What is Nippon Professional Baseball?

Nippon Professional Baseball
2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1950
No. of teams	12
Country(ies)	Japan
Most recent champion(s)	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Official website	NPB.or.jp (Japanese)

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. In Japan it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning Professional Baseball. Outside of Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation of the Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club (大日本東京野球倶楽部, Dai-nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu) in 1934 and the original Japanese Baseball League. NPB was formed when that league reorganized in 1950.

Some notable Japanese players who have gone on to play in North America's Major League Baseball include Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Ichiro Suzuki, Tadahito Iguchi, Kenji Johjima, Hideki Matsui, So Taguchi, Hideki Irabu, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

When the Boston Red Sox signed Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2006, he became the most expensive trans-Pacific transfer ever. While details remain undisclosed, several sources cite Matsuzaka as having received a guaranteed $52 million for a six-year contract (with elevator clauses potentially bringing the value up to $60 million), in addition to the $51.1 million posting fee that the Red Sox paid his former team, Seibu Lions, to release him.

League structure

Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League, that play shorter schedules.

The season starts in late March or early April and ends in October with two or three all star games in July. In recent decades, the two leagues each scheduled 130, 135 or 140 regular season games with the best teams from each league going on to play in the "Nippon Series" or Japan Series.

Similarities and differences to Major League Baseball

Play in the Pacific League is similar to that in American League baseball, with the use of designated hitters, unlike the Central League. Unlike North American baseball, Japanese baseball games may end in a tie. If the score is tied after 9 innings of play, up to 3 additional innings will be played. If there is no leader after 12 innings, the game is declared a draw. Other differences from MLB are that the general play is less aggressive, there are fewer home runs, the strike zone is larger near the batter but smaller away from the batter, and the ball is slightly smaller and wound more tightly.

Unlike American pro teams, Japanese professional baseball teams are usually named after their corporate owners/sponsors rather than the cities or regions in which they play. This is because franchising does not have strong territorial requirements as in the Major Leagues; the teams used to locate in clustered metropolitan areas in Japan's center (Tokyo, Nagoya) and south (Osaka, Fukuoka) areas. The current trend is to include the place names as well as owners/sponsors in an attempt to gain support from the franchised communities. Mass media still tend to choose the sponsor names in abbreviations.

Financial problems

Financial problems hinder the league as a whole, but the problem is not a simple one to solve. It is believed that with the exception of the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers, all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as ¥6 billion (about US$50 million), from their parent companies. A rise in the salaries of players is often blamed, but, from the start of the professional league, parent companies paid the difference as an advertisement. Most teams have never tried to improve their finances through constructive marketing. Until Nippon Ham Fighters moved to Hokkaidō, there were six teams in Tokyo and its surrounding area and four teams in the Osaka–Kōbe region before Nankai Hawks (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) moved to Fukuoka. The market was flooded, but this was considered acceptable, as there were no professional team sports challenging baseball's popularity.

However, J. League professional soccer league was founded in 1993, winning over sports fans who spent their money and time on baseball. Instead of teams clustered in metropolitan areas, J. League aimed to create a team in the major city of each prefecture. The league focused on building strong grassroots ties, which included removing corporate brands from team names and calling them by their hometowns. By using promotion and relegation (as opposed to baseball's sports franchise system copied from the U. S.), the J. League increased the reach of major sport to areas beyond the major cities.

The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with Hideo Nomo "retiring" from Kintetsu Buffaloes, then signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has also added to the financial problems. Attendance suffered as teams lost their most marketable players, while TV ratings declined as viewers tuned into broadcasts of Major League games.[1] To discourage players from leaving for the Major Leagues, or to at least compensate teams that lose players, Japanese baseball and MLB agreed on a posting system for players under contract. MLB teams wishing to negotiate with a player submit bids for a "posting fee", which the winning MLB team would pay the Japanese team if the player signs with the MLB team. Free agents are not subject to the posting system, however.

On September 18, 2004, professional baseball players went on a two-day strike, the first strike in the history of the league, to protest the proposed merger between the Orix Blue Wave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the failure of the owners to agree to create a new team to fill the void resulting from the merger. The strike was settled on September 23, 2004, when the owners agreed to grant a new franchise in the Pacific League and to continue the two-league, 12-team system. The new team, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles began play in the 2005 season.

