1997 in Japanese Baseball

1997 in baseball
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1997 in Japanese baseball

Nippon Professional Baseball

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner.

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Yakult Swallows	137	83	52	2	0.613	0.0	672	503	0.276	3.26	Katsuya Nomura
Yokohama BayStars	135	72	63	0	0.533	11.0	572	548	0.273	3.70	Akihiko Oya
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	135	66	69	0	0.489	17.0	651	653	0.259	4.44	Toshiyuki Mimura
Yomiuri Giants	135	63	72	0	0.467	20.0	550	536	0.251	3.69	Shigeo Nagashima
Hanshin Tigers	136	62	73	1	0.460	21.0	504	575	0.244	3.70	Yoshio Yoshida
Chunichi Dragons	136	59	76	1	0.438	24.0	510	644	0.243	4.33	Senichi Hoshino

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	ERA	Manager(s)
Seibu Lions	135	76	56	3	0.574	0.0	656	554	0.281	3.63	Osamu Higashio
Orix BlueWave	135	71	61	3	0.537	5.0	582	544	0.263	3.61	Akira Ogi
Kintetsu Buffaloes	135	68	63	4	0.519	7.5	603	579	0.274	3.79	Kyosuke Sasaki
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	135	63	71	1	0.470	14.0	572	600	0.264	4.26	Sadaharu Oh
Nippon Ham Fighters	135	63	71	1	0.470	14.0	587	610	0.265	4.18	Toshiharu Ueda
Chiba Lotte Marines	135	57	76	2	0.430	19.5	466	584	0.249	3.84	Akihito Kondo

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Takanori Suzuki	Yokohama BayStars	.335		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	.345
Runs		Koichi Ogata	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	103		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	94
Hits		Luis Lopez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	170		Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave	185
Doubles		Luis Lopez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	37		Tuffy Rhodes Hiroki Kokubo	Kintetsu Buffaloes Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	37
Triples		Daisuke Masuda	Chunichi Dragons	8		Kazuo Matsui	Seibu Lions	13
Home Runs		Dwayne Hosey	Yakult Swallows	38		Nigel Wilson	Nippon Ham Fighters	37
Runs Batted In		Luis Lopez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	112		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks	114
Stolen Bases		Koichi Ogata	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	49		Kazuo Matsui	Seibu Lions	62
Walks		Hideki Matsui	Yomiuri Giants	100		Ken Suzuki	Seibu Lions	90

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Yutaka Ono	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	2.85		Satoru Komiyama	Chiba Lotte Marines	2.49
Wins		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	18		Fumiya Nishiguchi Hideo Koike	Seibu Lions Kintetsu Buffaloes	15
Losses		Tetsuro Kawajiri	Hanshin Tigers	14		Tomohiro Kuroki	Chiba Lotte Marines	15
Saves		Kazuhiro Sasaki Sun Dong-yeol	Yokohama BayStars Chunichi Dragons	38		Takayuki Kawamoto	Chiba Lotte Marines	25
Save Points		Kazuhiro Sasaki	Yokohama BayStars	41		Motoyuki Akahori	Kintetsu Buffaloes	33
Innings Pitched		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	206.2		Tomohiro Kuroki	Chiba Lotte Marines	240.2
Appearances		Ryuichi Kawahara	Yokohama BayStars	66		Takehiro Hashimoto Yoshitaka Mizuo	Seibu Lions Orix BlueWave	68
Hits Allowed		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	174		Kip Gross	Nippon Ham Fighters	235
Home Runs Allowed		Takeo Kawamura	Yokohama BayStars	27		Tomohiro Kuroki	Chiba Lotte Marines	24
Strikeouts		Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons	169		Fumiya Nishiguchi	Seibu Lions	192
Base-on-Balls		Ken Kadokura	Chunichi Dragons	96		Hideo Koike	Kintetsu Buffaloes	96

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was a tie, one game to one. The first game was played at Osaka Dome and was won by the PL, 5 - 0. The second game was played at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium and was won by the CL, 6 - 3.

Postseason

In the Nippon Series, the Yakult Swallows (CL) defeated the Seibu Lions (PL), 4 games to 1. The winning manager was Katsuya Nomura and the series MVP was Atsuya Furuta.

