Nippon Professional Baseball
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū, meaning Professional Baseball. Outside 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" in Tokyo, founded 1934 and the original circuit for the sport in the Empire two years later – Japanese Baseball League, and continued to play even through the final years of World War II.
The league that is today's NPB for Japan was formed when that sports organization reorganized in 1950, creating two leagues with six teams each in the Central League and the Pacific League with an annual season-ending Japan Series championship play-off series of games starting that year for the JPB along the lines of the American World Series tournament.
League structure
Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League, which each have six teams. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League, that play shorter schedules for developing players.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 prior to 2007, the two leagues each scheduled between 130 and 140 regular season games, with the 146 games played by the Central League in 2005 and 2006 being the only exception. Both leagues have since adopted 146-game seasons, 73 each at home & on road. In general, Japanese teams play six games a week, with every Monday off.
Following the conclusion of each regular season the best teams from each league go on to play in the "Nippon Series" or Japan Series championship play-off tournament along the lines of the American World Series since 1903.
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-of-three series with the winner of that series going on to play the first place team in a best-of-five format at its home ground. In 2006, the Central League adopted the Pacific League's tournament as well, and the tournament became known as the Climax Series with the two winners, one from each league, competing in the Japan Series.
Comparison with Major League Baseball
The NPB rules are essentially those of the American Major League Baseball, but technical elements are slightly different: The Nippon league uses a smaller baseball, strike zone, and playing field. The Japanese baseball is wound more tightly than an American baseball. The strike zone is narrower "inside" than away from the batter. Five Nippon league teams have fields whose small dimensions would violate the American Official Baseball Rules. The note set out at the end of Rule 1.04 specifies minimum dimensions for American ballparks built or renovated after 1958: down each foul line and to center field.American Major League Baseball players, scouts, and sabermetricians describe play in the NPB as "AAAA"; less competitive than in MLB, but more competitive than in Triple A's developing level minor 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, which has no DH rule and is closer to National League baseball.
Unlike North American baseball, Japanese baseball games may end in a tie. If the score is tied after nine innings of play, up to three additional innings will be played; this includes the playoffs, but not the Japan Series going beyond Game 7. If there is no winner after 12 innings, the game is declared a tie; these games count as neither a win nor a loss to team standings or to postseason series.
Similar to the current structure of the World Series, a team must win four games to clinch the Japan Series title; however, due to the fact that games can end in a tie, it may take more than 7 games to win the series. If the series must be extended, all games beyond game 7 are played with no innings limit, with game 8 being played in the same venue as game 7, and game 9 and beyond played in the opposing team's venue following a moving day.
Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, special rules were implemented for the 2011 NPB season:
- For power conservation reasons, besides the usual 12-inning limit, no extra innings were allowed to commence during the regular season once 3 hours, 30 minutes had elapsed from the game start time. This time included delays due to weather, but power failures would result in a called game.
- Due to the delayed start of the season and because of post-season commitments to the champion, the Japan Series' extension rules were modified in 2011 if the series was tied after seven games, only one extra game would be played.
Financial problems
Financial problems plague many teams in the league. 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 ¥The number of metropolitan areas represented in the league increased from four to five in 1988, when the Nankai Hawks moved to Fukuoka; and to seven between 2003 and 2005, as the Nippon-Ham Fighters moved to Hokkaidō and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with the Orix BlueWave and were replaced by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, the J.League professional soccer league was founded. The new soccer league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors.
The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with Hideo Nomo "retiring" from the 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. To discourage players from leaving to play in North America, 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.
History
Origins
The first professional baseball team in Japan was founded by media mogul Matsutarō Shōriki in late 1934 and called the Dai Nippon Tokyo Yakyu Kurabu. After matching up with a team of visiting American All-Stars that included Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Charlie Gehringer, the team spent the 1935 season barnstorming in the U.S., winning 93 of 102 games against semi-pro and Pacific Coast League teams. According to historian Joseph Reaves, "The only minor drawbacks to the team's popularity in the States were their kanji characters and their cumbersome Japanese name. They rectified both by renaming themselves the Tokyo Kyojin and adopting a uniform identical to the New York Giants…"From 1936 to 1950, professional baseball in Japan was played under the banner of the Japanese Baseball League. The league's dominant team during this period was the Tokyo Kyojin, which won nine league championships, including six in a row from 1938–1943.
NPB establishment
After the 1949 season, the JBL team owners reorganized into the NPB; Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata promoted a two-league system, which became the Pacific League and the Central League. The league now known as Nippon Pro Baseball began play in the 1950 season.Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Central League: the Chunichi Dragons, the Hanshin Tigers, the Yomiuri Giants, and the Shochiku Robins. To fill out the league, four new teams were formed: the Hiroshima Carp, the Kokutetsu Swallows, the Nishi Nippon Pirates, and the Taiyō Whales.
Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Pacific League: the Hankyu Braves, the Nankai Hawks, the Daiei Stars, and the Tokyu Flyers. To fill out the league, three new teams were formed: the Kintetsu Pearls, the Mainichi Orions, and the Nishitetsu Clippers.
Matsutarō Shōriki, the Giants' owner, acted as NPB's unofficial commissioner and oversaw the first Japan Series, which featured the Mainichi Orions defeating the Shochiku Robins 4 games to 2.
Expansion and contraction
The Central League's Nishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season — they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with the Nishitetsu Clippers to form the Nishitetsu Lions. This brought the number of Central League teams down to an ungainly arrangement of seven. In 1952, it was decided that any Central League team ending the season with a winning percentage below.300 would be disbanded or merged with other teams. The Shochiku Robins fell into this category, and were merged with the Taiyō Whales to become the Taiyō Shochiku Robins in January 1953. This enabled the Central League to shrink to an even number of six teams.In 1954 a new Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions, to increase the number of teams in that division to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from the other Pacific League teams, the Unions struggled from the outset and finished in the second division every season. In 1957, the Unions were merged with the Daiei Stars to form the Daiei Unions. The Unions existed for a single season, finishing in last place, 43-1/2 games out of first. In 1958, the Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions. This enabled the Pacific League to contract from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams.
After these various franchise developments, by the end of the 1950s Nippon Professional Baseball had contracted from the initial allotment of 15 teams down to the current number of 12.
1960s and 1970s
On September 1, 1964, Nankai Hawks' prospect Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball when he appeared on the mound for the San Francisco Giants; he returned to Japan in 1966. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement; it would be almost 30 years before another Japanese player played in the Major Leagues.Continuing their dominance from the JBL, the Yomiuri Giants won nine consecutive Japan Series championships from 1965 to 1973.
The Black Mist Scandal rocked Nippon Professional Baseball between 1969 and 1971. The fallout from a series of game-fixing scandals in resulted in several star players receiving long suspensions, salary cuts, or being banned from professional play entirely; the resulting abandonment of baseball by many fans in Japan also led to the sale of the Nishitetsu Lions and the Toei Flyers.
From 1973 to 1982, in a forerunner to today's Climax Series playoff rounds, 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. In 1975, the Pacific League adopted the designated hitter rule.
1980s and the "Invincible Seibu"
After being a second division team for much of the 1960s and 1970s, in 1983 the Seibu Lions began a period of sustained success. The team gained the moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league, winning 11 league championships and eight Japan Series championships between 1982–1994. The Lions had a powerful lineup in this period, loaded with sluggers such as Koji Akiyama, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, and Orestes Destrade. Their defense also benefited from the services of skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige, Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcher Tsutomu Ito. Among the pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku, Osamu Higashio, Kimiyasu Kudoh, Hisanobu Watanabe, and relievers Yoshitaka Katori and Tetsuya Shiozaki.American expatriate players made their mark in NPB in the 1980s, with players like the Lee brothers, Leron Lee and Leon Lee, Greg "Boomer" Wells, Randy Bass, and Ralph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams.
Hideo Nomo and the exodus to MLB
In 1995, star pitcher Hideo Nomo "retired" from the Kintetsu Buffaloes and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters. Nomo's MLB success led to more NPB players moving to Major League Baseball, and eventually led to the creation of the "posting system" in 1998.Since Nomo's exodus, more than 60 NPB players have played Major League Baseball. Some of the more notable examples include:
- Ichiro Suzuki – after nine years with the Orix BlueWave, in 2001 Ichiro was posted by the BlueWave and claimed by MLB's Seattle Mariners. The first Japanese-born position player to be signed to the major leagues, Ichiro led the American League in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL Most Valuable Player. Ichiro, a member of MLB's 3,000-hit club, has established a number of MLB batting records, including the single-season record for hits with 262. He had ten consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player in history. Between his career hits in Japan's and America's major leagues, Ichiro has the most all-time top-flight hits.
- Hideki Matsui – the slugger played ten seasons for the Yomiuri Giants, and then in 2003 moved to MLB, where he starred for the New York Yankees for seven more seasons, including being named the Most Valuable Player for the 2009 World Series. He was the first power hitter from Japan to succeed in Major League Baseball.
- Kazuhiro Sasaki — a closer famed for his splitter, known as "The Fang". In 2000, he won the American League Rookie of the Year Award after saving 37 games for the Mariners. In 2001, he was a vital contributor to the Mariners' extremely strong team that won an American League record 116 games, of which he saved 45. In 2001 and 2002, he was an All-Star. After 2003, he returned to Japan to pitch in the NPB until his retirement in 2005.
