1951 in Japanese Baseball
From BR Bullpen
| 1951 in baseball |
|---|
| AAGPBL |
| Japanese baseball |
| American League |
| National League |
| << 1950 1952 >> |
Contents |
[edit] Nippon Professional Baseball
The NPB holds its first All-Star Game is played. Wally Yonamine becomes the first foreign player since World War II.
[edit] Standings
- Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner
From 1950 to 1979, the official name of the Pacific League was the Taiheiyo Baseball Union.
[edit] Central League
| Team | G | W | L | T | WPCT | GB | RS | RA | AVG | ERA | Manager(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri Giants | 114 | 79 | 29 | 6 | 0.719 | 0.0 | 702 | 381 | 0.291 | 2.62 | Shigeru Mizuhara |
| Nagoya Dragons | 113 | 62 | 48 | 3 | 0.562 | 18.0 | 526 | 523 | 0.272 | 3.47 | Shunichi Amachi |
| Osaka Tigers | 116 | 61 | 52 | 3 | 0.539 | 20.5 | 545 | 465 | 0.269 | 3.26 | Kenjiro Matsuki |
| Shochiku Robins | 115 | 53 | 57 | 5 | 0.483 | 27.0 | 609 | 598 | 0.268 | 4.41 | Kyouichi Nitta |
| Kokutetsu Swallows | 107 | 46 | 59 | 2 | 0.439 | 31.5 | 389 | 533 | 0.245 | 3.96 | Norio Nishigaki |
| Taiyo Whales | 108 | 40 | 64 | 4 | 0.389 | 37.0 | 502 | 620 | 0.253 | 4.84 | Haruyasu Nakajima, Giichi Arima |
| Hiroshima Carp | 99 | 32 | 64 | 3 | 0.338 | 41.0 | 402 | 555 | 0.245 | 4.62 | Shuichi Ishimoto |
[edit] Pacific League
| Team | G | W | L | T | WPCT | GB | RS | RA | AVG | ERA | Manager(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nankai Hawks | 104 | 72 | 24 | 8 | 0.731 | 0.0 | 496 | 322 | 0.276 | 2.40 | Kazuto Tsuruoka |
| Nishitetsu Lions | 105 | 53 | 42 | 10 | 0.552 | 18.5 | 429 | 367 | 0.242 | 2.75 | Osamu Mihara |
| Mainichi Orions | 110 | 54 | 51 | 5 | 0.514 | 22.5 | 482 | 463 | 0.258 | 3.25 | Sadao Yuasa |
| Daiei Stars | 101 | 41 | 52 | 8 | 0.446 | 29.5 | 376 | 422 | 0.239 | 3.33 | Sadayoshi Fujimoto |
| Hankyu Braves | 96 | 37 | 51 | 8 | 0.427 | 31.0 | 367 | 404 | 0.243 | 3.32 | Shinji Hamazaki |
| Tokyu Flyers | 102 | 38 | 56 | 8 | 0.412 | 33.0 | 355 | 459 | 0.241 | 3.64 | Shinobu Ando |
| Kintetsu Pearls | 98 | 37 | 56 | 5 | 0.403 | 33.5 | 319 | 398 | 0.223 | 3.13 | Shozo Fujita |
[edit] Leaders
- Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record
[edit] Batting
| Statistic | Central League | Pacific League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Team | Number | Leader | Team | Number | |||
| Batting Average | Tetsuharu Kawakami | Yomiuri Giants | .347 | Hiroshi Oshita | Tokyu Flyers | .383 | ||
| Runs | Noboru Aota | Yomiuri Giants | 101 | Kazuo Kageyama | Nankai Hawks | 97 | ||
| Hits | Tsugio Goto | Osaka Tigers | 155 | Chusuke Kizuka | Nankai Hawks | 130 | ||
| Doubles | Michinori Tsubouchi | Nagoya Dragons | 28 | Joshichi Itoh | Mainichi Orions | 28 | ||
| Triples | Masayasu Kaneda | Osaka Tigers | 18 | Kazuo Kageyama | Nankai Hawks | 13 | ||
| Home Runs | Noboru Aota | Yomiuri Giants | 32 | Hiroshi Oshita | Tokyu Flyers | 26 | ||
| Runs Batted In | Noboru Aota | Yomiuri Giants | 105 | Tokuji Iida | Nankai Hawks | 87 | ||
| Stolen Bases | Goro Tsuchiya | Kokutetsu Swallows | 52 | Chusuke Kizuka | Nankai Hawks | 55 | ||
| Walks | Shigeru Chiba | Yomiuri Giants | 76 | Kazuo Kageyama | Nankai Hawks | 61 | ||
[edit] Pitching
| Statistic | Central League | Pacific League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Team | Number | Leader | Team | Number | |||
| ERA | Kiyoshi Matsuda | Yomiuri Giants | 2.01 | Susumu Yuki | Nankai Hawks | 2.08 | ||
| Wins | Shigeru Sugishita | Nagoya Dragons | 28 | Haruyasu Etoh | Nankai Hawks | 24 | ||
