The 2019 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2019'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

's (NPB)

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. The 70th edition of the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

, it was played from 19-23 October. The series was a

best-of-seven playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

between the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

, the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

's (PL) Climax Series champion and defending Japan Series champions, and the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

, the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

's (CL) Climax Series champion. The Hawks defeated the Giants in a four game sweep to win their third consecutive Japan Series championship, their fifth title in six years; they are also the first team to win three straight Japan Series titles since the Seibu Lions did it from 1990 to 1992. The Hawks finished the 2019 regular season in second place in the Pacific League. They advanced to the Japan Series after defeating the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

and the

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway ...

in the PL Climax Series. The Giants finished in first place in the Central League, earning a bye in the first stage of the CL Climax Series, followed by a victory over the

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

to reach the Japan Series. Mirroring the 1959 Japan Series in which the Nankai Hawks beat Yomiuri in four games to capture their first Japan Series championship, SoftBank beat Yomiuri in four games to capture the franchise's tenth Japan Series championship. This marked the sixth time the Japan Series ended in a sweep, with the most recent being in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. The first two games were played at the Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome and the other two at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

. Yurisbel Gracial was given the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award and Yoshiyuki Kamei was awarded with the Fighting Spirit Award.

Climax Series

For the second year in a row, the

finished the 2019 regular season in second place in the

(PL) behind the

, securing them a place as host team for the First Stage of the Climax Series, a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series against the

. After defeating the Eagles 2–1, SoftBank advanced to the Final Stage, where they competed against the pennant winning Lions. The series was best-of-six and the Lions were awarded a one-win advantage as well as home field advantage for the entire series. For the second time in as many years, the Hawks went into the

MetLife Dome (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. It is home to the Saitama Seibu Lions, a professional baseball team. The stadium has a roof over the field and the stands, like other indoor ballparks. However, it la ...

and overcame the Lions' one-win advantage, defeating the Lions in four games to advance to their third consecutive Japan Series, as well as their fifth in the past six seasons. For the first time since , the

finished with the best record in the

, giving them a First Stage bye and advancing them directly to the Final Stage. They defeated the third place

4–1, securing them a place in the Japan Series for the first time since

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Series notes

A Japanese baseball

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

of the 2010s, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks had won the previous two Japan Series and four in the last five years. The Yomiuri Giants had won 22 Japan Series championships, more than any other team in the

(NPB). The last time the Giants won the championship was in the 2012 Japan Series, which was also the last time a Central League team had won the Japan Series. The Giants and the Hawks last played against each other in the Japan Series in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, when the Giants defeated the Hawks in six games. Kimiyasu Kudo, the Hawks manager in 2019, had pitched for the Giants in the 2000 series and Tatsunori Hara was Giants manager both times. A week before the post-season began, Yomiuri catcher

Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player and current manager, who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of th ...

announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season after 19 years with the Giants. Abe has been described as one of the greatest catchers to have played in the NPB. Home field advantage for the Japan Series alternates between the Pacific and Central leagues every year. For this series, it was the PL's turn to receive the advantage so it was awarded to the Hawks. SoftBank beat Yomiuri in their only interleague series during the 2019 regular season. For the sixth year in a row,

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is a Japanese multinational banking financial services institution owned by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is also known as the SMBC Group. It is headquartered in the same building as SMBC Group in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. ...

(SMBC) sponsored the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

for the Japan Series, so it was officially known as the "2019 SMBC Japan Series".

Series overview

Game summaries

Game 1

In Game 1, the

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

s for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants were

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023 and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut in 2012 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He is a three-time NPB All-Sta ...

and Shun Yamaguchi, respectively. It was Senga's third straight year starting Game 1 of the Japan Series and it was Yamaguchi's first Japan Series start. Both starting pitchers were Eiji Sawamura Award candidates during the regular season. Senga allowed a home run to

in the top of the second inning, but Yurisbel Gracial hit a two-run home run n the bottom of the second inning. Senga allowed only the one run in seven innings. Meanwhile, SoftBank scored a third run in the sixth inning with a

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI)

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

by Akira Nakamura, and scored four runs in the seventh inning with a two-RBI single by Taisei Makihara, an RBI single by Yuki Yanagita, and an RBI ground out by Shuhei Fukuda. Takumi Ohshiro hit a solo home run for the Giants in the ninth inning to complete the game's scoring.

Game 2

Rei Takahashi started Game 2 for SoftBank, and did not allow a hit into the seventh inning. C.C. Mercedes, the starting pitcher for Yomiuri, also allowed one hit to SoftBank in six innings. With Kan Otake pitching for the Giants in the seventh inning, an error then a single allowed two players to reach base. SoftBank then scored the game's first runs on a three-run home run by Nobuhiro Matsuda. SoftBank added three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a solo home run by Yuki Yanagita and a two-run home run by Shuhei Fukuda. In the ninth inning, SoftBank's Jumpei Takahashi recorded one out but walked the bases loaded. Yuito Mori, their closer, entered the game and Kazuma Okamoto drove in two runs, but was tagged out running the bases. Abe singled for the Giants to close the score to 6–3, but Mori retired the next batter, ending the game. With the win, SoftBank extended their championship finals series home winning streak to fourteen.

Game 3

Yuki Takahashi is a Japanese people, Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer. He currently races in the All Japan Road Race Championship, All Japan Road Race JSB1000 Championship aboard a Honda CBR1000RR. For 2009 h ...

started Game 3 for Yomiuri and Rick van den Hurk started for SoftBank. Yomiuri's Yoshiyuki Kamei scored the game's first run with a solo home run in the first inning. Gracial hit a solo home run for SoftBank in the top of the second inning. Alfredo Despaigne hit an RBI single in the top of the third inning, but Yomiuri tied the game at 2–2 in the bottom of the third inning with another home run by Kamei.

Shosei Togo is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career On May 24, 2024, Togō threw a no-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the ...

relieved for the Giants in the fourth inning, but allowed four runs, including an RBI sacrifice fly by Yuya Hasegawa, a bases loaded

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

to Yuki Yanagita, and a two-RBI single by Despaigne. Both teams prevented each other from scoring again, as SoftBank won 6–2, to move to within a victory of a three-peat.

Game 4

Tomoyuki Sugano is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. Sugano is a three-time winner of the Central League Mos ...

started Game 4 for Yomiuri and Tsuyoshi Wada started for SoftBank. Gracial hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning for SoftBank to open the scoring. Wada struck out six Giants in five innings without allowing a run. The Giants scored their first runs when Kazuma Okamoto hit a two-run home run off of Robert Suárez in the sixth inning. The Hawks and Giants both scored another run in the seventh inning. Mori finished the victory for SoftBank by pitching a scoreless ninth inning, earning the save, to cap the sweep. The Hawks clinched their third straight Japan Series title with the victory. Gracial, who batted 6-for-16 (.375) with three home runs and six RBIs in the series, won the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award.

References

{{Yomiuri Giants Japan Series 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks postseason Yomiuri Giants postseason