2009 in Japanese Baseball
| 2009 in baseball |
|---|
| Cuban National League |
| Japanese baseball |
| American League |
| National League |
| << 2008 2010 >> |
Nippon Professional Baseball[edit]
The 2009 Japanese baseball season saw the Yomiuri Giants win their record 21st Japan Series title. The league saw illness play a large role as swine flu swept several teams in August, affecting the standings.
Alex Ramirez became the first player to have 150+ hits for eight straight seasons. Among those to retire was all-time doubles leader Kazuyoshi Tatsunami.
Standings[edit]
- Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates playoff team
Central League[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | T | WPCT | GB | RS | RA | AVG | OBP | SLG | ERA | Manager(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri Giants* | 144 | 89 | 46 | 9 | .659 | -- | 650 | 493 | .275 | .329 | .437 | 2.94 | Tatsunori Hara |
| Chunichi Dragons* | 144 | 81 | 62 | 1 | .566 | 12.0 | 605 | 508 | .258 | .324 | .395 | 3.17 | Hiromitsu Ochiai |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows* | 144 | 71 | 72 | 1 | .497 | 22.0 | 548 | 606 | .259 | .320 | .382 | 3.97 | Shigeru Takada |
| Hanshin Tigers | 144 | 67 | 73 | 4 | .479 | 24.5 | 548 | 534 | .255 | .317 | .376 | 3.28 | Akinobu Mayumi |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 144 | 65 | 75 | 4 | .464 | 26.5 | 528 | 575 | .245 | .307 | .364 | 3.59 | Marty Brown |
| Yokohama BayStars | 144 | 51 | 93 | 0 | .354 | 42.5 | 497 | 685 | .239 | .296 | .370 | 4.36 | Akihiko Oya/Tomio Tashiro |
Pacific League[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | T | WPCT | GB | RS | RA | AVG | OBP | SLG | ERA | Manager(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters* | 144 | 82 | 60 | 2 | .577 | -- | 689 | 550 | .278 | .343 | .417 | 3.65 | Masataka Nashida |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles* | 144 | 77 | 66 | 1 | .538 | 5.5 | 598 | 609 | .267 | .336 | .391 | 4.01 | Katsuya Nomura |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks* | 144 | 74 | 65 | 5 | .532 | 6.5 | 600 | 591 | .263 | .329 | .405 | 3.69 | Koji Akiyama |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 144 | 70 | 70 | 4 | .500 | 11.0 | 664 | 627 | .261 | .328 | .422 | 4.01 | Hisanobu Watanabe |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 144 | 62 | 77 | 5 | .446 | 18.5 | 620 | 639 | .256 | .333 | .399 | 4.23 | Bobby Valentine |
| Orix Buffaloes | 144 | 56 | 86 | 2 | .394 | 26.0 | 585 | 715 | .274 | .335 | .403 | 4.58 | Daijiro Oishi |
Leaders[edit]
- Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record
Batting[edit]
| Statistic | Central League | Pacific League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Team | Number | Leader | Team | Number | |||
| Batting Average | Alex Ramirez | Yomiuri Giants | .322 | Teppei Tsuchiya | Rakuten Golden Eagles | .327 | ||
| Runs | Hayato Sakamoto Norichika Aoki Tony Blanco |
Yomiuri Giants Yakult Swallows Chunichi Dragons |
87 | Hiroyuki Nakajima | Seibu Lions | 100 | ||
| Hits | Alex Ramirez | Yomiuri Giants | 186 | Hiroyuki Nakajima | Seibu Lions | 100 | ||
| Doubles | Masahiko Morino | Chunichi Dragons | 42 | Yoshio Itoi | Nippon Ham Fighters | 40 | ||
| Triples | Akihiro Higashide | Hiroshima Carp | 8 | Teppei Tsuchiya | Rakuten Golden Eagles | 13 | ||
| Home Runs | Tony Blanco | Chunichi Dragons | 39 | Takeya Nakamura | Seibu Lions | 48 | ||
| Runs Batted In | Tony Blanco | Chunichi Dragons | 110 | Takeya Nakamura | Seibu Lions | 122 | ||
| Stolen Bases | Kazuki Fukuchi | Yakult Swallows | 42 | Yasuyuki Kataoka | Seibu Lions | 51 | ||
| Walks | Tomoaki Kanemoto | Hanshin Tigers | 88 | Kensuke Tanaka | Nippon Ham Fighters | 79 | ||
Pitching[edit]
All-Star Game[edit]
(Needs information)
Postseason[edit]
(Needs information)
Award Winners[edit]
The winner of the 2009 Sawamura Award was Hideaki Wakui of the Seibu Lions. He had a 16-6 win-loss record, 199 strikeouts, and a 2.30 ERA in 211.7 innings, leading the Pacific League in wins and finishing second in ERA and strikeouts.
| 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 | 577 | 66 | 186 | 31 | 103 | 4 | .322 | .347 | .544 | Did not pitch | |||||||
| PL | Yu Darvish | Nippon Ham Fighters | P | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 15 - 5 | 0 | 182 | 118 | 9 | 45 | 167 | 1.73 | |
| Rookie of the Year | CL | Tetsuya Matsumoto | Yomiuri Giants | OF | 372 | 55 | 109 | 0 | 15 | 16 | .293 | .338 | .328 | Did not pitch | |||||||
| PL | Tadashi Settsu | Softbank Hawks | P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 5 - 2 | 0 | 79.7 | 51 | 3 | 35 | 102 | 1.47 | |
Best Nine[edit]
The following players were part of the 2009 Best Nine teams.
Gold Gloves[edit]
The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2009.
High School Baseball[edit]
The 91th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4,041 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Chukyo University Senior High School (Aichi) defeated Nihon Bunri High School (Niigata) by a score of 10 - 9.
The 81th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Seiho High School (Nagasaki) defeated Hanamaki Higashi High School (Iwate) by a score of 1 - 0.
University Baseball[edit]
All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series[edit]
The 2009 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Hosei University defeated Fuji University by a score of 5 - 1.
Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention[edit]
In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Rissho University defeated Jobu University by a score of 2 - 0.
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League[edit]
| Season | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Hosei | Waseda | Meiji | Keio | Rikkio | Tokyo |
| Fall | Meiji | Keio | Hosei | Waseda | Rikkio | Tokyo |
Kansai 6 University Baseball League[edit]
| Season | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Kindai | Doshisha | Ritsumeikan | Kwansei Gakuin | Kansai | Kyoto |
| Fall | Ritsumeikan | Doshisha | Kindai | Kwansei Gakuin | Kyoto | Kansai |
International Baseball[edit]
Japan finished 1st at the 2009 World Baseball Classic and 2009 Asian Championship. They were 10th at the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Japanese Players in Other Countries[edit]
- Italics indicate a Major League appearance
- Robert Boothe: Great Lakes Loons, Midwest (LAD-A)
- Kosuke Fukudome: Chicago Cubs
- Kei Igawa: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International (NYY-AAA)
- Akinori Iwamura: Tampa Bay Rays, Durham Bulls, International (TBR-AAA)
- Takateru Iyono: Brother Elephants, Chinese Professional Baseball League
- Kenji Johjima: Seattle Mariners, Tacoma Rainiers, Pacific Coast (SEA-AAA)
- Ken Kadokura: SK Wyverns, Korea Baseball Organization
- Kenshin Kawakami: Atlanta Braves
- Ryokan Kobayashi: Brother Elephants, Chinese Professional Baseball League
- Masahide Kobayashi: Cleveland Indians, Columbus Clippers, International (CLE-AAA)
- Hiroki Kuroda: Los Angeles Dodgers, Inland Empire 66ers, California (LAD-A-Adv)
- Katsuhiko Maekawa: Memphis Redbirds, Pacific Coast (STL-AAA)
- Hideki Matsui: New York Yankees
- Kazuo Matsui: Corpus Christi Hooks, Texas (HOU-AA),Houston Astros
- Daisuke Matsuzaka: Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox, International (BOS-AAA)
- Hideki Nagasaka: Calgary Vipers, Golden Baseball League
- Heishu Ohara: Hanwha Eagles, Korea Baseball Organization
- Tomokazu Ohka: Cleveland Indians, Columbus Clippers, International (CLE-AAA)
- Hideki Okajima: Boston Red Sox
- Takashi Saito: Boston Red Sox
- Ryohei Shimabukuro: Danville Braves, Appalachian (ATL-R)
- Itsuki Shoda: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
- Kenta Suda: Pulaski Mariners, Appalachian (SEA-R), AZL Mariners, Arizona (SEA-R)
- Ikko Sumi: Salt Lake Bees, Pacific Coast (ANA-AAA), Arkansas Travelers, Texas (ANA-AA), Orem Owlz, Pioneer (ANA-R)
- Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
- So Taguchi: Chicago Cubs, Iowa Cubs, Pacific Coast (CHC-AAA)
- Ken Takahashi: New York Mets, Buffalo Bisons, International (NYM-AAA)
- Ryohei Tanaka: Bowie Baysox, Eastern (BAL-AA)
- Junichi Tazawa: Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox, International (BOS-AAA) , Portland Sea Dogs, Eastern (BOS-AA)
- Koji Uehara: Baltimore Orioles
- Naoya Washiya: GCL Nationals, Gulf Coast (WSH-R)
- Keiichi Yabu: Fresno Grizzlies, Pacific Coast (SFG-AAA)
- Yasuhiko Yabuta: Kansas City Royals, Omaha Royals, Pacific Coast (KCR-AAA)
- Michinao Yamamura: Sultanes de Monterrey, Mexican League
- Toshiyuki Yanuki: Phoenix Desert Dogs, Arizona Fall League
- Yuji Yoshioka: Nuevo Laredo Owls, Mexican League
Hall of Fame[edit]
The following people were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame:
- Tsutomu Wakamatsu, by the Sportswriter Committee
- Noboru Aota, by the Sportswriter Committee
- Ichiro Kimishima, by the Special Committee
- Yoshinori Okoso, by the Special Committee
| Japanese Baseball Seasons
Pre-Professional Era
|
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