| Losses | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 21 | Mitsuo Sawafuji | Kintetsu Pearls | 16 | ||
| Innings Pitched | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 350.0 | Yasuo Yonekawa | Tokyu Flyers | 294.2 | ||
| Appearances | Shigeru Sugishita | Nagoya Dragons | 58 | Toshiaki Ogata | Nishitetsu Lions | 46 | ||
| Hits Allowed | Tsuneo Kobayashi | Shochiku Robins | 307 | Yasuo Yonekawa | Tokyu Flyers | 248 | ||
| Home Runs Allowed | Hiroyoshi Takano | Taiyo Whales | 27 | Yasuo Yonekawa | Tokyu Flyers | 17 | ||
| Strikeouts | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 233 | Hachiro Abe | Hankyu Braves | 150 | ||
| Base-on-Balls | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 190 | Hachiro Abe | Hankyu Braves | 100 | ||
[edit] All-Star Game
The first NPB All-Star Game featured three games and was won by the Central League two games to one. The first game was played at Koshien Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 2 - 1. The second game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 4 - 2. The third game was played at Korakuen Baseball Stadium and was won by the PL, 4 - 3.
[edit] Postseason
In the Nippon Series, the Yomiuri Giants (CL) defeated the Nankai Hawks (PL), 4 games to 1. The winning manager was Shigeru Mizuhara and the series MVP was Yuko Minamimura.
[edit] Award Winners
The winner of the 1951 Sawamura Award was Shigeru Sugishita of the Nagoya Dragons. He had a 28 - 13 win-loss record, 147 strikeouts, and a 2.36 ERA in 290.1 innings.
| 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 | Tetsuharu Kawakami | Yomiuri Giants | 1B | 374 | 74 | 141 | 15 | 81 | 14 | .377 | .450 | .580 | Did not pitch | |||||||
| PL | Kazuto Tsuruoka | Nankai Hawks | 2B | 338 | 44 | 105 | 2 | 58 | 19 | .311 | .363 | .396 | Did not pitch | ||||||||
| Rookie of the Year | CL | Kiyoshi Matsuda | Yomiuri Giants | P | 80 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .163 | .239 | .225 | 23 - 3 | 227.2 | 186 | 5 | 64 | 93 | 2.02 | |
| PL | Kazuo Kageyama | Nankai Hawks | 3B | 410 | 97 | 129 | 6 | 28 | 42 | .315 | .403 | .451 | Did not pitch | ||||||||
[edit] Best Nine
The following players were part of the 1951 Best Nine teams.
[edit] High School Baseball
The 33rd National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 1633 schools competing for 23 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Heian High School (Kyoto) defeated Kumagai High School (Saitama) by a score of 7 - 4.
The 23rd National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 16 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Naruto High School (Tokushima) defeated Naruo High School (Hyogo) by a score of 3 - 2.
[edit] University Baseball
[edit] Tokyo Big6 Baseball League
| Season | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Waseda | Keio | Rikkio | Hosei | Meiji | Tokyo |
| Fall | Keio | Hosei | Meiji | Waseda | Rikkio | Tokyo |
[edit] Tohto University Base Ball League
| Season | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Senshu | Chuo | Nihon | Komazawa | Tokyo Agriculture | Kokugakuin |
| Fall | Senshu | Chuo | Nihon | Komazawa | Tokyo Agriculture | Kokugakuin |
[edit] Kansai 6 University Baseball League
| Season | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Kwansei Gakuin | Kansai | Kobe | Doshisha | Ritsumeikan | Kyoto |
| Fall | Kansai | Doshisha | Kobe | Kwansei Gakuin | Ritsumeikan | Kyoto |
[edit] International Baseball
The Joe DiMaggio and Lefty O'Doul All-Stars toured Japan in the fall of 1951. The touring team went 13 - 1 - 2 against Japanese competition.
| Japanese Baseball Seasons
Pre-Professional Era
|
