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2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season

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This article is about the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2013 in baseball. Sports season
2013 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 29 – November 3
Central League Pennant
League championsYomiuri Giants
  Runners-upHanshin Tigers
Season MVPWladimir Balentien (Yakult)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
  Runners-upSaitama Seibu Lions
Season MVPMasahiro Tanaka (Rakuten)
Climax Series
CL championsYomiuri Giants
  CL runners-upHiroshima Toyo Carp
PL championsTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
  PL runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
ChampionsTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
  Runners-upYomiuri Giants
Finals MVPManabu Mima (Rakuten)
NPB seasons
← 20122014 →

The 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 64th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.

Juiced ball scandal

At the beginning of the 2013 NPB season, a new livelier ball was introduced in secret. This juiced up baseball allowed more home runs to be scored, leading to Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien to break the 55 single season home run record set by Sadaharu Oh and later tied by Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. This caused three-term NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato resigning, though he claimed that he did not know about these juiced baseballs.

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Yomiuri Giants 144 84 53 7 .613 —
Hanshin Tigers 144 73 67 4 .521 12.5
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 144 69 72 3 .489 17.0
Chunichi Dragons 144 64 77 3 .454 22.0
Yokohama DeNA BayStars 144 64 79 1 .448 23.0
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 144 57 83 4 .407 28.5
Pacific League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 144 82 59 3 .582 —
Saitama Seibu Lions 144 74 66 4 .529 7.5
Chiba Lotte Marines 144 74 68 2 .521 8.5
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 144 73 69 2 .514 9.5
Orix Buffaloes 144 66 73 5 .475 15.0
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 144 64 78 2 .451 18.5

Climax Series

Main articles: 2013 Central League Climax Series and 2013 Pacific League Climax Series

Note: All of the games that are played in the first two rounds of the Climax Series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advances if the round ends in a tie.

First StageFinal StageJapan Series
Central League1Yomiuri Giants4
2Hanshin Tigers03Hiroshima Toyo Carp0
3Hiroshima Toyo Carp2CL1Yomiuri Giants3
PL1Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles4
Pacific League1Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles4
2Saitama Seibu Lions13Chiba Lotte Marines1
3Chiba Lotte Marines2

First stage

The regular season league champions, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received byes to the championship round.

Central League

Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2) vs. Hanshin Tigers (0)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 12 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 8, Hanshin Tigers – 1 Koshien Stadium 3:34 46,923 
2 October 13 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 7, Hanshin Tigers – 4 Koshien Stadium 3:02 46,902

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines (2) vs. Saitama Seibu Lions (1)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 12 Chiba Lotte Marines – 11, Saitama Seibu Lions – 1 Seibu Dome 3:24 32,880 
2 October 13 Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Saitama Seibu Lions – 15 Seibu Dome 3:16 33,914 
3 October 14 Chiba Lotte Marines – 4, Saitama Seibu Lions – 1 Seibu Dome 3:01 33,832

Final stage

The regular season league champions, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received a one-game advantage.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants (4) vs. Hiroshima Toyo Carp (0)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 16 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 3:27 45,107 
2 October 17 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 2:26 45,316 
3 October 18 Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 2:32 46,081

Pacific League

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (4) vs. Chiba Lotte Marines (1)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 17 Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 2:55 24,332 
2 October 18 Chiba Lotte Marines – 4, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:25 24,097 
3 October 19 Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:00 24,396 
4 October 21* Chiba Lotte Marines – 5, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 8 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:33 24,264
* Postponed from October 20 due to rain

Japan Series

Main article: 2013 Japan Series

PL Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (4) vs. CL Yomiuri Giants (3)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 26 Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 0 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:20 25,209 
2 October 27 Yomiuri Giants – 1, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:16 25,219 
3 October 29 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 1 Tokyo Dome 3:26 44,940 
4 October 30 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 6 Tokyo Dome 4:07 44,968 
5 October 31 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2 Tokyo Dome 3:49 44,995 
6 November 2 Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:16 25,271 
7 November 3 Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 3 Miyagi Baseball Stadium 3:15 25,249

League leaders

Central League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Tony Blanco Yokohama DeNA BayStars .333
Home runs Wladimir Balentien Tokyo Yakult Swallows 60
Runs batted in Tony Blanco Yokohama DeNA BayStars 136
Runs Wladimir Balentien Tokyo Yakult Swallows 94
Hits Matt Murton Hanshin Tigers 178
Stolen bases Yoshihiro Maru Hiroshima Toyo Carp 29
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Yasuhiro Ogawa Tokyo Yakult Swallows 16
Losses Daisuke Miura
Ryosuke Yagi		 Yokohama DeNA BayStars
Tokyo Yakult Swallows		 13
Earned run average Kenta Maeda Hiroshima Toyo Carp 2.10
Strikeouts Randy Messenger Hanshin Tigers 183
Innings pitched Randy Messenger Hanshin Tigers 1961⁄3
Saves Kentaro Nishimura Yomiuri Giants 42

Pacific League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Yuya Hasegawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .341
Home runs Michel Abreu Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 31
Runs batted in Hideto Asamura Saitama Seibu Lions 110
Runs Dai-Kang Yang Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 93
Hits Yuya Hasegawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 198
Stolen bases Dai-Kang Yang Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 47
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Masahiro Tanaka Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 24
Losses Mitsuo Yoshikawa Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 15
Earned run average Masahiro Tanaka Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1.27
Strikeouts Chihiro Kaneko Orix Buffaloes 200
Innings pitched Chihiro Kaneko Orix Buffaloes 2231⁄3
Saves Naoya Masuda Chiba Lotte Marines 33

2013 average attendance

Team Games Total attendance Av. attendance
Yomiuri 72 3,008,197 41,780
Hanshin 72 2,771,603 38,494
SoftBank 72 2,408,993 33,458
Chunichi 72 1,998,188 27,752
Nippon-Ham 72 1,855,655 25,772
Seibu 72 1,600,841 22,233
Hiroshima 72 1,565,598 21,744
Orix 72 1,438,467 19,978
Yakult 72 1,432,695 19,898
Yokohama 72 1,425,728 19,801
Rakuten 72 1,281,087 17,792
Lotte 72 1,260,439 17,506

See also

References

  1. "Balentien breaks Oh's Japanese homer record". MLB.com. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  2. "Japan commissioner resigns over juiced ball". ESPN.com. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  3. "Saturday, October 12, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  4. "Sunday, October 13, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  5. "Saturday, October 12, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  6. "Sunday, October 13, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  7. "Monday, October 14, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  8. "Wednesday, October 16, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  9. "Thursday, October 17, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  10. "Friday, October 18, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  11. "Thursday, October 17, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  12. "Friday, October 18, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  13. "Saturday, October 19, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  14. "Monday, October 21, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  15. "Sunday, October 20, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  16. "Saturday, October 26, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  17. "Sunday, October 27, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  18. "Tuesday, October 29, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  19. "Wednesday, October 30, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  20. "Thursday, October 31, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  21. "Saturday, November 2, 2013". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  22. "[7/18/2013] 2013 NPB attendance up over last year | Yakyu Baka". Archived from the original on 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2015-01-02.
Nippon Professional Baseball seasons
1930s–1940s
(Japanese Baseball League)
1950s–1960s
1970s–1980s
1990s–2000s
2010s–2020s
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