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Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award

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Award in Japan
Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award
Awarded forMost valuable player of the Japan Series
CountryJapan
Presented byNippon Professional Baseball
First awarded1950
Currently held byMasayuki Kuwahara, 2024 Yokohama DeNA BayStars
An Asian male wearing a gray uniform with the lettering "NEW YORK" across it, in his after-swing pose.
Hideki Matsui won the 2000 Japan Series MVP with the Yomiuri Giants. He went on to win the 2009 World Series MVP with MLB's New York Yankees.

The Japan Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award (日本シリーズ最高殊勲選手, Nippon Shirīzu Saikō Shukun Senshu) is given to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the Japan Series, which is the final round of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) postseason. The award was first presented in 1950.

The series follows a best-of-seven playoff format and occurs after the two-stage Climax Series. It is played by the winners of the Central League Stage 2 series and the Pacific League Stage 2 series.

Kaoru Betto won the inaugural award in 1950 with the Mainichi Orions. Depending upon definitions, the first non-Japanese to win the award was either Andy Miyamoto in 1961 or Joe Stanka in 1964. Fifteen Japan Series MVPs were inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame; Osamu Higashio (1982) is the only Hall of Famer to have won the Japan Series MVP between 1981 and 2000. Higashio is also the first and only pitcher to appear solely as a reliever to win the Japan Series MVP. Eight of the ten Japan Series MVPs who have won the award since 2000 are still active in professional baseball—Atsuya Furuta and Takashi Ishii are the Japan Series MVPs from that period who are inactive. Hideki Matsui and Norihiro Nakamura are they only two Japan Series MVPs to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). While Nakamura's MLB career lasted less than one season, Matsui's lasted seven seasons. He became the only player to be named both a Japan Series and a World Series MVP after winning the latter award in 2009. The reigning Japan Series MVP is Yutaro Sugimoto of the Orix Buffaloes.

Sixteen of the 60 Japan Series MVPs have also won the NPB MVP or the Eiji Sawamura Award in the same season. Shigeru Sugishita (1954), Tsuneo Horiuchi (1972) and Takehiro Ishii (1992) are the only players to have won all three awards in the same season. Two players won the Eiji Sawamura Award and the Japan Series MVP in the same season: Takehiko Bessho (1955) and Takashi Nishimoto (1981). Ten players have won the Japan Series MVP in the same season in which they won the NPB MVP: Betto (1950), Bessho (1952), Kazuhisa Inao (1958), Tadashi Sugiura (1959), Shigeo Nagashima (1963), Stanka (1964), Hisashi Yamada (1977), Randy Bass (1985), Tom O'Malley (1995), Furuta (1997) and Matsui (2000).

Five players have won the award multiple times. Nagashima has won the most Japan Series MVP awards with four wins (1963, 1965, 1969–1970). The remaining four players all won the award twice: Bessho (1952, 1955), Horiuchi (1972–1973), Kimiyasu Kudoh (1986–1987), Koji Akiyama (1991–1999) and Furuta (1997, 2001); Akiyama is the only player to have won the award with different teams. There has been one occasion on which multiple winners were awarded in the same Japan Series: Masayuki Dobashi and Masayuki Tanemo in 1962.

Pitchers have been named Series MVP 21 times, 13 of which appeared in both starting and relief roles in the Series.

