Pacific League
From BR Bullpen
One of Japan's two top leagues, the Pacific League was founded in 1950 as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union, renamed the Pacific League in 1980. It has always received less media attention than the Central League though quality of play is fairly even between the leagues. The Pacific League has used multiple playoff systems and a DH to distinguish it from the Central League, which uses no DH and a winner-take-all setup. The league champions square off in the Nippon Series each season; in 2005 the leagues began interleague play. The strongest teams in league history are the Seibu Lions, Nankai Hawks and the Hankyu Braves.
Current Teams[edit]
- Chiba Lotte Marines
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
- Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
- Orix Buffaloes
- Seibu Lions
- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Yearly Results[edit]
- BOLD indicates league champion; GOLD indicates Nippon Series winner
MVPs[edit]
- 1950 Kaoru Betto, Mainichi Orions OF
- 1951 Kazuto Tsuruoka, Nankai Hawks 3B
- 1952 Susumu Yuki, Nankai Hawks P
- 1953 Isami Okamoto, Nankai Hawks 1B
- 1954 Hiroshi Oshita, Nishitetsu Lions OF
- 1955 Tokuji Iida, Nankai Hawks 1B
- 1956 Futoshi Nakanishi, Nishitetsu Lions 3B
- 1957 Kazuhisa Inao, Nishitetsu Lions P
- 1958 Kazuhisa Inao, Nishitetsu Lions P
- 1959 Tadashi Sugiura, Nankai Hawks P
- 1960 Kazuhiro Yamauchi, Daimai Orions OF
- 1961 Katsuya Nomura, Nankai Hawks C
- 1962 Isao Harimoto, Toei Flyers OF
- 1963 Katsuya Nomura, Nankai Hawks C
- 1964 Joe Stanka, Nankai Hawks P
- 1965 Katsuya Nomura, Nankai Hawks C
- 1966 Katsuya Nomura, Nankai Hawks C
- 1967 Mitsuhiro Adachi, Hankyu Braves P
- 1968 Tetsuya Yoneda, Hankyu Braves P
- 1969 Atsushi Nagaike, Hankyu Braves OF
- 1970 Masaaki Kitaru, Lotte Orions P
- 1971 Atsushi Nagaike, Hankyu Braves OF
- 1972 Yutaka Fukumoto, Hankyu Braves OF
- 1973 Katsuya Nomura, Nankai Hawks C
- 1974 Tomehiro Kaneda, Lotte Orions P
- 1975 Hideji Kato, Hankyu Braves 1B
- 1976 Hisashi Yamada, Hankyu Braves P
- 1977 Hisashi Yamada, Hankyu Braves P
- 1978 Hisashi Yamada, Hankyu Braves P
- 1979 Charlie Manuel, Kintetsu Buffaloes OF
- 1980 Isamu Kida, Nippon Ham Fighters P
- 1981 Yutaka Enatsu, Nippon Ham Fighters P
- 1982 Hiromitsu Ochiai, Lotte Orions 2B
- 1983 Osamu Higashio, Seibu Lions P
- 1984 Boomer Wells, Hankyu Braves 1B
- 1985 Hiromitsu Ochiai, Lotte Orions 3B
- 1986 Hiromitsu Ochiai, Lotte Orions 3B
- 1987 Osamu Higashio, Seibu Lions P
- 1988 Hiromitsu Kadota, Nankai Hawks OF
- 1989 Ralph Bryant, Kintetsu Buffaloes OF
- 1990 Hideo Nomo, Kintetsu Buffaloes P
- 1991 Taigen Kaku, Seibu Lions P
- 1992 Takehiro Ishii, Seibu Lions P
- 1993 Kimiyasu Kudoh, Seibu Lions P
- 1994 Ichiro Suzuki, Orix Blue Wave OF
- 1995 Ichiro Suzuki, Orix Blue Wave OF
- 1996 Ichiro Suzuki, Orix Blue Wave OF
- 1997 Fumiya Nishiguchi, Seibu Lions P
- 1998 Kazuo Matsui, Seibu Lions SS
- 1999 Kimiyasu Kudoh, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks P
- 2000 Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 1B
- 2001 Tuffy Rhodes, Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes OF
- 2002 Alex Cabrera, Seibu Lions 1B
- 2003 Kenji Johjima, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks C
- 2004 Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 1B
- 2005 Toshiya Sugiuchi, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks P
- 2006 Michihiro Ogasawara, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 1B
- 2007 Yu Darvish, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters P
- 2008 Hisashi Iwakuma, Rakuten Golden Eagles P
- 2009 Yu Darvish, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters P
- 2010 Tsuyoshi Wada, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks P
- 2011 Seiichi Uchikawa, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks OF
- 2012 Mitsuo Yoshikawa, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters P
- 2013 Masahiro Tanaka, Rakuten Golden Eagles P
- 2014 Chihiro Kaneko, Orix Buffaloes P
- 2015 Yuki Yanagita, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks OF
- 2016 Shohei Otani, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters P-DH
- 2017 Dennis Sarfate, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks P
- 2018 Hotaka Yamakawa, Seibu Lions 1B
- 2019 Tomoya Mori, Seibu Lions C
- 2020 Yuki Yanagita, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks OF
- 2021 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Orix Buffaloes P
- 2022 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Orix Buffaloes P
- 2023 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Orix Buffaloes P
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