2010 in Japanese Baseball

The 2010 season began on March 20, 2010.

Nippon Pro Baseball

Alex Ramirez of the Yomiuri Giants set a Nippon Pro Baseball record by driving in 100 runs for the 8th straight season. Sadaharu Oh had held the mark of seven since 1969. Yoshinori Sato became the first Japanese pitcher to top 100 mph (import hurler Marc Kroon had done it previously).

For the first time, two players had 200-hit seasons in the same league. Matt Murton of the Hanshin Tigers became the first American to connect safely 200 times, then Norichika Aoki of the Yakult Swallows had his second 200-hit season, the first player to accomplish that feat. Murton went on to break Ichiro Suzuki's 16-year-old NPB record for hits in a season (the mark had been 210), aided by the NPB expanded schedule, 14 games longer than in Suzuki's 1994 campaign. Murton held the record for five years.

Standings

Bold indicates league champion; Italics indicate Nippon Series winner; * indicates playoff team

Central League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Chunichi Dragons*	144	79	62	3	.560	--	539	521	.259	.327	.388	3.29	Hiromitsu Ochiai
Hanshin Tigers*	144	78	63	3	.553	1	740	640	.290	.345	.449	4.05	Akinobu Mayumi
Yomiuri Giants*	144	79	64	1	.552	1	711	617	.266	.329	.458	3.89	Tatsunori Hara
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	144	72	68	4	.514	6.5	617	621	.268	.340	.402	3.85	Shigeru Takada (13-32)/Junji Ogawa (58-40)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	144	58	84	2	.408	21.5	596	737	.263	.324	.383	4.80	Kenjiro Nomura
Yokohama BayStars	144	48	95	1	.336	32	521	743	.255	.313	.379	4.88	Takao Obana

Pacific League

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB	RS	RA	AVG	OBP	SLG	ERA	Manager(s)
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks*	144	76	63	5	.547	--	638	615	.267	.323	.404	3.89	Koji Akiyama
Saitama Seibu Lions*	144	78	65	1	.545	--	680	642	.271	.343	.422	4.19	Hisanobu Watanabe
Chiba Lotte Marines*	144	75	67	2	.528	2.5	708	635	.275	.352	.408	4.10	Norifumi Nishimura
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	144	74	67	3	.525	3.0	612	548	.274	.331	.386	3.52	Masataka Nashida
Orix Buffaloes	144	69	71	4	.493	7.5	644	628	.271	.335	.421	3.97	Daijiro Oishi
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	144	62	79	3	.440	15	576	635	.265	.328	.379	3.98	Marty Brown

Leaders

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average		Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows	.358		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines	.346
Runs		Hayato Sakamoto	Yomiuri Giants	107		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines	121
Hits		Matt Murton	Hanshin Tigers	214		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines	206
Doubles		Masahiko Morino	Chunichi Dragons	45		Tadahito Iguchi	Chiba Lotte Marines	44
Triples		Ryota Wakiya	Yomiuri Giants	8		Tomotaka Sakaguchi Yuichi Honda	Orix Buffaloes Softbank Hawks	10
Home Runs		Alex Ramirez	Yomiuri Giants	49		Takahiro Okada	Orix Buffaloes	33
Runs Batted In		Alex Ramirez	Yomiuri Giants	129		Eiichi Koyano	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	109
Stolen Bases		Eishin Soyogi	Hiroshima Carp	43		Yasuyuki Kataoka Yuichi Honda	Seibu Lions Softbank Hawks	59
Walks		Kazuhiro Wada	Chunichi Dragons	92		Tadahito Iguchi	Chiba Lotte Marines	98

