1974 Nippon Professional Baseball season

This article is about the 1974 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1974 in baseball.
1974 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
Regular season
Season MVPCL: Sadaharu Oh (YOM)
PL: Tomehiro Kaneda (LOT)
League postseason
CL championsChunichi Dragons
  CL runners-upYomiuri Giants
PL championsLotte Orions
  PL runners-upHankyu Braves
Japan Series
ChampionsLotte Orions
  Runners-upChunichi Dragons
Finals MVPSumio Hirota (LOT)

The 1974 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 25th season of operation for the league. For the first time since 1964, the Yomiuri Giants did not qualify for the Japan Series. On October 12, the Chunichi Dragons prevailed to win the Central League pennant by winning a double-header over the Taiyo Whales to prevail by percentage points over the Giants with two games remaining; at the end of the season, with ties not counting in the standings, the Dragons were at .588 with their record of 70-49 while the Giants were at .587 with a record of 71-50. Dragons manager Wally Yonamine (born in Hawaii) became the first American-born manager to lead a team to the pennant.[1] It was the final season for Giants star Shigeo Nagashima, who subsequently became manager of the team following the retirement of Tetsuharu Kawakami.[2][3] For the first time in ten years, the Central League awarded its MVP to a player from a team that did not win the league pennant, as Sadaharu Oh was named MVP for the seventh time in his career.[4] Clarence Jones of the Kintetsu Buffaloes became the first foreign-born player to win the home run title in the two-league system with his 38 home runs leading all of the Pacific League.[5]

In the Pacific League, the Hankyu Braves clinched the first-half. On September 26, the Lotte Orions were guaranteed the second-half pennant when the Fighters and Hawks game ended in a tie that eliminated the possibility of a tie with percentage points.[6] The Lotte Orions, champions of the second-half, defeated the first-half champion Hankyu Braves to reach their second Japan Series in four years. Lotte defeated Chunichi in six games for their first championship since 1950.

Regular season standings

Central League

Central League[7] G W L T Pct. GB
Chunichi Dragons 130 70 49 11 .588 –
Yomiuri Giants 130 71 50 9 .587 0.0
Yakult Swallows 130 60 63 7 .488 12.0
Hanshin Tigers 130 57 64 9 .471 14.0
Taiyo Whales 130 55 69 6 .444 17.5
Hiroshima Toyo Carp 130 54 72 4 .429 19.5

Pacific League

Pacific League[8] G W L T Pct. 1st half ranking 2nd half ranking
Lotte Orions 130 69 50 11 .580 2 1
Hankyu Braves 130 69 51 10 .575 1 3
Nankai Hawks 130 59 55 16 .518 4 2
Taiheiyo Club Lions 130 59 64 7 .480 3 4
Kintetsu Buffaloes 130 56 66 8 .459 5 4
Nippon-Ham Fighters 130 49 75 6 .395 6 6

Pacific League playoff

The Pacific League teams with the best first and second-half records met in a best-of-five playoff series to determine the league representative in the Japan Series.[9]

Lotte Orions won the series 3–0.

Game Score Date Location
1 Braves – 2, Orions – 3 October 5 Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium
2 Braves – 3, Orions – 8 October 6 Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium
3 Orions – 4, Braves – 0 October 9 Miyagi Baseball Stadium

Japan Series

Main article: 1974 Japan Series

Lotte Orions won the series 4–2.

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Dragons – 5, Orions – 4 October 16 Nagoya Stadium 22,148[10]
2 Dragons – 5, Orions – 8 October 17 Nagoya Stadium 24,798[10]
3 Orions – 4, Dragons – 5 October 19 Korakuen Stadium 29,103[10]
4 Orions – 6, Dragons – 3 October 20 Korakuen Stadium 43,128[10]
5 Orions – 2, Dragons – 0 October 21 Korakuen Stadium 28,187[10]
6 Dragons – 2, Orions – 3 October 23 Nagoya Stadium 23,433[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-oct-19-1974-p-19/
  2. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-oct-14-1974-p-22/
  3. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-oct-16-1974-p-19/
  4. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-oct-26-1974-p-18/
  5. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-oct-04-1974-p-18/
  6. ^ https://newspaperarchive.com/pacific-stars-and-stripes-sep-28-1974-p-19/
  7. ^ 年度別成績 1974年 セントラル・リーグ | NPB.jp 日本野球機構
  8. ^ 年度別成績 1974年 パシフィック・リーグ | NPB.jp 日本野球機構
  9. ^ https://2689web.com/1974/po/OB3.html
  10. ^ a b c d e f 1974年日本シリーズ試合結果 (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
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