# 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB, 日本野球機構, Nippon Yakyū Kikō) is a professional baseball league, and the highest level of baseball in Japan. The NPB is organized into two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. After the regular season, the top three teams of each league play off in the Climax Series, which determines which team from each league will play off in the Japan Series to determine the national championship team. The 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 67th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The Japan Series championship competition was played between the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, with the Nippon-Ham fighters winning the overall championship.

## Incidents

A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NPB games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball. While there was no suspicion of match fixing, Sports Gambling is illegal in Japan. The players involved were received suspensions, and members of team management resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 143 | 89 | 52 | 2 | .631 | — | 51–20–1 | 38–32–1 |
| 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 143 | 71 | 69 | 3 | .507 | 17.5 | 40–31–1 | 31–38–2 |
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 143 | 69 | 71 | 3 | .493 | 19.5 | 38–33–1 | 31–38–2 |
| 4 | Hanshin Tigers | 143 | 64 | 76 | 3 | .457 | 24.5 | 31–39–1 | 33–37–2 |
| 5 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 143 | 64 | 78 | 1 | .451 | 25.5 | 40–30–1 | 24–48–0 |
| 6 | Chunichi Dragons | 143 | 58 | 82 | 3 | .414 | 30.5 | 32–36–3 | 26–46–0 |
Pacific League regular season standings :
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 143 | 87 | 53 | 3 | .621 | — | 45–24–2 | 42–29–1 |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 143 | 83 | 54 | 6 | .606 | 2.5 | 40–28–3 | 43–26–3 |
| 3 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 143 | 72 | 68 | 3 | .514 | 15.0 | 38–33–1 | 34–35–2 |
| 4 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 143 | 64 | 76 | 3 | .457 | 23.0 | 34–36–1 | 30–40–2 |
| 5 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 143 | 62 | 78 | 3 | .443 | 25.0 | 36–35–1 | 26–43–2 |
| 6 | Orix Buffaloes | 143 | 57 | 83 | 3 | .407 | 30.0 | 30–40–2 | 27–43–1 |

## Climax Series

Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system (Climax Series), all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended 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 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 2 | | | | CL1 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2 |
| | | | | | | PL1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 4 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2 | 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 0 | | | | | | |

### First stage
#### Central League

Yomiuri Giants (1) vs. Yokohama DeNA BayStars (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 8 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 3:19 | 45,633 |
| 2 | October 9 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Tokyo Dome | 2:47 | 45,683 |
| 3 | October 10* | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 4:21 | 45,477 |

#### Pacific League

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2) vs. Chiba Lotte Marines (0)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 8 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 3, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome | 3:10 | 36,077 |
| 2 | October 9 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome | 3:16 | 38,500 |

### Final stage
#### Central League

Hiroshima Toyo Carp (4) vs. Yokohama DeNA BayStars (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 12 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 0, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 2:48 | 31,276 |
| 2 | October 13 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 0, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 3 | Mazda Stadium | 2:58 | 31,264 |
| 3 | October 14 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 3, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 0 | Mazda Stadium | 3:19 | 31,291 |
| 4 | October 15 | Yokohama DeNA BayStars – 7, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 8 | Mazda Stadium | 3:26 | 31,313 |

#### Pacific League

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (4) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 12 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 6 | Sapporo Dome | 2:55 | 36,633 |
| 2 | October 13 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 | Sapporo Dome | 3:40 | 26,548 |
| 3 | October 14 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 | Sapporo Dome | 3:17 | 39,456 |
| 4 | October 15 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2 | Sapporo Dome | 3:07 | 41,138 |
| 5 | October 16 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 7 | Sapporo Dome | 3:15 | 41,138 |

## Japan Series

Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 22 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 3:39 | 30,619 |
| 2 | October 23 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 5 | Mazda Stadium | 3:18 | 30,638 |
| 3 | October 25 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 3, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 (10) | Sapporo Dome | 3:51 | 40,503 |
| 4 | October 26 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3 | Sapporo Dome | 3:30 | 40,599 |
| 5 | October 27 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 1, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5 | Sapporo Dome | 3:32 | 40,633 |
| 6 | October 29 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 10, Hiroshima Toyo Carp – 4 | Mazda Stadium | 4:01 | 30,693 |

## League leaders
### Central League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Hayato Sakamoto | Yomiuri Giants | .344 |
| Home runs | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 44 |
| Runs batted in | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo | Yokohama DeNA BayStars | 110 |
| Runs | Tetsuto Yamada Kosuke Tanaka | Tokyo Yakult Swallows Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 102 |
| Hits | Ryosuke Kikuchi | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 181 |
| Stolen bases | Tetsuto Yamada | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 30 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Yusuke Nomura | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 16 |
| Losses | Atsushi Nomi Hirofumi Yamanaka | Hanshin Tigers Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 12 |
| Earned run average | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 2.01 |
| Strikeouts | Tomoyuki Sugano | Yomiuri Giants | 189 |
| Innings pitched | Randy Messenger | Hanshin Tigers | 185.1 |
| Saves | Hirokazu Sawamura | Yomiuri Giants | 37 |

### Pacific League

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Katsuya Kakunaka | Chiba Lotte Marines | .339 |
| Home runs | Brandon Laird | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 39 |
| Runs batted in | Sho Nakata | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 110 |
| Runs | Shogo Akiyama | Saitama Seibu Lions | 98 |
| Hits | Katsuya Kakunaka | Chiba Lotte Marines | 176 |
| Stolen bases | Yoshio Itoi Yuji Kaneko | Orix Buffaloes Saitama Seibu Lions | 53 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Wins | Tsuyoshi Wada | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 15 |
| Losses | Yuki Nishi | Orix Buffaloes | 12 |
| Earned run average | Ayumu Ishikawa | Chiba Lotte Marines | 2.16 |
| Strikeouts | Takahiro Norimoto | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 216 |
| Innings pitched | Takahiro Norimoto | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 195 |
| Saves | Yoshihisa Hirano | Orix Buffaloes | 31 |

## Attendances

| Team | Total attendance | Home average |
| Yomiuri Giants | 3,004,108 | 41,724 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 2,910,562 | 40,994 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 2,492,983 | 35,112 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 2,157,331 | 29,963 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2,078,981 | 29,281 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 2,058,381 | 28,991 |
| Yokohama DeNA Baystars | 1,939,146 | 26,933 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 1,779,460 | 25,063 |
| ORIX Buffaloes | 1,794,475 | 24,923 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 1,618,194 | 22,791 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1,620,961 | 22,513 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 1,526,932 | 21,207 |
This was a very small increase on attendance from the 2015 season.