Misplaced Pages

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article by providing more context for the reader. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
(Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article is about the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2015 in baseball. Sports season
2015 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 27 – October 29
Central League Pennant
League championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  Runners-upYomiuri Giants
Season MVPTetsuto Yamada (Yakult)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  Runners-upHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Season MVPYuki Yanagita (SoftBank)
Climax Series
CL championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  CL runners-upYomiuri Giants
PL championsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  PL runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
ChampionsFukuoka SoftBank Hawks
  Runners-upTokyo Yakult Swallows
Finals MVPDae-ho Lee (SoftBank)
NPB seasons
← 20142016 →

The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.

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.

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 143 76 65 2 .539 –
Yomiuri Giants 143 75 67 1 .528 1.5
Hanshin Tigers 143 70 71 2 .496 6.0
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 143 69 71 3 .493 6.5
Chunichi Dragons 143 62 77 4 .446 13.0
Yokohama DeNA BayStars 143 62 80 1 .437 14.5
Pacific League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 143 90 49 4 .647 –
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 143 79 62 2 .560 12.0
Chiba Lotte Marines 143 73 69 1 .511 19.0
Saitama Seibu Lions 143 69 69 5 .500 20.5
Orix Buffaloes 143 61 80 2 .433 30.0
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 143 57 83 3 .410 33.0

Climax Series

Main articles: 2015 Central League Climax Series and 2015 Pacific League 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
Central League1Tokyo Yakult Swallows4
2Yomiuri Giants22Yomiuri Giants1
3Hanshin Tigers1CL1Tokyo Yakult Swallows1
PL1Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks4
Pacific League1Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks4
2Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters13Chiba Lotte Marines0
3Chiba Lotte Marines2

First stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received byes to the championship round.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants (2) vs. Hanshin Tigers (1)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 10 Hanshin Tigers – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 3:40 45,298 
2 October 11 Hanshin Tigers – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2 Tokyo Dome 3:48 46,698 
3 October 12 Hanshin Tigers – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 2:48 46,067

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 10 Chiba Lotte Marines – 9, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3 Sapporo Dome 3:28 41,138 
2 October 11 Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 Sapporo Dome 3:06 41,138 
3 October 12 Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1 Sapporo Dome 3:42 32,201

Final stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received a one-game advantage.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants (1) vs. Tokyo Yakult Swallows (4)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 14 Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 1 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:38 31,502 
2 October 15 Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 4 Meiji Jingu Stadium 2:51 31,274 
3 October 16 Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 2 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:27 33,102 
4 October 17 Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 3 Meiji Jingu Stadium 2:58 34,038

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines (0) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 14 Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 (10 innings) Fukuoka Dome 3:43 37,360 
2 October 15 Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6 Fukuoka Dome 2:59 37,603 
3 October 16 Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 Fukuoka Dome 2:53 37,235

Japan Series

Main article: 2015 Japan Series

CL Tokyo Yakult Swallows (1) vs. PL Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 24 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 Fukuoka Dome 3:04 35,732 
2 October 25 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 Fukuoka Dome 3:35 35,764 
3 October 27 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 8 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:38 31,037 
4 October 28 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 4 Meiji Jingu Stadium 4:06 31,288 
5 October 29 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:36 31,239

League leaders

Central League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Shingo Kawabata Tokyo Yakult Swallows .336
Home runs Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 38
Runs batted in Kazuhiro Hatakeyama Tokyo Yakult Swallows 105
Runs Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 119
Hits Shingo Kawabata Tokyo Yakult Swallows 195
Stolen bases Tetsuto Yamada Tokyo Yakult Swallows 34
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Kenta Maeda Hiroshima Carp 15
Losses Atsushi Nomi Hanshin Tigers 13
Earned run average Kris Johnson Hiroshima Carp 1.85
Strikeouts Shintaro Fujinami Hanshin Tigers 221
Innings pitched Yudai Ono Chunichi Dragons 207.1
Saves Tony Barnette Tokyo Yakult Swallows 41
Oh Seung-hwan Hanshin Tigers

Pacific League

Batting leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Batting average Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .363
Home runs Takeya Nakamura Saitama Seibu Lions 37
Runs batted in Takeya Nakamura Saitama Seibu Lions 124
Runs Yuki Yanagita Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 110
Hits Shogo Akiyama Saitama Seibu Lions 216
Stolen bases Takuya Nakashima Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 34
Pitching leaders
Stat Player Team Total
Wins Shohei Ohtani Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 15
Losses Ayumu Ishikawa Chiba Lotte Marines 12
Earned run average Shohei Ohtani Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2.24
Strikeouts Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 215
Innings pitched Takahiro Norimoto Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 194.2
Saves Dennis Sarfate Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 41

See also

References

  1. "More pitchers involved in gambling scandal in Japan baseball". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  2. "Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds". Japan Times. Kyodo News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  3. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2015 Regular Season | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
Nippon Professional Baseball seasons
1930s–1940s
(Japanese Baseball League)
1950s–1960s
1970s–1980s
1990s–2000s
2010s–2020s
Categories: