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)

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.[1] This caused three-term NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato resigning, though he claimed that he did not know about these juiced baseballs.[2]

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Yomiuri Giants 14484537.613—
Hanshin Tigers 14473674.52112.5
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 14469723.48917.0
Chunichi Dragons 14464773.45422.0
Yokohama DeNA BayStars 14464791.44823.0
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 14457834.40728.5
Pacific League regular season standings
Team G W L T Pct. GB
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 14482593.582—
Saitama Seibu Lions 14474664.5297.5
Chiba Lotte Marines 14474682.5218.5
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 14473692.5149.5
Orix Buffaloes 14466735.47515.0
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 14464782.45118.5

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 League
1Yomiuri Giants4
2Hanshin Tigers03Hiroshima Toyo Carp0
3Hiroshima Toyo Carp2CL1Yomiuri Giants3
PL1Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles4
Pacific League
1Tohoku 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)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 12Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 8, Hanshin Tigers – 1Koshien Stadium3:3446,923[3] 
2October 13Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 7, Hanshin Tigers – 4Koshien Stadium3:0246,902[4]

Pacific League

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

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 12Chiba Lotte Marines – 11, Saitama Seibu Lions – 1Seibu Dome3:2432,880[5] 
2October 13Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Saitama Seibu Lions – 15Seibu Dome3:1633,914[6] 
3October 14Chiba Lotte Marines – 4, Saitama Seibu Lions – 1Seibu Dome3:0133,832[7]

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)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 16Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3Tokyo Dome3:2745,107[8] 
2October 17Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0, Yomiuri Giants – 3Tokyo Dome2:2645,316[9] 
3October 18Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 3Tokyo Dome2:3246,081[10]

Pacific League

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

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 17Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2Miyagi Baseball Stadium2:5524,332[11] 
2October 18Chiba Lotte Marines – 4, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:2524,097[12] 
3October 19Chiba Lotte Marines – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:0024,396[13] 
4October 21*Chiba Lotte Marines – 5, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 8Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:3324,264[14]
* Postponed from October 20 due to rain[15]

Japan Series

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

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 26Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 0Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:2025,209[16] 
2October 27Yomiuri Giants – 1, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:1625,219[17] 
3October 29Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 1Tokyo Dome3:2644,940[18] 
4October 30Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 6Tokyo Dome4:0744,968[19] 
5October 31Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2Tokyo Dome3:4944,995[20] 
6November 2Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 2Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:1625,271[21] 
7November 3Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – 3Miyagi Baseball Stadium3:1525,249

League leaders

Central League

Pacific League

2013 average attendance

Team Games Total attendance Attendance Per Game
Yomiuri 41 1,666,044 40,635
Hanshin 43 1,654,301 38,472
SoftBank 41 1,350,604 32,942
Chunichi 40 1,111,064 27,777
Nippon-Ham 42 1,095,307 26,079
Seibu 41 881,118 21,491
Hiroshima 43 853,646 19,852
Orix 42 821,848 19,568
Yakult 39 731,778 18,764
Yokohama 43 781,426 18,173
Rakuten 40 675,880 16,897
Lotte 41 684,911 16,705
538 12,307,927 297,355

[22]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2013 in Nippon Professional Baseball.
  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.
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