2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB, 日本野球機構, Nippon Yakyū Kikō) is a professional baseball league, and the highest level of baseball in Japan. The NPB is organized into two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. After the regular season, the top three teams of each league play off in the Climax Series, which determines which team from each league will play off in the Japan Series to determine the national championship team. The 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 67th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The Japan Series championship competition was played between the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, with the Nippon-Ham fighters winning the overall championship.[1]
| 2016 NPB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | March 25 – October 29 |
| Central League pennant | |
| League champions | Hiroshima Toyo Carp |
| Runners-up | Yomiuri Giants |
| Season MVP | Takahiro Arai (Hiroshima) |
| Pacific League pennant | |
| League champions | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| Runners-up | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Season MVP | Shohei Ohtani (Nippon Ham) |
| Climax Series | |
| CL champions | Hiroshima Toyo Carp |
| CL runners-up | Yokohama DeNA BayStars |
| PL champions | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| PL runners-up | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Japan Series | |
| Venue | |
| Champions | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| Runners-up | Hiroshima Toyo Carp |
| Finals MVP | Brandon Laird (Nippon Ham) |
Incidents
A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NPB games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball.[2][3] While there was no suspicion of match fixing, Sports Gambling is illegal in Japan. The players involved were received suspensions, and members of team management resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.[4]
Regular season standings
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 89 | 52 | 2 | .631 | — | 51–20–1 | 38–32–1 |
| 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 71 | 69 | 3 | .507 | 17.5 | 40–31–1 | 31–38–2 |
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 69 | 71 | 3 | .493 | 19.5 | 38–33–1 | 31–38–2 |
| 4 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 64 | 76 | 3 | .457 | 24.5 | 31–39–1 | 33–37–2 |
| 5 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 64 | 78 | 1 | .451 | 25.5 | 40–30–1 | 24–48–0 |
| 6 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 58 | 82 | 3 | .414 | 30.5 | 32–36–3 | 26–46–0 |
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 87 | 53 | 3 | .621 | — | 45–24–2 | 42–29–1 |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 83 | 54 | 6 | .606 | 2.5 | 40–28–3 | 43–26–3 |
| 3 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 72 | 68 | 3 | .514 | 15.0 | 38–33–1 | 34–35–2 |
| 4 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 64 | 76 | 3 | .457 | 23.0 | 34–36–1 | 30–40–2 |
| 5 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 62 | 78 | 3 | .443 | 25.0 | 36–35–1 | 26–43–2 |
| 6 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 57 | 83 | 3 | .407 | 30.0 | 30–40–2 | 27–43–1 |
Climax Series
Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system (Climax Series), all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended in a tie.
| First stage | Final stage | Japan Series | |||||||||||
| 1 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 1 | ||||||||
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 2 | CL1 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2 | ||||||||
| PL1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2 | 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2 | ||||||||
| 3 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 0 | |||||||||||
First stage
Central League
Yomiuri Giants (1) vs. Yokohama DeNA BayStars (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 8 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 3:19 | 45,633 |
| 2 | October 9 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Tokyo Dome | 2:47 | 45,683 |
| 3 | October 10* | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 4:21 | 45,477 |
Pacific League
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2) vs. Chiba Lotte Marines (0)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 8 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome | 3:10 | 36,077 |
| 2 | October 9 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome | 3:16 | 38,500 |
Final stage
Central League
Hiroshima Toyo Carp (4) vs. Yokohama DeNA BayStars (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 12 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 0, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 2:48 | 31,276 |
| 2 | October 13 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 0, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 3 | Mazda Stadium | 2:58 | 31,264 |
| 3 | October 14 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 3, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0 | Mazda Stadium | 3:19 | 31,291 |
| 4 | October 15 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 7, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 8 | Mazda Stadium | 3:26 | 31,313 |
Pacific League
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (4) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 12 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 6 | Sapporo Dome | 2:55 | 36,633 |
| 2 | October 13 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 | Sapporo Dome | 3:40 | 26,548 |
| 3 | October 14 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 | Sapporo Dome | 3:17 | 39,456 |
| 4 | October 15 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2 | Sapporo Dome | 3:07 | 41,138 |
| 5 | October 16 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 7 | Sapporo Dome | 3:15 | 41,138 |
Japan Series
Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 22 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 3:39 | 30,619 |
| 2 | October 23 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 3:18 | 30,638 |
| 3 | October 25 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 3, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 (10) | Sapporo Dome | 3:51 | 40,503 |
| 4 | October 26 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3 | Sapporo Dome | 3:30 | 40,599 |
| 5 | October 27 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5 | Sapporo Dome | 3:32 | 40,633 |
| 6 | October 29 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 10, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 4 | Mazda Stadium | 4:01 | 30,693 |
League leaders
Central League
|
|
Pacific League
|
|
Attendances
| Team | Total attendance | Home average |
|---|---|---|
| Yomiuri Giants | 3,004,108 | 41,724 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 2,910,562 | 40,994 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2,492,983 | 35,112 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2,157,331 | 29,963 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2,078,981 | 29,281 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 2,058,381 | 28,991 |
| Yokohama DeNA Baystars | 1,939,146 | 26,933 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 1,779,460 | 25,063 |
| ORIX Buffaloes | 1,794,475 | 24,923 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 1,618,194 | 22,791 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1,620,961 | 22,513 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 1,526,932 | 21,207 |
This was a very small increase on attendance from the 2015 season.[8][9]