Pitching

Statistic		Central League				Pacific League
		Leader	Team	Number		Leader	Team	Number
ERA		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	2.21		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	1.78
Wins		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	15		Chihiro Kaneko Tsuyoshi Wada	Orix Buffaloes Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	17
Winning Percentage		Yasutomo Kubo	Hanshin Tigers	.737		Toshiya Sugiuchi	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	.696
Losses		Dicky Gonzalez	Yomiuri Giants	13		Hiroshi Kisanuki	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	12
Saves		Hitoki Iwase	Chunichi Dragons	42		Brian Sikorski	Seibu Lions	33
Innings Pitched		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	215.7		Chihiro Kaneko	Orix Buffaloes	204.3
Appearances		Yuya Kubo	Yomiuri Giants	79		Tadashi Settsu	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	71
Hits Allowed		Masanori Ishikawa	Yakult Swallows	209		Hideaki Wakui	Seibu Lions	191
Home Runs Allowed		Naoyuki Shimizu	Yokohama BayStars	26		Yoshihisa Naruse	Chiba Lotte Marines	29
Strikeouts		Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	174		Yu Darvish	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	222
Base-on-Balls		Yoshinori Sato	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	74		Bill Murphy	Chiba Lotte Marines	84

All-Star Game

The NPB All-Star Game featured two games and was won by the Central League, with one win and one tie. The first game was played at Yahoo Dome and was won by the CL, 4 - 1. The second game was a 5-5 tie in Niigata Baseball Stadium.

Award Winners

The winner of the 2010 Sawamura Award was Kenta Maeda of the Hiroshima Carp. He had a 15-8 win-loss record, 174 strikeouts, and a 2.21 ERA in 215.7 innings, leading the Central League in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

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	Kazuhiro Wada	Chunichi Dragons	OF	505	94	171	37	93	5	.339	.437	.624	Did not pitch
	PL	Tsuyoshi Wada	Softbank Hawks	P	5	0	1	0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	17 - 8	0	169 1/3	145	11	55	169	3.14
Rookie of the Year	CL	Hisayoshi Chono	Yomiuri Giants	OF	430	66	124	19	52	12	.288	.330	.491	Did not pitch
	PL	Ryo Sakakibara	Nippon Ham Fighters	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	10 - 1	0	72	60	3	11	54	2.63

Best Nine

The following players were part of the 2010 Best Nine teams.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Carp		P		Tsuyoshi Wada	Softbank Hawks
Shinnosuke Abe	Yomiuri Giants		C		Motohiro Shima	Rakuten Golden Eagles
Craig Brazell	Hanshin Tigers		1B		Alex Cabrera	Orix Buffaloes
Keiichi Hirano	Hanshin Tigers		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Nippon Ham Fighters
Masahiko Morino	Chunichi Dragons		3B		Eiichi Koyano	Nippon Ham Fighters
Takashi Toritani	Hanshin Tigers		SS		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Kazuhiro Wada	Chunichi Dragons		OF		Hitoshi Tamura	Softbank Hawks
Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows				Takahiro Okada	Orix Buffaloes
Matt Murton	Hanshin Tigers				Takumi Kuriyama	Seibu Lions
			DH		Kazuya Fukuura	Chiba Lotte Marines

Gold Gloves

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2009.

Central League			Position		Pacific League
Player	Team				Player	Team
Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Carp		P		Hideaki Wakui	Seibu Lions
Kenji Johjima	Hanshin Tigers		C		Motohiro Shima	Rakuten Golden Eagles
No one selected			1B		Hiroki Kokubo	Softbank Hawks
Keiichi Hirano	Hanshin Tigers		2B		Kensuke Tanaka	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Shinya Miyamoto	Tokyo Yakult Swallows		3B		Eiichi Koyano	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Eishin Soyogi	Hiroshima Carp		SS		Tsuyoshi Nishioka	Chiba Lotte Marines
Jun Hirose	Hiroshima Carp		OF		Takumi Kuriyama	Seibu Lions
Norichika Aoki	Yakult Swallows				Yoshio Itoi	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Masato Akamatsu	Hiroshima Carp				Tomotaka Sakaguchi	Orix Buffaloes

High School Baseball

The 92th National High School Baseball Championship featured a total of 4,028 schools competing for 49 spots in the finals at Koshien. In the championship game, Konan High School (Okinawa) defeated Tokai University Sagami High School (Kanagawa) by a score of 13 - 1.

