2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 58th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950 and the first to feature the Climax Series.

2007 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 24 – November 1
Central League Pennant
League championsYomiuri Giants
  Runners-upChunichi Dragons
Season MVPMichihiro Ogasawara (Yomiuri)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  Runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Season MVPYu Darvish (Nippon Ham)
Climax Series
CL championsChunichi Dragons
  CL runners-upYomiuri Giants
PL championsHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
  PL runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
ChampionsChunichi Dragons
  Runners-upHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Finals MVPNorihiro Nakamura (Chunichi)
NPB seasons

Regular season

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Standings

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Central League

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2007 Central League standings
Team Pld W L T PCT GB
Yomiuri Giants 144 80 63 1 .559
Chunichi Dragons 144 78 64 2 .549 1.5
Hanshin Tigers 144 74 66 4 .528 4.5
Yokohama BayStars 144 71 72 1 .497 9
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 144 60 82 2 .424 19.5
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 144 60 84 0 .417 20.5
Source: [citation needed]

Pacific League

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2007 Pacific League standings
Team Pld W L T PCT GB
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 144 79 60 5 .566
Chiba Lotte Marines 144 76 61 7 .552 2
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 144 73 66 5 .524 6
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 144 67 75 2 .472 13.5
Seibu Lions 144 66 76 2 .465 14.5
Orix Buffaloes 144 62 77 5 .448 17
Source: [citation needed]

Climax Series

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Climax Series was firstly introduced in this season. It was inspired by the playoff system introduced by Pacific League between 2004 and 2006, in which the top three teams of the league will play in a stepladder knockout to decide the team to play in the Japan Series. The system was a success when Pacific League's teams won all the Japan Series since the introduction of such system. This is also the Central League's first participation in playoff system since 1949.

Climax Series does not affect the team's standings, nor individual's record in the Regular Season.

First StageFinal StageJapan Series
1Yomiuri Giants0
2Chunichi Dragons22Chunichi Dragons3
3Hanshin Tigers0C2Chunichi Dragons4
P1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters1
1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters3
2Chiba Lotte Marines22Chiba Lotte Marines2
3Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks1

Leaders

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Batting

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Central League

Statistic Leader Team Result
Batting average Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows .327
Runs Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows 114
Hits Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 204*
Doubles Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 41
Triples Hiroyasu Tanaka Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8
Home runs Shuichi Murata Yokohama BayStars 36
Runs batted in Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows 122
Stolen bases Masahiro Araki Chunichi Dragons 31
Walks Tyrone Woods Chunichi Dragons 121

*indicates league record

Pacific League

Statistic Leader Team Result
Batting average Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters .334
Runs Hichori Morimoto Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 91
Hits Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 176
Doubles Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 39
Triples Daisuke Hayakawa Chiba Lotte Marines 8
Home runs Takeshi Yamasaki Rakuten Golden Eagles 43
Runs batted in Takeshi Yamasaki Rakuten Golden Eagles 108
Stolen bases Yasuyuki Kataoka Seibu Lions 38
Walks Tuffy Rhodes Orix Buffaloes 88

Awards

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Best Nine Awards

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Central League

Position Player Team
P Hisanori Takahashi Yomiuri Giants
C Shinnosuke Abe Yomiuri Giants
1B Tyrone Woods Chunichi Dragons
2B Hiroyasu Tanaka Tokyo Yakult Swallows
3B Michihiro Ogasawara Yomiuri Giants
SS Hirokazu Ibata Chunichi Dragons
OF Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows
OF Alex Ramirez Tokyo Yakult Swallows
OF Yoshinobu Takahashi Yomiuri Giants

Pacific League

Position Player Team
P Yu Darvish Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
C Tomoya Satozaki Chiba Lotte Marines
1B Alex Cabrera Seibu Lions
2B Kensuke Tanaka Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
3B Greg LaRocca Orix Buffaloes
SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka Chiba Lotte Marines
OF Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Hichori Morimoto Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Naoyuki Ohmura Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
DH Takeshi Yamasaki Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Gold Gloves

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Central League

Position Player Team
P Kenshin Kawakami Chunichi Dragons
C Motonobu Tanishige Chunichi Dragons
1B Andy Sheets Hanshin Tigers
2B Masahiro Araki Chunichi Dragons
3B Norihiro Nakamura Chunichi Dragons
SS Hirokazu Ibata Chunichi Dragons
OF Tatsuhiko Kinjo Yokohama BayStars
OF Norichika Aoki Tokyo Yakult Swallows
OF Yoshinobu Takahashi Yomiuri Giants

Pacific League

Position Player Team
P Yu Darvish Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
C Tomoya Satozaki Chiba Lotte Marines
1B Kazuya Fukuura Chiba Lotte Marines
2B Kensuke Tanaka Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
3B Toshiaki Imae Chiba Lotte Marines
SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka Chiba Lotte Marines
OF Atsunori Inaba Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Hichori Morimoto Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
OF Saburo Ohmura Chiba Lotte Marines

See also

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References

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