# 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 65th edition of NPB since reorganized in 1950.

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :
| Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| Yomiuri Giants | 144 | 82 | 61 | 1 | .573 | — |
| Hanshin Tigers | 144 | 75 | 68 | 1 | .524 | 7 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 144 | 74 | 68 | 2 | .521 | 7.5 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 144 | 67 | 73 | 4 | .479 | 13.5 |
| Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 144 | 67 | 75 | 2 | .472 | 14.5 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 144 | 60 | 81 | 3 | .426 | 21 |
Pacific League regular season standings :
| Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 144 | 78 | 60 | 6 | .565 | — |
| Orix Buffaloes | 144 | 80 | 62 | 2 | .563 | — |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 144 | 73 | 68 | 3 | .518 | 6.5 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 144 | 66 | 76 | 2 | .465 | 14.0 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 144 | 63 | 77 | 4 | .450 | 16.0 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 144 | 64 | 80 | 0 | .444 | 17.0 |

## Climax Series

Note: All of the games that are played in the first two rounds of the Climax Series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advances if the round ends in a tie.
| First Stage | First Stage | First Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Japan Series | Japan Series | Japan Series |
| Central League | Central League | Central League | 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | | | |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 1 | 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 0 | | | | CL2 | Hanshin Tigers | 1 |
| | | | | | | PL1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 4 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Orix Buffaloes | 1 | 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2 | | | | | | |

### First stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received byes to the championship round.

#### Central League

Hanshin Tigers (1) vs. Hiroshima Toyo Carp (0)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 11 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0, Hanshin Tigers – 1 | Koshien Stadium | 2:52 | 46,721 |
| 2 | October 12 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0, Hanshin Tigers – 0 | Koshien Stadium | 3:35 | 46,815 |

#### Pacific League

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2) vs. Orix Buffaloes (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 11 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 6, Orix Buffaloes – 3 | Kyocera Dome | 4:01 | 35,889 |
| 2 | October 12 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4, Orix Buffaloes – 6 | Kyocera Dome | 3:32 | 36,012 |
| 3 | October 14* | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2, Orix Buffaloes – 1 | Kyocera Dome | 4:17 | 32,588 |
    * Postponed from October 13 due to Typhoon Vongfong

### Final stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received a one-game advantage.

#### Central League

Hanshin Tigers (4) vs. Yomiuri Giants (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 15 | Hanshin Tigers – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 1 | Tokyo Dome | 2:59 | 44,871 |
| 2 | October 16 | Hanshin Tigers – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Tokyo Dome | 3:19 | 44,728 |
| 3 | October 17 | Hanshin Tigers – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Tokyo Dome | 3:44 | 46,025 |
| 4 | October 18 | Hanshin Tigers – 8, Yomiuri Giants – 4 | Tokyo Dome | 3:42 | 46,311 |

#### Pacific League

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (3)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 15 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:19 | 28,087 |
| 2 | October 16 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:30 | 29,775 |
| 3 | October 17 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 12, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:13 | 31,176 |
| 4 | October 18 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5 | Fukuoka Dome | 4:20 | 31,647 |
| 5 | October 19 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 6, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Dome | 4:26 | 34,070 |
| 6 | October 20 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:24 | 38,561 |

## League leaders
### Central League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Matt Murton | Hanshin Tigers | .338 |
| Home runs | Brad Eldred | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 37 |
| Runs batted in | Mauro Gómez | Hanshin Tigers | 109 |
| Runs | Yoshihiro Maru Tetsuto Yamada | Hiroshima Toyo Carp Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 106 |
| Hits | Tetsuto Yamada | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 193 |
| Stolen bases | Takayuki Kajitani | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 39 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Randy Messenger Daisuke Yamai | Hanshin Tigers Chunichi Dragons | 13 |
| Losses | Atsushi Nomi | Hanshin Tigers | 13 |
| Earned run average | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 2.33 |
| Strikeouts | Randy Messenger | Hanshin Tigers | 226 |
| Innings pitched | Randy Messenger | Hanshin Tigers | 2081⁄3 |
| Saves | Oh Seung-hwan | Hanshin Tigers | 39 |

### Pacific League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Yoshio Itoi | Orix Buffaloes | .331 |
| Home runs | Ernesto Mejía Takeya Nakamura | Saitama Seibu Lions Saitama Seibu Lions | 34 |
| Runs batted in | Sho Nakata | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 100 |
| Runs | Yuki Yanagita | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 91 |
| Hits | Akira Nakamura | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 176 |
| Stolen bases | Haruki Nishikawa | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 43 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Chihiro Kaneko | Orix Buffaloes | 16 |
| Losses | Wataru Karashima Luis Mendoza | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 13 |
| Earned run average | Chihiro Kaneko | Orix Buffaloes | 1.98 |
| Strikeouts | Takahiro Norimoto | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 204 |
| Innings pitched | Takahiro Norimoto | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 2022⁄3 |
| Saves | Yoshihisa Hirano | Orix Buffaloes | 40 |