History

Prior to 1950, professional baseball in Japan was the Japanese Baseball League. Before the 1950 season, the team owners reorganized into the NPB.

From 1973 to 1982, the Pacific League employed a split season with the first half winner playing against the second half winner in a mini-playoff to determine its champion. Then in 2004, the Pacific League played five fewer games than the Central League teams during the regular season and used a new playoff format to determine its champion. The teams in third and second place played in a best two of three series (all at the second place team's home ground) with the winner of that series going on to play the first place team in a best 3 of 5 format at its home ground. In the end, the Seibu Lions finished in second place, defeated Nippon Ham 2 games to 1, went on to take 3 of 5 games in Fukuoka against the Daiei Hawks and then defeated the Chunichi Dragons in the Japan Series, 4 games to 3, capping off their grueling playoff drive with a well-earned championship.

The two leagues began interleague play in 2005, with each team playing two 3-game series (one home, one away) against each of the six teams in the other league. All interleague play games are played in a 7-week span near the middle of the season.

Current NPB teams

Central League

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
Chunichi Dragons	Nagoya, Aichi	Nagoya Dome	40,500
Hanshin Tigers	Nishinomiya, Hyōgo	Kōshien Stadium	50,454
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Hiroshima, Hiroshima	Hiroshima Municipal Stadium	32,000
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Tokyo	Meiji-Jingu Stadium	37,933
Yokohama BayStars	Yokohama, Kanagawa	Yokohama Stadium	30,000
Yomiuri Giants	Tokyo	Tokyo Dome	55,000

Pacific League

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
Chiba Lotte Marines	Chiba, Chiba	Chiba Marine Stadium	30,000
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	Fukuoka, Fukuoka	Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome	48,000
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	Sapporo, Hokkaidō	Sapporo Dome	42,831
Orix Buffaloes	Osaka, Osaka and Kobe, Hyōgo	Osaka Dome and Skymark Stadium	36,477 and 35,000
Seibu Lions	Tokorozawa, Saitama	Goodwill Seibu Dome	35,655
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Sendai, Miyagi	Fullcast Stadium Miyagi	23,000

Defunct Japanese baseball teams

Former Japanese Baseball League teams:

• Nagoya Golden Dolphins (merged with Tsubasa in 1940, Tsubasa later became Nishitetsu.)
• Nishitetsu (dissolved in 1943.)
• Yamato (dissolved in 1944.)

Former Central League teams:

• Nishi Nippon Pirates (merged with the Nishitetsu Clippers in 1951, now the Seibu Lions.)
• Shochiku Robins (merged with Taiyō Whales 1952, now the Yokohama BayStars.)

Former Pacific League teams:

• Takahashi Unions (merged with the Daiei Stars in 1956, the Stars later became the Daiei Unions.)
• Daiei Unions (merged with Mainichi Orions 1957, now the Chiba Lotte Marines.)
• Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (merged with the Orix BlueWave after the 2004 season to form the Orix Buffaloes.)
• Orix BlueWave (merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes after the 2004 season to form the Orix Buffaloes)

Records

Single Season Batting

Player		Year
Batting Average
Randy Bass	.389	1986
Ichiro Suzuki	.387	2000
Ichiro Suzuki	.385	1994
Home Runs
Sadaharu Oh	55	1964
Tuffy Rhodes	55	2001
Alex Cabrera	55	2002
Randy Bass	54	1985
RBIs
Makoto Kozuru	161	1950
Robert Rose (baseball)	153	1999
Hiromitsu Ochiai	146	1985
Stolen Bases
Yutaka Fukumoto	106	1972
Strikeouts
Ralph Bryant	204	1993
Ralph Bryant	198	1990
Ralph Bryant	187	1989
Ralph Bryant	176	1992
Orestes Destrade	165	1990

Single Season Pitching

Player		Year
ERA
Hideo Fujimoto	0.73	1943
Masaru Kageura	0.79	1936 fall
Eiji Sawamura	0.81	1937 spring
Wins
Victor Starffin	42	1942
Kazuhisa Inao	42	1961
Jiro Noguchi	40	1942
Strikeouts
Yutaka Enatsu	401	1968
Kazuhisa Inao	353	1961

Career Batting

Player		Year
Batting Average
Leron Lee	.320	1977–1987
Tsutomu Wakamatsu	.31918	1971–1989
Isao Harimoto	.31915	1959–1981
Home Runs
Sadaharu Oh	868	1959–1980
RBIs
Sadaharu Oh	2170
Stolen Bases
Yutaka Fukumoto	1065	1969–1988
Strikeouts
Koji Akiyama	1712

• Ichiro Suzuki hit .353 for his Japanese career (1993–2000), but did not have enough at-bats to qualify for career leadership.