Winners

Key
Year Links to the article about that corresponding Japan Series
§ Member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
† Active player
^ Indicates multiple award winners in the same Japan Series
(#) Indicates number of times winning Japan Series MVP at that point (if he won multiple times)
Year Player Team Position Selected statistics Note
1950 Kaoru Betto Mainichi Orions Outfielder
1951 Yuko Minamimura Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
1952 Takehiko Bessho Yomiuri Giants Pitcher
1953 Tetsuharu Kawakami Yomiuri Giants First baseman
1954 Shigeru Sugishita Chunichi Dragons Pitcher
1955 Takehiko Bessho (2) Yomiuri Giants Pitcher
1956 Yasumitsu Toyoda Nishitetsu Lions Shortstop
1957 Hiroshi Ohshita Nishitetsu Lions Outfielder
1958 Kazuhisa Inao Nishitetsu Lions Pitcher
1959 Tadashi Sugiura Nankai Hawks Pitcher
1960 Akihito Kondo Taiyō Whales Second baseman
1961 Andy Miyamoto Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
1962 Masayuki Dobashi Toei Flyers Pitcher
1962 Masayuki Tanemo Toei Flyers Catcher
1963 Shigeo Nagashima Yomiuri Giants Third baseman
1964 Joe Stanka Nankai Hawks Starting pitcher
1965 Shigeo Nagashima (2) Yomiuri Giants Third baseman
1966 Isao Shibata Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
1967 Masaaki Mori Yomiuri Giants Catcher
1968 Shigeru Takada Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
1969 Shigeo Nagashima (3) Yomiuri Giants Third baseman
1970 Shigeo Nagashima (4) Yomiuri Giants Third baseman
1971 Toshimitsu Suetsugu Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
1972 Tsuneo Horiuchi Yomiuri Giants Pitcher
1973 Tsuneo Horiuchi (2) Yomiuri Giants Pitcher
1974 Sumio Hirota Lotte Orions Outfielder
1975 Takashi Yamaguchi Hankyu Braves Pitcher
1976 Yutaka Fukumoto Hankyu Braves Outfielder
1977 Hisashi Yamada Hankyu Braves Pitcher
1978 Katsuo Osugi Yakult Swallows First baseman
1979 Yoshihiko Takahashi Hiroshima Toyo Carp Shortstop
1980 Jim Lyttle Hiroshima Toyo Carp Outfielder
1981 Takashi Nishimoto Yomiuri Giants Starting pitcher
1982 Osamu Higashio Seibu Lions Relief pitcher
1983 Takuji Ota Seibu Lions Outfielder
1984 Kiyoyuki Nagashima Hiroshima Toyo Carp Outfielder
1985 Randy Bass Hanshin Tigers First baseman
1986 Kimiyasu Kudoh Seibu Lions Pitcher
1987 Kimiyasu Kudoh (2) Seibu Lions Pitcher
1988 Hiromichi Ishige Seibu Lions Shortstop
1989 Norihiro Komada Yomiuri Giants First baseman
1990 Orestes Destrade Seibu Lions First baseman
1991 Koji Akiyama Seibu Lions Outfielder
1992 Takehiro Ishii Seibu Lions Starting pitcher
1993 Kenjiro Kawasaki Yakult Swallows Starting pitcher
1994 Hiromi Makihara Yomiuri Giants Starting pitcher
1995 Tom O'Malley Yakult Swallows First baseman
1996 Troy Neel Orix BlueWave Infielder
1997 Atsuya Furuta Yakult Swallows Catcher
1998 Takanori Suzuki Yokohama BayStars Outfielder
1999 Koji Akiyama (2) Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Outfielder
2000 Hideki Matsui Yomiuri Giants Outfielder
2001 Atsuya Furuta (2) Yakult Swallows Catcher
2002 Tomohiro Nioka Yomiuri Giants Shortstop
2003 Toshiya Sugiuchi Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Starting pitcher
2004 Takashi Ishii Seibu Lions Starting pitcher
2005 Toshiaki Imae Chiba Lotte Marines Third baseman
2006 Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Outfielder
2007 Norihiro Nakamura Chunichi Dragons Third baseman
2008 Takayuki Kishi Saitama Seibu Lions Pitcher
2009 Shinnosuke Abe Yomiuri Giants Catcher
2010 Toshiaki Imae (2) Chiba Lotte Marines Third baseman
2011 Hiroki Kokubo Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks First baseman
2012 Tetsuya Utsumi Yomiuri Giants Starting pitcher
2013 Manabu Mima Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Starting pitcher
2014 Seiichi Uchikawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Outfielder
2015 Dae-ho Lee Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks First baseman
2016 Brandon Laird Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Third baseman
2017 Dennis Sarfate Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Pitcher
2018 Takuya Kai Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Catcher
2019 Yurisbel Gracial Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Outfielder .375 average, three home runs, six RBIs
2020 Ryoya Kurihara Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Catcher
2021 Yuhei Nakamura Tokyo Yakult Swallows Catcher
2022 Yutaro Sugimoto Orix Buffaloes Outfielder
2023 Kōji Chikamoto Hanshin Tigers Outfielder
2024 Masayuki Kuwahara Yokohama DeNA BayStars Outfielder

See also

References

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