008 in baseball
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2008 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

The 2008 Japanese baseball season was a return to tradition in a sense. After the Chiba Lotte Marines won their first title in 2005, the Nippon Ham Fighters followed suit in 2006, then the Chunichi Dragons won their first in over 50 years in 2007. The 2008 Japan Series, by contrast, featured the two most successful franchies in Nippon Pro Baseball history, the Yomiuri Giants and Seibu Lions, with Seibu winning out.

Yomiuri had stocked up on free agents in the off-season and for once, the moves paid off after many celebrated free agent failures in their past. Alex Ramirez led the Central League in RBI and won MVP honors, Seth Greisinger led the league in wins and Marc Kroon led in saves. All had come from other CL teams. Ramirez also became the all-time leader for career hits by a foreign player in NPB, breaking the mark held by Wally Yonamine for over 50 years.

Tomoaki Kanemoto and Masahiro Yamamoto joined the meikyukai this year, with Kanemoto reaching 2,000 hits and Yamamoto 200 wins.

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	84	57	3	.596	--	631	532	.266	.322	.428	3.37	Tatsunori Hara
Hanshin Tigers*	144	82	59	3	.582	2.0	578	521	.268	.335	.373	3.29	Akinobu Okada
Chunichi Dragons*	144	71	68	5	.511	12.0	535	556	.253	.316	.392	3.53	Hiromitsu Ochiai
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	144	69	70	5	.496	14.0	537	594	.271	.322	.375	3.78	Marty Brown
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	144	66	74	4	.471	17.5	583	569	.266	.331	.374	3.75	Shigeru Takada
Yokohama BayStars	144	48	94	2	.338	36.5	552	706	.266	.316	.406	4.74	Akihiko Oya

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Saitama Seibu Lions*	144	76	64	4	.543	--	715	626	.270	.330	.453	3.86	Hisanobu Watanabe
Orix Buffaloes*	144	75	68	1	.524	2.5	637	605	.262	.329	.420	3.93	Terry Collins/Daijiro Oishi
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	144	73	69	2	.514	4.0	533	541	.255	.316	.366	3.54	Masataka Nashida
Chiba Lotte Marines	144	73	70	1	.510	4.5	662	648	.268	.335	.416	4.14	Bobby Valentine
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	144	65	76	3	.461	11.5	627	607	.272	.340	.385	3.89	Katsuya Nomura
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	144	64	77	3	.454	12.5	556	641	.255	.317	.385	4.05	Sadaharu Oh

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Seiichi Uchikawa	Yokohama BayStars	.378		Rick Short	Rakuten Golden Eagles	.332
Runs		Norihiro Akahoshi	Hanshin Tigers	94		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions	90
Hits		Seiichi Uchikawa	Yokohama BayStars	189		Takumi Kuriyama Yasuyuki Kataoka	Seibu Lions Seibu Lions	167
Doubles		Seiichi Uchikawa	Yokohama BayStars	37		Jose Fernandez	Rakuten Golden Eagles	40
Triples		Kazuki Fukuchi Yasushi Iihara	Yakult Swallows Yakult Swallows	7		Nobuhiro Matsuda	Softbank Hawks	10
Home Runs		Shuichi Murata	Yokohama BayStars	46		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions	46
Runs Batted In		Alex Ramirez	Yomiuri Giants	125		Tuffy Rhodes	Orix Buffaloes	118
Stolen Bases		Kazuki Fukuchi	Yakult Swallows	42		Yasuyuki Kataoka	Seibu Lions	50
Walks		Tyrone Woods	Chunichi Dragons	78		Tuffy Rhodes	Orix Buffaloes	95

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Masanori Ishikawa	Hanshin Tigers	2.68		Hisashi Iwakuma	Rakuten Golden Eagles	1.87
Wins		Seth Greisinger	Yomiuri Giants	17		Hisashi Iwakuma	Rakuten Golden Eagles	21
Winning Percentage		Shohei Tateyama	Yakult Swallows	.800		Hisashi Iwakuma	Rakuten Golden Eagles	.840
Losses		Kan Otake	Hiroshima Carp	13		Ryan Glynn	Nippon Ham Fighters	14
Saves		Marc Kroon	Yomiuri Giants	41		Daisuke Kato	Orix Buffaloes	33
Innings Pitched		Seth Greisinger	Yomiuri Giants	206		Hisashi Iwakuma	Orix Buffaloes	201 2/3
Appearances		Tomoyuki Kubota	Hanshin Tigers	69		Kanehisa Arime	Rakuten Golden Eagles	66
Hits Allowed		Seth Greisinger	Yomiuri Giants	201		Shunsuke Watanabe	Chiba Lotte Marines	195
Home Runs Allowed		Daisuke Miura	Yokohama BayStars	22		Brian Sweeney	Nippon Ham Fighters	22
Strikeouts		Colby Lewis	Hiroshima Carp	163		Toshiya Sugiuchi	Softbank Hawks	213
Base-on-Balls		Tetsuya Utsumi	Yomiuri Giants	68		Brian Sweeney	Nippon Ham Fighters	72

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Games featured two games and was split. The first game was played at Kyocera Dome and was won by the Pacific League, 5-4. The second game was played at Yokohama Stadium and was won by the Central League, 11-6. Takeshi Yamasaki was game one MVP and Masahiro Araki was game two MVP.

Postseason

In the Pacific League Climax Series first stage, the Nippon Ham Fighters downed the Orix Buffaloes 2 games to 0. In the second stage, the Seibu Lions beat the Fighters 4 games to 2.

In the Central League Climax Series first stage, the Chunichi Dragons beat the Hanshin Tigers 2 games to 1. Yomiuri then beat Chunichi 3 games to 1 with one tie.

