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2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season

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This article is about the 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2016 in baseball. 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
← 20152017 →

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.

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. 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.

Regular season standings

Central League 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
Pacific League regular season standings
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

Main articles: 2016 Central League Climax Series and 2016 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 League1Hiroshima Toyo Carp4
2Yomiuri Giants13Yokohama DeNA BayStars1
3Yokohama DeNA BayStars2CL1Hiroshima Toyo Carp2
PL1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters4
Pacific League1Hokkaido 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

Main article: 2016 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

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

This was a very small increase on attendance from the 2015 season.

See also

References

  1. Coskrey, Jason (2016-10-30). "Fighters wrap up Japan Series title with dramatic eighth-inning fireworks". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  2. "More pitchers involved in gambling scandal in Japan baseball". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  3. "Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds". Japan Times. Kyodo News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  4. "Japan's oldest baseball team in crisis mode over gambling". AP News. 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  5. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2016 Central League Standings | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  6. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2016 Pacific League Standings | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  7. 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.
  8. "2016 Season Attendance Figures of NPB (Japan Professional Baseball)". 7 October 2016.
  9. nbakki (2016-02-04). "2015 Season Attendance Figures of NPB (Japan Professional Baseball)". How much is it in Tokyo?. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
Nippon Professional Baseball seasons
1930s–1940s
(Japanese Baseball League)
1950s–1960s
1970s–1980s
1990s–2000s
2010s–2020s
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