2012 in Japanese Baseball

Atsunori Inaba and Shinya Miyamoto (one-time Yakult Swallows teammates) joined the meikyukai just six days apart, each reaching 2,000 career hits in their 1,976th game.

Kenta Maeda pitched the first regular season no-hitter in six years, though he was not the only hurler to toss a no-no this year.

Alessandro Maestri became the first player born and raised in Italy to play in NPB and did his country proud; he turned in a 2.17 ERA in 8 late-season starts for the Orix Buffaloes.

Despite losing star pitcher Yu Darvish to the Texas Rangers, the Nippon Ham Fighters improved from 2011, making it to the 2012 Japan Series before falling to the Yomiuri Giants.

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	86	43	15	.667	--	534	354	.256	.326	.387	2.46	Tatsunori Hara
Chunichi Dragons*	144	75	53	16	.586	10.5	423	405	.245	.311	.334	281	Morimichi Takagi
Tokyo Yakult Swallows*	144	68	65	11	.511	20	499	514	.260	.325	.361	3.57	Junji Ogawa
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	144	61	71	12	.462	26.5	427	454	.233	.297	.330	3.15	Kenjiro Nomura
Hanshin Tigers	144	55	75	14	.423	31.5	411	438	.236	.302	.316	3.04	Yutaka Wada
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	144	46	86	13	.351	41	422	571	.233	.298	.320	3.97	Kiyoshi Nakahata

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters*	144	74	59	11	.556	--	510	450	.256	.315	.363	2.89	Hideki Kuriyama
Saitama Seibu Lions*	144	72	63	9	.533	3	516	518	.251	.316	.353	3.25	Hisanobu Watanabe
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	144	67	65	12	.508	6.5	452	429	.252	.304	.349	2.58	Koji Akiyama
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	144	67	67	10	.5--	7.5	491	467	.252	.307	.332	3.00	Senichi Hoshino
Chiba Lotte Marines	144	62	67	15	.481	10	499	502	.257	.320	.350	3.13	Norifumi Nishimura
Orix Buffaloes	144	52	77	10	.425	17.5	443	525	.241	.301	.337	3.35	Akinobu Okada

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants	.40		Katsuya Kakunaka	Chiba Lotte Marines	.312
Runs		Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants	87		Sho Nakata	Nippon Ham Fighters	79
Hits		Hisayoshi Chono Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants Yomiuri Giants	173		Seiichi Uchikawa	Softbank Hawks	157
Doubles		Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants	35		Aarom Baldiris	Orix Buffaloes	31
Triples		Sho Aranami	Yokohama BayStars	7		Shogo Akiyama	Seibu Lions	8
Home Runs		Wladimir Balentien	Yakult Swallows	31		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions	27
Runs Batted In		Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants	104		Dae-ho Lee	Orix Buffaloes	91
Stolen Bases		Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons	32		Ryo Hijirisawa	Rakuten Golden Eagles	54
Walks		Takashi Toritani	Hanshin Tigers	94		Saburo Omura	Chiba Lotte Marines	78

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Carp	1.53		Mitsuo Yoshikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	1.71
Wins		Tetsuya Utsumi	Yomiuri Giants	15		Tadashi Settsu	SoftBank Hawks	17
Winning Percentage		Toshiya Sugiuchi	Yomiuri Giants	.750		Tadashi Settsu	SoftBank Hawks	.773
Losses		Bryan Bullington Minoru Iwata	Hiroshima Carp Hanshin Tigers	14		Takayuki Kishi	Seibu Lions	12
Saves		Tony Barnette Hitoki Iwase	Yakult Swallows Chunichi Dragons	33		Hisashi Takeda	Nippon Ham Fighters	32
Innings Pitched		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	206 1/3		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	200 2/3
Appearances		Tetsuya Yamaguchi	Yomiuri Giants	72		Hirotoshi Masui	Nippon Ham Fighters	73
Hits Allowed		Masanori Ishikawa	Yakult Swallows	175		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	176
Home Runs Allowed		Daisuke Miura	Yokohama BayStars	15		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	21
Strikeouts		Atsushi Nomi Toshiya Sugiuchi	Hanshin Tigers Yomiuri Giants	172		Masahiro Tanaka	Rakuten Golden Eagles	169
Base-on-Balls		Orlando Román	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	69		Hiroki Yamada	Softbank Hawks	57

Award Winners

The winner of the 2012 Sawamura Award was Tadashi Settsu of the SoftBank Hawks. He had a 17-5 win-loss record, 153 strikeouts, and a 1.91 ERA in 193.3 innings, leading the Pacific League in ERA, finishing third in wins and third in 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	Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants	C	467	72	159	27	104	0	.340	.429	.565	Did not pitch
	PL	Mitsuo Yoshikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters	P	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	14 -5	0	173 2/3	108	6	45	158	1.71
Rookie of the Year	CL	Yusuke Nomura	Hiroshima Carp	P	42	0	4	0	2	0	.095	.174	.119	9 - 11	0	172 2/3	143	6	52	103	1.98
	PL	Naoya Masuda	Chiba Lotte Marines	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	2 - 2	0	75 1/3	61	2	19	57	1.67

