2005 NPB All-Star Game

The 2005 NPB All-Star Games were held on July 22 and July 23, 2005. The Central League swept the Pacific League.

Game 1

Game 1 was held on July 22 at Seibu Dome with an attendance of 25,761. MVP winner Tatsuhiko Kinjo recorded a double in the first inning, then he scored on veteran Kazuhiro Kiyohara's single. The PL soon tied it with Michihiro Ogasawara's solo shot in the bottom. The CL's Atsuya Furuta drew a leadoff walk in the 2nd inning. Takashi Toritani and Atsushi Fujimoto then loaded the bases with back-to-back singles. Daisuke Matsuzaka forced Norihiro Akahoshi to fly out and Kinjo hit a grounder to pitcher. However, Matsuzuka threw to first a little slow, and Kinjo beat it out to drive in a run with his speed. "Dice-K" then struck out Tomoaki Kanemoto and Kiyohara to ended this inning.

The PL was more effective to collect runs early on. Munenori Kawasaki hit a leadoff triple in the 3rd inning, and tied the game with Koichi Isobe's single, which was the first hit by a Rakuten player in All-Star history. Isobe then scored as Nobuhiko Matsunaka added a triple, and Kazuhiro Wada extended their lead to 2 runs with a double. Kawasaki soon recorded another insurance run with his speed, as he singled, stole second and scored on Isobe's hit. However, 3 runs were not enough for the PL. Slugger Kiyohara crushed a solo shot in the 6th inning, and pinch-hitter Motonobu Tanishige started the winning rally for the CL in the 7th inning. He drew a walk, then Toritani and Fujimoto both singled. Kinjo was at the plate again, and he hit a game-winning double off Fumiya Nishiguchi. The relievers of both sides threw shutout ball in the last three innings, and Marc Kroon saved it for the CL.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Central	1	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	6	13	0
Pacific	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	0

Players used

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Norihiro Akahoshi, CF (Hanshin Tigers)
2. Tatsuhiko Kinjo, RF (Yokohama BayStars)
3. Tomoaki Kanemoto, LF (Hanshin)
4. Kazuhiro Kiyohara, 1B (Yomiuri Giants)
5. Tomonori Maeda, DH (Hiroshima Carp)
6. Makoto Imaoka, 3B (Hanshin)
7. Atsuya Furuta, C (Yakult Swallows)
8. Takashi Toritani, SS (Hanshin)
9. Atsushi Fujimoto, 2B (Hanshin)

• Koji Uehara, P (Yomiuri)

Backups Used

• Motonobu Tanishige, C (Chunichi Dragons)
• Hirokazu Ibata, SS (Chunichi)
• Masahiro Araki, 2B (Chunichi)
• Akinori Iwamura, 3B (Yakult)
• Hitoshi Taneda, LF (Yokohama)
• Nori Aoki, CF (Yakult)
• Takahiro Arai, SS (Yomiuri)
• Shugo Fujii, P (Yakult)
• Ryota Igarashi P (Yakult)
• Kyuji Fujikawa P (Hanshin)
• Hirotoshi Ishii P (Yakult)
• Hitoki Iwase P (Chunichi)
• Marc Kroon P (Yokohama)

Manager

• Hiromitsu Ochiai

Coaches

• Tsuneo Horiuchi
• Tsutomu Wakamatsu

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Koichi Isobe, RF (Rakuten Golden Eagles)
2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B (Chiba Lotte Marines)
3. Michihiro Ogasawara, 3B (Nippon Ham Fighters)
4. Nobuhiko Matsunaka, DH (Softbank Hawks)
5. Kazuhiro Wada, LF (Seibu Lions)
6. Julio Zuleta, 1B (Softbank)
7. Tomoya Satozaki, C (Chiba Lotte)
8. Katsuhiko Miyaji, CF (Softbank)
9. Munenori Kawasaki, SS (Softbank)

• Daisuke Matsuzaka, P (Seibu)

Backups Used

• Matt Franco, RF (Chiba Lotte)
• Kazuya Fukuura, 1B (Chiba Lotte)
• Tsuyoshi Shinjo, CF (Nippon Ham)
• Yoshihito Ishii, PH (Seibu)
• Keiichi Hirano, 2B (Orix Buffaloes)
• Seung-yuop Lee, LF (Chiba Lotte)
• Kuniyuki Kimoto, 3B (Nippon Ham)
• Kenji Johjima, C (Softbank)
• Naoyuki Shimizu, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Fumiya Nishiguchi, P (Seibu)
• Shunsuke Watanabe, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Masahide Kobayashi, P (Chiba Lotte)

Manager

• Tsutomu Ito

Coaches

• Kazuyuki Shirai
• Sadaharu Oh

Umpires

• Chikara Tsugawa (Home), Hideshi Honda (1B), Junichi Sato (2B), Hiroshi Tani (3B), Toru Maeda (LF), Katsumi Manabe (RF)

Game 2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pacific	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	11	2
Central	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	5	14	0

The second game was held on July 23 at Koshien Stadium with an attendance of 45,296. The result was determined in the first inning, as the CL recorded 5 hits with 3 runs scored. Lee decreased the CL's lead a bit with a 2-run shot in the 4th inning, but Imaoka soon drove in a run with a single in the next inning, and it was a 3-run game again as Iwamura hit a triple and scored on Maeda's single in the 5th inning. Johjima's solo shot gave the PL some hope, but their opponent's bullpen was solid, and the PL was swept as Fujikawa saved it with a shutout inning. Maeda was named the MVP with his 3 hits and 2 RBI.

Players used

Pacific League Starting Lineup

1. Nishioka, SS
2. Hirano, CF
3. Fukuura, 1B
4. Matsunaka, DH
5. Johjima, C
6. Lee, LF
7. Franco, RF
8. Kimoto, 3B
9. Ishii, 2B

• Toshiya Sugiuchi, P (Softbank)

Backups Used

• Shinjo, CF
• Kawasaki, SS
• Satozaki, C
• Isobe, RF
• Ogasawara, DH
• Zuleta, PH
• Wada, LF
• Miyaji, CF
• Hiroyuki Kobayashi, P (Chiba Lotte)
• Kazuyuki Hoashi, P (Seibu)
• Shintaro Yoshitake, P (Softbank)
• Yasuhiko Yabuta, P (Chiba Lotte)

Central League Starting Lineup

1. Akahoshi, CF
2. Imaoka, 3B
3. Kanemoto, LF
4. Kiyohara, 1B
5. Iwamura, DH
6. Maeda, RF
7. Furuta, C
8. Toritani, SS
9. Fujimoto, 2B

• Hiroki Kuroda, P (Hiroshima)

Backups Used

• Kinjo, RF
• Taneda, 3B
• Arai, 1B
• Araki, 2B
• Akihiro Yano, C (Hanshin)
• Aoki, CF
• Ibata, SS
• Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi, P (Hanshin)
• Kenshin Kawakami P (Chunichi)
• Kimiyasu Kudo P (Yomiuri)
• Igarashi, P
• Fujikawa, P

Umpires

• Manabe (Home), Sato (1B), Honda (2B), Maeda (3B), Tani (LF), Tsugawa (RF)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia