The Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game is an annual baseball series of All-Star Games (in most years, two games are played, but three such games can and have been played as well) between players from the Central League and the Pacific League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers. The All-Star Game usually occurs in early to mid-July and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season (though not the mathematical halfway point; in most seasons, that takes place one week earlier).

History

The first NPB All-Star game was played in 1951.

For many years, mimicking the gaijin waku rule of the NPB,[1] each All-Star team was limited to two foreign players.[2]

Game results

Date Winning League Score Venue Host Team Attendance MVP Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher
2004 (Game 1)Pacific3–1Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsDaisuke Matsuzaka
2004 (Game 2)Pacific2–1Nagano Olympic StadiumnoneTsuyoshi Shinjo
2005 (Game 1)Central6–5Seibu DomeSeibu LionsTatsuhiko Kinjo
2005 (Game 2)Central5–3Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersTomonori Maeda
2006 (Game 1)Central3–1Meiji Jingu StadiumYakult SwallowsNorichika Aoki
2006 (Game 2)Central7–4Sun Marine StadiumnoneAtsushi Fujimoto
2007 (Game 1)Central4–0Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsAlex Ramírez
2007 (Game 2)Central11–5Fullcast StadiumRakuten EaglesShinnosuke Abe
2008 (Game 1)Pacific5–4Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesTakeshi Yamasaki
2008 (Game 2)Central11–6Yokohama StadiumYokohama BayStarsMasahiro Araki
2009 (Game 1)Central10–8Sapporo DomeHokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters38,370Norichika Aoki
2009 (Game 2)Pacific7–4Mazda StadiumHiroshima Toyo CarpNobuhiko Matsunaka
2010 (Game 1)Central4–1Yahoo DomeFukuoka SoftBank HawksShinnosuke Abe
2010 (Game 2)5–5Hard Off Eco StadiumnoneYasuyuki Kataoka
2011 (Game 1)Central9–4Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsKazuhiro Hatakeyama
2011 (Game 2)Pacific4–3QVC Marine FieldChiba Lotte MarinesTakeya Nakamura
2011 (Game 3)Pacific5–0Kleenex StadiumRakuten EaglesAtsunori Inaba
2012 (Game 1)Central4–1Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesNorihiro Nakamura
2012 (Game 2)Central4–0Botchan StadiumnoneKenta Maeda
2012 (Game 3)Pacific6–2Iwate Prefectural Baseball StadiumnoneDaiKan Yoh
2013 (Game 1)1–1Sapporo DomeHokkaido Nippon Ham FightersHirokazu Sawamura
2013 (Game 2)Central3–1Meiji Jingu StadiumTokyo Yakult SwallowsTakahiro Arai
2013 (Game 3)Pacific3–1Iwaki Green StadiumnoneSeiichi Uchikawa
2014 (Game 1)Central7–0Seibu DomeSaitama Seibu LionsBrad Eldred
2014 (Game 2)Pacific12–6Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersYuki Yanagita
2015 (Game 1)Central8–6Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsShintaro Fujinami
2015 (Game 2)Central8–3Mazda StadiumHiroshima Toyo CarpTsubasa Aizawa
2016 (Game 1)Central5–4Yahoo DomeFukuoka SoftBank HawksYoshitomo Tsutsugoh
2016 (Game 2)5–5Yokohama StadiumYokohama DeNA BayStarsShohei Ohtani
2017 (Game 1)Pacific6–2Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsSeiichi Uchikawa
2017 (Game 2)Pacific3–1Zozo Marine StadiumChiba Lotte MarinesAlfredo Despaigne
2018 (Game 1)Pacific7–6Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesTomoya Mori
2018 (Game 2)Pacific5–1Fujisakidai Prefectural Baseball StadiumnoneSōsuke Genda
2019 (Game 1)Pacific6–3Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsTomoya Mori
2019 (Game 2)Central11–3Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersKōji Chikamoto
2020 Series canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 (Game 1)Central5-4MetLife DomeSaitama Seibu LionsRyosuke Kikuchi
2021 (Game 2)Pacific4-3Rakuten Seimei Park MiyagiTohoku Rakuten Golden EaglesHiroaki Shimauchi
2022 (Game 1)[3]Pacific3-2Fukuoka PayPay DomeFukuoka SoftBank Hawks35,534 peopleKotaro Kiyomiya
2022 (Game 2)[4]Pacific2-1Matsuyama Central Park Baseball StadiumNone25,530 peopleYuki Yanagita
2023 (Game 1) Pacific 8-1 Nagoya Dome Chunichi Dragons Yuki Yanagita
2023 (Game 2) Pacific 6-1 Mazda Stadium Hiroshima Toyo Carp Chusei Mannami

Hanshin Tigers player voting controversy

The fan votes of the starters of the 2023 All Star Series revealed 9 of the 10 highest voted starters were Hanshin Tigers players. It was the third time in NPB players from the same team led the voting in all positions. [5] The controversy was garnered as some of the positions, such as catcher, which in question was Ryutaro Umeno, were voted in for the sole purpose of being voted in by fans, as he did not produce numbers good enough to be considered an All Star Game appearance, compared to that of a player like Takumi Ohshiro. Others, like Teruaki Sato at 3rd base, were good, but there had been players who were much more deserving to start, like Toshiro Miyazaki and Kazuma Okamoto.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Foreign Player Restrictions?". Japanese Baseball.
  2. ↑ Whiting, Robert. You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage Departures, 1989), p. 275.
  3. ↑ "Kotaro Kiyomiya walk-off homer lifts PL in NPB All-Star Game 1". 27 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Author, No (28 July 2022). "Yuki Yanagita lifts Pacific League with home run in All-Star series finale". The Japan Times. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  5. ↑ TVBS. "日職／阪神虎人氣太狂 明星賽9位置全「霸榜」拿下最高票│TVBS新聞網". TVBS (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  6. ↑ 自由時報電子報 (2023-06-20). "日職》明星賽一隊霸榜讓日媒直呼異常 挨批：粉絲程度就這樣了 - 自由體育". sports.ltn.com.tw. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
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