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2012 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Tetsuya Utsumi	Yomiuri Giants		P		Mitsuo Yoshikawa	Nippon Ham Fighters
Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants		C		Shinya Tsuruoka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Tony Blanco	Chunichi Dragons		1B		Dae-ho Lee	Orix Buffaloes
Hiroyasu Tanaka	Yakult Swallows		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Shuichi Murata	Yomiuri Giants		3B		Takeya Nakamura	Seibu Lions
Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants		SS		Hiroyuki Nakajima	Seibu Lions
Hisayoshi Chono	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Yoshio Itoi	Nippon Ham Fighters
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons				Katsuya Kakunaka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Wladimir Balentien	Yakult Swallows				Seiichi Uchikawa	SoftBank Hawks
			DH		Wily Mo Pena	Softbank Hawks

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2012.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Carp		P		Masahiro Tanaka	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Motonobu Tanishige	Chunichi Dragons		C		Ginjiro Sumitani	Seibu Lions
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		1B		Atsunori Inaba	Nippon Ham Fighters
Hiroyasu Tanaka	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		2B		Yuichi Honda	Softbank Hawks
Shinya Miyamoto	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		3B		Eiichi Koyano	Nippon Ham Fighters
Hirokazu Ibata	Chunichi Dragons		SS		Hiroyuki Nakajima	Seibu Lions
Hisayoshi Chono	Yomiuri Giants		OF		Dai-Kang Yoh	Nippon Ham Fighters
Sho Aranami	Yokohama BayStars				Yoshio Itoi	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Yohei Oshima	Chunichi Dragons				Yoshifumi Okada	Chiba Lotte Marines

High School Baseball

The 94th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 3,985 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Osaka Toin High School (Osaka) defeated Kosei Gakuin High School (Aomori) by a score of 3 - 0 in the championship game.

The 84th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Osaka Toin High School (Osaka) defeated Kosei Gakuin High School (Aomori) by a score of 7 - 3.

Osaka Toin became the 6th school to win both tournaments in the same year.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2012 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Waseda University defeated Asia University by a score of 4 - 0.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Toin Yokohama University defeated Hosei University

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

Japan finished 1st at the 2012 Asian Championship.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Norichika Aoki: Milwaukee Brewers
• Robert Boothe: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Yu Darvish: Texas Rangers
• Yoshihiro Doi: Maui Na Koa Ikaika (North American League)
• Masanori Fujihara: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Kosuke Fukudome: Chicago White Sox, Charlotte Knights (CWS-AAA) ; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (NYY-AAA)
• Ryota Igarashi: New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (NYY-AAA) ; Las Vegas 51s (TOR-AAA)
• Hisashi Iwakuma: Seattle Mariners
• Yuya Kamada: Uni-President Lions, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Shoki Kasahara: Cangrejeros de Santurce, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Munenori Kawasaki: Seattle Mariners
• Hirotaka Koishi: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Hiroki Kuroda: New York Yankees
• Kouhei Maso: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Hideki Matsui: Tampa Bay Rays ; Durham Bulls (TBR-AAA)
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox (Bos-AAA), Portland Sea Dogs (Bos-AA) ; Salem Red Sox (Bos-A)
• Shota Nakata: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Yuta Nakazaki: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Tsuyoshi Nishioka: Minnesota Twins ; Rochester Red Wings (MIN-AAA)
• Kazuki Nishijima: Ogden Raptors, Pioneer (LAD-R)
• Hirotoshi Onaka: Spokane Indians, Northwest (TEX-Short-season A), Hickory Crawdads, South Atlantic (TEX-A), Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Takashi Saitoh: Arizona Diamondbacks, Reno Aces (TBR-AAA), Visalia Rawhide (TBR-A) ; AZL Diamondbacks (TBR-R)
• Kohei Shibata: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Hirokazu Shiranita: Canberra Cavalry, Australian Baseball League
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners ; New York Yankees
• Seiji Tahara: Cangrejeros de Santurce, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Hisanori Takahashi: Los Angeles Angels, Pittsburgh Pirates ; Salt Lake Bees (LAA-AAA)
• Kazuya Takano: AZL Dodgers, Arizona (LAD-R)
• Yoshinori Tateyama: Texas Rangers ; Round Rock Express (TEX-AAA)
• Junichi Tazawa: Boston Red Sox ; Pawtucket Red Sox (Bos-AAA)
• Tetsuya Terada: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Kohsuke Tomita: Leones de Ponce, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Koji Uehara: Texas Rangers ; Round Rock Express (TEX-AAA)
• Tsuyoshi Wada: Norfolk Tides, Internationa (TEX-AAA)

Hall of Fame

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

• Tsunemi Tsuda, by the Sportswriter Committee
• Manabu Kitabeppu, by the Sportswriter Committee
• Kiro Osafune, by the Special Committee
• Osamu Omoto, by the Special Committee