- Kazuo Matsui – after eight stellar seasons with the Seibu Lions, Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 15, 2003, in 2004 becoming the first Japanese infielder to play with a Major League Baseball team. His seven seasons in Major League Baseball were not as successful, and he later returned to NPB.
Merger and strike of 2004
A battle escalated between the players union and the owners, and reached its height when Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe controversially remarked that Furuta was "a mere player," implying that players had no say in what league would look like the next year. The dispute received huge press coverage and was dubbed one of the biggest events in the history of Japanese baseball. Proposals and amendments concerning interleague games, player drafting, and management were also discussed between the players union and the owners during this period.
The strike was originally planned for all Saturday and Sunday games that month, starting from September 11, but was pushed back due to the agreement of another meeting between the union and the owners on September 10. The players decided to strike on September 18–19, 2004, when no progress was made in the negotiations, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions.
The dispute officially ended after the two groups reached consensus on September 23, 2004. As part of the agreement, the Buffaloes were allowed to merge with the Blue Wave ; in addition, the Rakuten Golden Eagles were newly created to keep the former six-team league structure. Other agreements included the leagues adopting interleague play to help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. All these changes took place before the 2005 season.
Interleague play
The two leagues began interleague play in 2005, with each team playing two three-game series against each of the six teams in the other league. This was reduced to two two-game series in 2007. All interleague play games are played in a seven-week span near the middle of the season.As of the end of the 2017 season, the Pacific League has won the most games in interleague play since it began in 2005 twelve times, with 2009 being the only time that the Central League has won more games.
League championship series/Climax Series
After 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in the Pacific League, dubbed the "Pacific League Championship Series." The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with the winner advancing to the five-game final against the top team. The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to the Japan Series.Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this league playoff system, an identical system was introduced to the Central League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed the "Climax Series" in both leagues. Player statistics and drafting order based on team records are not affected by these postseason games.
Recent history
In 2011 Miyagi Baseball Stadium, home of the Rakuten Eagles, was badly damaged by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.The 2013 season featured a livelier baseball which was secretly introduced into NPB, resulting in a marked increase in home runs league-wide. Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record of 55, previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh in 1964, Tuffy Rhodes in 2001, and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balantien finished the season with 60 home runs. Three-term NPB commissioner Ryōzō Katō was forced to resign over the scandal when the changed baseball was revealed.
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed expanding NPB to 16 total teams by adding two expansion franchises in each of the country's top-tier professional baseball leagues. The goal of such a move would be to energize the economies of the regions receiving the new teams. Okinawa, Shizuoka, Shikoku, and Niigata have been identified as regions that could play host to said teams.
The 2020 NPB season has been delayed numerous times due to the 2019-2020 Coronavirus Pandemic. Initially preseason games were set to be played without spectators, but with opening day of March 20 remaining unchanged. With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on June 19 behind closed doors. "Warm-up" games began May 26. This is the first time since 2011 that league play has been suspended.
Expatriate baseball players in Japan
For most of its history, NPB regulations imposed "gaijin waku", a limit on the number of non-Japanese people per team to two or three — including the manager and/or coaching staff. Even today, a team cannot have more than four foreign players on a 25-man game roster, although there is no limit on the number of foreign players that it may sign. If there are four, they cannot all be pitchers nor all be position players. This limits the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, and is similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players.Nonetheless, expatriate baseball players in Japan have been a feature of the Japanese professional leagues since 1934. Hundreds of foreigners — particularly Americans — have played NPB. Taiwanese nationals Shosei Go and Hiroshi Oshita both starred in the 1940s. American players began to steadily find spots on NPB rosters in the 1960s. American players hold several NPB records, including highest career batting average, highest single-season batting average, and the dubious record of most strikeouts in a season by a hitter. Americans rank #3 and #5 on the list of most home runs in a season, and #2 in single-season RBI. Curaçaoan-Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien holds the NPB single-season home run record with 60 round-trippers in 2013.
Koreans have had an impact in the NPB as well, including such standout players as Lee Seung-yuop, Sun Dong-yol, Baek In-chun, Lee Jong-beom, and Dae-ho Lee. Venezuelans Alex Ramírez, Alex Cabrera, Bobby Marcano, and Roberto Petagine all had long, successful NPB careers. The Dominican third-baseman José Fernández played eleven years in the NPB, compiling a.282 batting average with 206 home runs and 772 runs batted in.
Many of the most celebrated foreign players came to Japan after not finding success in the Major Leagues.
Since the 1970s, foreigners have also made an impact in Nippon Professional Baseball's managing and coaching ranks, with Americans Bobby Valentine and Trey Hillman managing their respective teams to Japan Series championships.