Award Winners

The winner of the 1997 Sawamura Award was Fumiya Nishiguchi of the Seibu Lions. He had a 15 - 5 win-loss record, 192 strikeouts, and a 3.12 ERA in 207.2 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	Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows	C	509	74	164	9	86	9	.322	.413	.446	Did not pitch
	PL	Fumiya Nishiguchi	Seibu Lions	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.---	.---	.---	15 - 5	1	207.2	187	20	68	192	3.12
Rookie of the Year	CL	Toshikazu Sawazaki	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	P	43	1	12	0	6	0	.279	.311	.349	12 - 8	0	156.1	162	23	47	106	3.74
	PL	Makoto Kosaka	Chiba Lotte Marines	2B	499	66	130	1	30	56	.261	.329	.323	Did not pitch

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 1997 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masahiro Yamamoto	Chunichi Dragons		P		Fumiya Nishiguchi	Seibu Lions
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Tsutomu Ito	Seibu Lions
Luis Lopez	Hiroshima Toyo Carp		1B		Phil Clark	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Bobby Rose	Yokohama BayStars		2B		Hiroki Kokubo	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
Leo Gomez	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Ken Suzuki	Seibu Lions
Takuro Ishii	Yokohama BayStars		SS		Kazuo Matsui	Seibu Lions
Dwayne Hosey	Yakult Swallows		OF		Tuffy Rhodes	Kintetsu Buffaloes
Hideki Matsui	Yomiuri Giants				Makoto Sasaki	Seibu Lions
Takanori Suzuki	Yokohama BayStars				Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave
			DH		Domingo Martinez	Seibu Lions

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 1997.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Masumi Kuwata	Yomiuri Giants		P		Fumiya Nishiguchi	Seibu Lions
Atsuya Furuta	Yakult Swallows		C		Tsutomu Ito	Seibu Lions
Norihiro Komada	Yokohama BayStars		1B		Taisei Takagi	Seibu Lions
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami	Chunichi Dragons		2B		Koichi Oshima	Orix BlueWave
Tatsuya Shindo	Yokohama BayStars		3B		Atsushi Kataoka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Shinya Miyamoto	Yakult Swallows		SS		Kazuo Matsui	Seibu Lions
Tetsuya Iida	Yakult Swallows		OF		Tatsuya Ide	Nippon Ham Fighters
Koichi Ogata	Hiroshima Toyo Carp				Ichiro Suzuki	Orix BlueWave
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	Hanshin Tigers				So Taguchi	Orix BlueWave

High School Baseball

The 79th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4093 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game Chiben Wakayama High School (Wakayama) defeated Heian High School (Kyoto) by a score of 6 - 3.

The 69th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game Tenri Koukou (Nara) defeated Chukyo High School (Aichi) by a score of 4 - 1.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 1997 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 25 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Kinki University defeated Asia University by a score of 2 - 0.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention Kinki University defeated Hosei University.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Tohto University Base Ball League

Season	League	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth
Spring	1	Asia	Aoyama Gakuin	Senshu	Komazawa	Rissho	Toyo
	2	Chuo	Kokushikan	Nihon	Tokyo Agriculture	Kokugakuin	Takushoku
Spring	1	Komazawa	Asia	Senshu		Rissho	Aoyama Gakuin	Toyo
	2	Nihon	Kokushikan, Tokyo Agriculture		Chuo	Takushoku	Kokugakuin

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

In the thirteenth Intercontinental Cup in Spain, the Japanese national baseball team won a gold medal.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

Italics indicate a Major League appearance

• Shigetoshi Hasegawa: Anaheim Angels
• Hideki Irabu: Tampa Yankees, Florida State (NYY-A-Adv); Norwich Navigators, Eastern (NYY-AA); Columbus Clippers, International (NYY-AAA); New York Yankees
• Taisuke Ishimaru: Arizona Mariners, Arizona (SEA-R)
• Takashi Kashiwada: Norfolk Tides, International (NYM-AAA); New York Mets
• Keiichi Kojima: Charlotte Rangers, Florida State (AA) and Tulsa Drillers, Texas (TEX-A-Adv)
• Katsuhiro Maeda: Norwich Navigators, Eastern League (NYY-AA
• Jeff McCurry: Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Pacific Coast (COL-AAA); Colorado Rockies
• Keith McDonald: Arkansas Travelers, Texas (STL-AA)
• Hideo Nomo: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Dave Roberts: Jacksonville Suns, Southern (DET-AA)
• Junichi Sasaki: GCL Expos, Gulf Coast (R); Vermont Expos, New York-Penn (A); West Palm Beach Expos, Florida State (MON-A-Adv)
• Ryosuke Sawai: AZL Padres, Arizona (R)
• Mac Suzuki: Tacoma Rainiers, Pacific Coast (SEA-AAA)

Hall of Fame

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

• Makoto Hosaka, by Special Committee
• Katsuo Osugi, by Sportswriters Committee
• Eiichiro Yamamoto, by Special Committee