Career Pitching

Player		Year
ERA
Hideo Fujimoto	1.90	1942–1955
Wins
Masaichi Kaneda	400	1950–1969
Tetsuya Yoneda	350	1956–1977
Masaaki Koyama	320	1953–1973
Keishi Suzuki	317	1966–1985
Takehiko Bessho	310	1942–1960
Victor Starffin	303	1936–1955
Strikeouts
Masaichi Kaneda	4490

Perfect games

Date	Pitcher (Club)	Score	Opponent	Ballpark
June 28, 1950	Hideo Fujimoto (Yomiuri Giants)	4–0	Nishi-Nippon Pirates	Aomori Stadium
June 19, 1955	Fumio Takechi (Kintetsu Pearls)	1–0	Daiei Stars	Ōsaka Stadium
September 19, 1956	Yoshitomo Miyaji (Kokutetsu Swallows)	6–0	Hiroshima Carp	Kanazawa Stadium
August 21, 1957	Masaichi Kaneda (Kokutetsu Swallows)	1–0	Chunichi Dragons	Chunichi Stadium
July 19, 1958	Sadao Nishimura (Nishitetsu Lions)	1–0	Toei Flyers	Komazawa Stadium
August 11, 1960	Gentaro Shimada (Taiyō Whales)	1–0	Ōsaka Tigers	Kawasaki Stadium
June 20, 1961	Yoshimi Moritaki (Kokutetsu Swallows)	1–0	Chunichi Dragons	Korakuen Stadium
May 1, 1966	Yoshiro Sasaki (Taiyō Whales)	1–0	Hiroshima Carp	Hiroshima Municipal Stadium
May 12, 1966	Tsutomu Tanaka (Nishitetsu Lions)	2–0	Nankai Hawks	Heiwadai Stadium
September 14, 1968	Yoshiro Sotokoba (Hiroshima Toyo Carp)	2–0	Taiyō Whales	Hiroshima Municipal Stadium
October 6, 1970	Koichiro Sasaki (Kintetsu Buffaloes)	3–0	Nankai Hawks	Ōsaka Stadium
August 21, 1971	Yoshimasa Takahashi (Toei Flyers)	4–0	Nishitetsu Lions	Korakuen Stadium
October 10, 1973	Soroku Yagisawa (Lotte Orions)	1–0	Taiheiyo Club Lions	Miyagi Stadium
August 31, 1978	Yutaro Imai (Hankyu Braves)	5–0	Lotte Orions	Miyagi Stadium
May 18, 1994	Hiromi Makihara (Yomiuri Giants)	6–0	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Fukuoka Dome

See also

• Professional baseball in Japan
• Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
• List of Japanese baseball players
• List of Japanese players in Major League Baseball
• Shikoku Island League (Regional semi-professional league)
• Baseball in Japan
• High school baseball in Japan
• Baseball in Cuba

Books

• Fitts, Robert K. (2005). Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0809326302. 
• Johnson, Daniel (2006). Japanese Baseball: A Statistical Handbook. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786428414. 
• Whiting, Robert (2005). The Samurai Way of Baseball: The Impact of Ichiro and the New Wave from Japan. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0446694037. 
• Whiting, Robert (1990). You Gotta Have Wa. Vintage. ISBN 067972947X. 

External links

• Japan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
• Japanese Baseball Data Archive at The Baseball Guru
• List of players at Japanese Baseball
• (Japanese) Official Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Site (.jp)
• MLB history of Puro Yakyū page
• Japan Baseball Daily

Nippon Professional Baseball Seasons 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Nippon Professional Baseball
Central League			Pacific League
Yomiuri Giants	Chunichi Dragons	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Hanshin Tigers	Yokohama BayStars	Seibu Lions	Orix Buffaloes	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Japan Series - Japanese Baseball League (former) - Eastern League - Western League-