2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season

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Sports season
2016 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 25 – October 29
Central League Pennant
League championsHiroshima Toyo Carp
  Runners-upYomiuri Giants
Season MVPTakahiro Arai (Toyo)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  Runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Season MVPShohei Ohtani (Nippon Ham)
Climax Series
CL championsHiroshima Toyo Carp
  CL runners-upYokohama DeNA BayStars
PL championsHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  PL runners-upFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Japan Series
ChampionsHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  Runners-upHiroshima Toyo Carp
Finals MVPBrandon Laird (Nippon Ham)
NPB seasons

The 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 67th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.

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.[1][2]

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings[3]
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
Pacific League regular season standings[4]
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 StageFinal StageJapan Series
1Hiroshima Toyo Carp4
2Yomiuri Giants13Yokohama DeNA BayStars1
3Yokohama DeNA BayStars2CL1Hiroshima Toyo Carp2
PL1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters4
1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters4
2Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks22Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks2
3Chiba Lotte Marines0

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

[5]

Central League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Hayato Sakamoto Yomiuri Giants .344
Home runs Yoshitomo Tsutsugo Yokohama DeNA BayStars 44
Runs batted in Yoshitomo Tsutsugo Yokohama DeNA BayStars 110
Runs Tetsuto Yamada
Kosuke Tanaka		 Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Hiroshima Toyo Carp		 102
Hits Ryosuke Kikuchi Hiroshima Toyo Carp 181
Stolen bases Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 30
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Yusuke Nomura Hiroshima Toyo Carp 16
Losses Atsushi Nomi
Hirofumi Yamanaka		 Hanshin Tigers
Tokyo Yakult Swallows		 12
Earned run average Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 2.01
Strikeouts Tomoyuki Sugano Yomiuri Giants 189
Innings pitched Randy Messenger Hanshin Tigers 185.1
Saves Hirokazu Sawamura Yomiuri Giants 37

Pacific League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Katsuya Kakunaka Chiba Lotte Marines .339
Home runs Brandon Laird Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 39
Runs batted in Sho Nakata Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 110
Runs Shogo Akiyama Saitama Seibu Lions 98
Hits Katsuya Kakunaka Chiba Lotte Marines 176
Stolen bases Yoshio Itoi
Yuji Kaneko		 Orix Buffaloes
Saitama Seibu Lions		 53
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Tsuyoshi Wada Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 15
Losses Yuki Nishi Orix Buffaloes 12
Earned run average Ayumu Ishikawa Chiba Lotte Marines 2.16
Strikeouts Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 216
Innings pitched Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 195
Saves Yoshihisa Hirano Orix Buffaloes 31

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

[6]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2016 in Nippon Professional Baseball.