In the Japan Series, the Seibu Lions (PL) defeated the Yomiuri Giants (CL) in seven games, in a rematch of the 2002 Japan Series with the opposite team winning. It was Seibu's 10th title. The winning manager was Hisanobu Watanabe. The MVP was Takayuki Kishi.

Award Winners

The winner of the 2008 Sawamura Award was Hisashi Iwakuma of the Rakuten Golden Eagles. He had a 21-4 win-loss record, 159 strikeouts, and a 1.87 ERA in 201.7 innings, leading the Pacific League in wins and ERA while pitching for a 5th-place team. He tied Masahiro Tanaka for third in the PL in strikeouts to miss out on a 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	Alex Ramirez	Yomiuri Giants	OF	548	84	175	45	125	1	.319	.373	.617	Did not pitch
	PL	Hisashi Iwakuma	Rakuten Golden Eagles	P	7	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	21 - 4	0	201.7	161	3	36	159	1.87
Rookie of the Year	CL	Tetsuya Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	P	5	0	1	0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	11 - 2	2	73.7	61	3	12	69	2.32
	PL	Satoshi Komatsu	Orix Buffaloes	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	15 - 3	0	172.3	134	14	42	151	2.51

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2008 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Seth Greisinger	Yomiuri Giants		P		Hisashi Iwakuma	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants		C		Toru Hosokawa	Seibu Lions
Seiichi Uchikawa	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Alex Cabrera	Orix Buffaloes
Akihiro Higashide	Hiroshima Carp		2B		Yasuyuki Kataoka	Seibu Lions
Shuichi Murata	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions
Takashi Toritani	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Hiroyuki Nakajima	Seibu Lions
Alex Ramirez	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Takumi Kuriyama	Seibu Lions
Tomoaki Kanemoto	Hanshin Tigers				Rick Short	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows				Atsunori Inaba	Nippon Ham Fighters
			DH		Tuffy Rhodes	Orix Buffaloes

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2008.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masanori Ishikawa	Yakult Swallows		P		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants		C		Toru Hosokawa	Seibu Lions
Takahiro Arai Kenta Kurihara	Hanshin Tigers Hiroshima Carp		1B		Alex Cabrera	Orix Buffaloes
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		Hiroyuki Nakajima	Seibu Lions
Takahiro Suzuki	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Atsunori Inaba	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows				Hichori Morimoto	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Norihiro Akahoshi	Hanshin Tigers				Tomotaka Sakaguchi	Orix Buffaloes

High School Baseball

The 90th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4,059 schools competing for 55 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Osaka Toin High School (Osaka) defeated Tokoha University Kikugawa High School (Shizuoka) by a score of 17 - 0.

The 80th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Okinawa Shougaku High School (Okinawa) defeated Seibo Gakuen (Saitama) by a score of 9 - 0.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2008 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Toyo University defeated Tokai University by a score of 7 - 5.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Toyo University defeated Tohoku Fukushi University by a score of 3 - 2.

International Baseball

Japan finished 4th in the 2008 Olympics and won Gold at the 2008 Women's Baseball World Cup.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Robert Boothe: Ogden Raptors, Pioneer (LAD-R)
• Kosuke Fukudome: Chicago Cubs
• Kazuo Fukumori: Texas Rangers, Oklahoma RedHawks, Pacific Coast (TEX-AAA)
• Tomokazu Iba: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Kei Igawa: New York Yankees, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International (NYY-AAA)
• Tadahito Iguchi: Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Lake Elsinore Storm, California (SDP-A-Adv)
• Fumimasa Ishibashi: Inland Empire 66ers, California (LAD-A-Adv)
• Akinori Iwamura: Tampa Bay Rays
• Kenji Johjima: Seattle Mariners
• Fumio Katayama: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Masahide Kobayashi: Cleveland Indians
• Ryokan Kobayashi: Brother Elephants, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Hiroki Kuroda: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Yukinaga Maeda: Oklahoma RedHawks, Pacific Coast (TEX-AAA)
• Hideki Matsui: New York Yankees
• Kazuo Matsui: Corpus Christi Hooks, Texas (HOU-AA), Round Rock Express, Pacific Coast (HOU-AAA),Houston Astros
• Terumasa Matsuo: Greenville Drive, South Atlantic (BOS-A)
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox, International (BOS-AAA)
• Hideki Nagasaka: Nashua Pride, Canadian-American Association
• Hideo Nomo: Kansas City Royals
• Tomokazu Ohka: Charlotte Knights, International (CWS-AAA)
• Hideki Okajima: Boston Red Sox
• Dave Roberts: San Francisco Giants; Fresno Grizzlies, Pacific Coast (SFG-AAA)
• Takashi Saito: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Ryohei Shimabukuro: GCL Braves, Gulf Coast (ATL-R)
• Kenta Suda: Everett AquaSox, Northwest (SEA-Short-season A), AZL Mariners, Arizona (SEA-R)
• Ikko Sumi: AZL Angels, Arizona (ANA-R)
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Mac Suzuki: La New Bears, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• So Taguchi: Philadelphia Phillies
• Shingo Takatsu: Woori Heroes, Korea Baseball Organization
• Keiichi Yabu: San Francisco Giants, Fresno Grizzlies, Pacific Coast (SFG-AAA)
• Yasuhiko Yabuta: Kansas City Royals, Omaha Royals, Pacific Coast (KCR-AAA)

Hall of Fame

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

• Tsuneo Horiuchi by the Sportswriter Committee
• Seiichi Shima by the Special Committee
• Koji Yamamoto by the Sportswriter Committee