Teams
Note: Tokyo Yakult Swallows and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have home stadiums in both team´s home cities planned for after the 2020 Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo. The Fighters are constructing ES CON Field and plan to inagurate the stadium in 2023, while the Swallows plan to finish their new stadium, located next to its current stadium in 2030.
Franchise locations
Locations are listed from north to south. Only the most prominent names of each franchise are listed.Champions
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Winning seasons | Runners-up seasons |
| Yomiuri Giants | 22 | 13 | 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1981, 1989, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2012 | 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1976, 1977, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1996, 2008, 2013, 2019 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 13 | 8 | 1956, 1957, 1958, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2004, 2008 | 1954, 1963, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2002 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 10 | 9 | 1959, 1964, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 | 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1973, 2000 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 5 | 2 | 1978, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 | 1992, 2015 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 4 | 8 | 1975, 1976, 1977, 1996 | 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1995 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 4 | 2 | 1950, 1974, 2005, 2010 | 1960, 1970 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 3 | 4 | 1979, 1980, 1984 | 1975, 1986, 1991, 2016, 2018 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 3 | 4 | 1962, 2006, 2016 | 1981, 2007, 2009, 2012 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 2 | 8 | 1954, 2007 | 1974, 1982, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2011 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 2 | 1 | 1960, 1998 | 2017 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 1 | 5 | 1985 | 1962, 1964, 2003, 2005, 2014 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1 | 0 | 2013 | — |
| Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | 0 | 4 | — | 1979, 1980, 1989, 2001 |
| Shochiku Robins | 0 | 1 | — | 1950 |
Awards
- Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
- Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award
- Nippon Professional Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award
- Eiji Sawamura Award
- Mitsui Golden Glove Award
- Golden Spirit Award
- Matsutaro Shoriki Award
- Japan Series Most Valuable Player
- Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
Records
Single season batting
a As all Curaçaoans have Dutch citizenship and Balentien has represented the Netherlands internationally, he is listed here as Dutch.b Despite being born in Japan, Oh was a citizen of the Republic of China instead of Japan.
c Cabrera did not have Japanese citizenship until 2019 and so is listed as the nationality he was during his playing career.
Single season pitching
d The Japanese record is 0.73, set by Hideo Fujimoto in the 1943 Japanese Baseball League season.e Despite being born in Japan, Kaneda did not become a Japanese citizen until 1959 and was instead a North Korean citizen.
f The Japanese record is shared between Inao and Victor Starffin, who also recorded 42 wins during the 1942 Japanese Baseball League season.
Career batting
Career pitching
ERA champions
Perfect games
| Date | Pitcher | Score | Opponent | Ballpark |
| June 28, 1950 | Hideo Fujimoto | 4–0 | Nishi-Nippon Pirates | Aomori Stadium |
| June 19, 1955 | Fumio Takechi | 1–0 | Daiei Stars | Ōsaka Stadium |
| September 19, 1956 | Yoshitomo Miyaji | 6–0 | Hiroshima Carp | Kanazawa Stadium |
| August 21, 1957 | Masaichi Kaneda | 1–0 | Chunichi Dragons | Chunichi Stadium |
| July 19, 1958 | Sadao Nishimura | 1–0 | Toei Flyers | Komazawa Stadium |
| August 11, 1960 | Gentaro Shimada | 1–0 | Ōsaka Tigers | Kawasaki Stadium |
| June 20, 1961 | Yoshimi Moritaki | 1–0 | Chunichi Dragons | Korakuen Stadium |
| May 1, 1966 | Yoshiro Sasaki | 1–0 | Hiroshima Carp | Hiroshima Municipal Stadium |
| May 12, 1966 | Tsutomu Tanaka | 2–0 | Nankai Hawks | Heiwadai Stadium |
| September 14, 1968 | Yoshiro Sotokoba | 2–0 | Taiyō Whales | Hiroshima Municipal Stadium |
| October 6, 1970 | Koichiro Sasaki | 3–0 | Nankai Hawks | Ōsaka Stadium |
| August 21, 1971 | Yoshimasa Takahashi | 4–0 | Nishitetsu Lions | Korakuen Stadium |
| October 10, 1973 | Soroku Yagisawa | 1–0 | Taiheiyo Club Lions | Miyagi Stadium |
| August 31, 1978 | Yutaro Imai | 5–0 | Lotte Orions | Miyagi Stadium |
| May 18, 1994 | Hiromi Makihara | 6–0 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | Fukuoka Dome |
| November 1, 2007 | Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase | 1–0† | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | Nagoya Dome |
- †: 5th game of Japan Series; In NPB, no-hitters or perfect games achieved by multiple pitchers in one game are considered unofficial. However, it is recognized by the WBSC as a perfect game.
International play
The latest series also celebrated the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Japan's professional baseball by holding an exhibition game of a joint team of Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants against the MLB All-Stars at the Koshien Stadium on November 11, 2014.