The 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 71st season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There were 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.
| 2020 NPB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Nippon Professional Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | June 19 – November 25 |
| Number of games | 120 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Central League Pennant | |
| League champions | Yomiuri Giants |
| Runners-up | Hanshin Tigers |
| Season MVP | Tomoyuki Sugano (Yomiuri) |
| Pacific League Pennant | |
| League champions | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Runners-up | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| Season MVP | Yuki Yanagita (SoftBank) |
| Climax Series | |
| CL champions | N/A[1] |
| CL runners-up | N/A |
| PL champions | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| PL runners-up | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| Japan Series | |
| Champions | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Runners-up | Yomiuri Giants |
| Finals MVP | Ryoya Kurihara (SoftBank) |
Season schedule
editThe 2020 season was originally scheduled to begin on 20 March, with a break from 21 July to 13 August, for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[1] On 26 February 2020, the league announced that its remaining spring training games would be held without fans in attendance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[2][3] With health related precautions in place, the media was allowed into some ballparks.[4] Following another league meeting on 9 March, commissioner Atsushi Saito stated that the 2020 season would be postponed until April.[5][6] Saito also said that the league aimed to retain a full regular season schedule of 143 games.[7] This announcement marked the first time since 2011 that a Nippon Professional Baseball season was delayed.[8]
On 18 April, the league announced that it would remain delayed indefinitely through the entirety of May, with the 18-game interleague schedule removed to accommodate a 125-game schedule. The delay of the 2020 Olympics meant that the three-week Olympic break would no longer be needed. Therefore, it was removed from the schedule.[9] Before the league began play, the 2020 season was shortened to 120 games, and scheduled to end on 7 November.[10][11] As a result of the condensed schedule, it was also announced that the First Stage of the Pacific League Climax Series would not be played, with the top two teams from the regular season competing in a best-of-5 Final Stage which the regular season winner enters with a one-game advantage. The Central League would do away with its Climax Series entirely, with its regular season winner advancing directly to the 2020 Japan Series.[12]
With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 June behind closed doors. "Warm-up" games began 26 May.[13] All twelve NPB teams played on as scheduled on 19 June.[10] On 10 July NPB began allowing a limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future.[14] On 19 September, attendance was expanded to a maximum of 20,000 fans per game, or 50% of stadium capacity.[15]
Regular season standings
edit| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 120 | 67 | 45 | 8 | .598 | - | ||
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 120 | 60 | 53 | 7 | .531 | 7.5 | ||
| 3 | Chunichi Dragons | 120 | 60 | 55 | 5 | .522 | 8.5 | ||
| 4 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 120 | 56 | 58 | 6 | .491 | 12 | ||
| 5 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 120 | 52 | 56 | 12 | .481 | 13 | ||
| 6 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 120 | 41 | 69 | 10 | .373 | 25 | ||
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 120 | 73 | 42 | 5 | .635 | - | ||
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 120 | 60 | 57 | 3 | .513 | 14 | ||
| 3 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 120 | 58 | 58 | 4 | .500 | 15.5 | ||
| 4 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 120 | 55 | 57 | 8 | .491 | 16.5 | ||
| 5 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 120 | 53 | 62 | 5 | .461 | 20 | ||
| 6 | Orix Buffaloes | 120 | 45 | 68 | 7 | .398 | 27 | ||
Climax Series
edit| Pacific League Climax Series | Japan Series | ||||||||
| CL1 | Yomiuri Giants | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 3 | PL1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 4 | ||||
| 2 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 0 | |||||||
Pacific League
editFukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the series, 3–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 14 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | PayPay Dome | 3:19 | 19,901[18] |
| 2 | November 15 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 4, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6 | PayPay Dome | 3:27 | 19,995[19] |
Japan Series
editFukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the series, 4–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 21 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 1 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:34 | 16,489[20] |
| 2 | November 22 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 13, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 3:40 | 16,333[21] |
| 3 | November 24 | Yomiuri Giants – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | PayPay Dome | 2:58 | 17,297[22] |
| 4 | November 25 | Yomiuri Giants – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | PayPay Dome | 3:22 | 19,679[23] |
League leaders
editCentral League
edit
|
|
Pacific League
edit
|
Awards
editRegular season
edit| Central League | Pacific League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Pitcher | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | Kodai Senga | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Catcher | Ryutaro Umeno | Hanshin Tigers | Takuya Kai | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| 1st Base | Dayán Viciedo | Chunichi Dragons | Akira Nakamura Sho Nakata |
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| 2nd Base | Ryosuke Kikuchi | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | Shuta Tonosaki | Saitama Seibu Lions |
| 3rd Base | Shuhei Takahashi | Chunichi Dragons | Daichi Suzuki | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles |
| Shortstop | Hayato Sakamoto | Yomiuri Giants | Sosuke Genda | Saitama Seibu Lions |
| Outfield | Seiya Suzuki | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | Yuki Yanagita | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| Yōhei Ōshima | Chunichi Dragons | Taishi Ohta | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |
| Norichika Aoki | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | Haruki Nishikawa | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | |
See also
editNotes
edit- 1.^ The 2020 Central League Climax Series was cancelled. As a result, the regular season champion Yomiuri Giants advanced directly to the Japan Series.
References
edit- ^ "Baseball: Fans asked to abort balloon launches over coronavirus threat". Kyodo News. February 8, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ "Japanese pro baseball to restrict spectators from 72 preseason games". Japan Times. Kyodo News. February 26, 2020. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020. Alt URL
- ^ Woods, Amanda (February 27, 2020). "Japanese baseball fans barred from preseason games over coronavirus fears". New York Post. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ Coskrey, Jason (February 29, 2020). "Giants and Swallows compete without familiar sights and sounds at ballpark". Japan Times. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ "Japan's pro baseball league delays season start over coronavirus". Kyodo News. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ "Virus postpones opening of Japanese pro baseball season". Taiwan News. Associated Press. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ Nagatsuka, Kaz (March 9, 2020). "NPB to delay start of regular season due to ongoing COVID-19 outbreak". Japan Times. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
- ^ "Start of Japan Pro Baseball Regular Season to Be Delayed". Jiji Press. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ "Japan's baseball league delayed again, no date set for start". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ a b "After three-month virus delay, Japan opens its shortened baseball season". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- ^ Nagatsuka, Kaz (May 25, 2020). "NPB can play ball in Japan from June 19, but minus fans". Japan Times. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- ^ "2020年度セ・パ公式戦 全試合日程発表". Nippon Professional Baseball. June 15, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ Tarrant, Jack (May 25, 2020). "Baseball-Japan's baseball league to start on June 19". National Post. Reuters. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ "お待たせ！プロ野球７・１０に６球場一斉観客解禁…上限５０００人". June 23, 2020. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "ＮＰＢ １９日にも観客上限緩和へ ２万人、または収容５０％の少ない方（デイリースポーツ） - Yahoo!ニュース". Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Central League Standings". Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Pacific League Standings". Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ "Saturday, November 14, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
- ^ "Sunday, November 15, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- ^ "Saturday, November 21, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
- ^ "Sunday, November 22, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ "Tuesday, November 24, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ^ "Wednesday, November 25, 2020". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Central League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
- ^ "2020 Central League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.
- ^ "2020 Pacific League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
- ^ "2020 Pacific League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.