The 82th National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament featured 32 schools competing in the tournament at Koshien. In the championship game, Konan High School (Okinawa) defeated The Third High School of Nihon University (Tokyo) by a score of 10 - 5.

University Baseball

All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series

The 2010 All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series featured 27 schools competing in the tournament at Meiji-Jingu Stadium. In the championship game Toyo University defeated Tokai University by a score of 5 - 0.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention

In the Meiji Jingu Baseball Convention, Waseda University defeated Tokai University by a score of 2 - 1.

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League

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

Kansai 6 University Baseball League

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

International Baseball

In the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, the Japanese national team finished 5th of 10 teams. They won the Bronze at the 2010 Asian Games. Japan won Bronze at the 2010 World University Championship. Their womens' team was better, taking the Gold Medal at the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup.

Japanese Players in Other Countries

• Robert Boothe: Inland Empire 66ers, California (LAD-A-Adv)
• Reo Chikada: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Shuhei Fukuda: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Kosuke Fukudome: Chicago Cubs
• Itaru Hashimoto: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Masumi Hoshino: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Ryota Igarashi: New York Mets, St. Lucie Mets, Florida State (NYM-A-Adv), Buffalo Bisons, International (NYM-AAA)
• Kei Igawa: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International (NYY-AAA)
• Takahiro Ijyuin: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Daisuke Ikenaga: Mainz Athletics, Bundesliga-1
• Fumimasa Ishibashi: Inland Empire 66ers, California (LAD-A-Adv)
• Akinori Iwamura: Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Indianapolis Indians, International (2010 Pittsburgh Pirates-AAA)
• Sho Iwasaki: Criollos de Caguas, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Ken Kadokura: SK Wyverns, Korea Baseball Organization
• Yoshiyuki Kamei: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Norihito Kaneto: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Kenshin Kawakami: Atlanta Braves, Gwinnett Braves, International (ATL-AAA)
• Hiroki Kuroda: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Hideki Matsui: Los Angeles Angels
• Kazuo Matsui: Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Pacific Coast (COL-AAA),Houston Astros
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: Boston Red Sox, Pawtucket Red Sox, International (BOS-AAA)
• Akira Nakamura: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Takafumi Nakamura: Mahoning Valley Scrappers, New York-Pennsylvania (CLE-Short-season A), Lake County Captains, Midwest (CLE-AAA)
• Toshihisa Nishi: Lancaster Barnstormers, Atlantic
• Shota Oba: Criollos de Caguas, Puerto Rican Winter League
• Hideki Okajima: Boston Red Sox
• Shinya Okamoto: LG Twins, Korea Baseball Organization
• Jumpei Ono: Melbourne Aces, Australian Baseball League
• Takashi Saito: Atlanta Braves, Gwinnett Braves, International (ATL-AAA)
• Shohei Sekiguchi: GCL Braves, Gulf Coast (ATL-R)
• Itsuki Shoda: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Ikko Sumi: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, California Coast (ANA-A-Adv)
• Ichiro Suzuki: Seattle Mariners
• Hisanori Takahashi: Los Angeles Angels
• Shingo Takatsu: Sinon Bulls, Chinese Professional Baseball League
• Ryohei Tanaka: Bowie Baysox, Eastern (BAL-AA)
• Kento Tsujimoto:Maui Na Koa Ikaika, Golden Baseball League)
• Koji Uehara: Baltimore Orioles, Norfolk Tides, International (BAL-AAA), Bowie Baysox, Eastern (BAL-AA)
• Hiroki Yamada: Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League
• Yoshinori Yamarin: GCL Braves, Gulf Coast (ATL-R)

Hall of Fame

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

• Osamu Higashio, by Sportswriters Committee
• Shinichi Eto
• Masayuki Furuta, by Special Committee