# 2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters season

The 2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters season was the 63rd season of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters franchise. The Fighters played the majority of their home games at Sapporo Dome in the city of Sapporo, as well as at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo as members of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League. The team was led by Masataka Nashida on his first season as team manager.
Nippon-Ham finished the season in third place with a record of 73–69–2, qualifying them for the Climax Series. In the 2008 Pacific League Climax Series, the Fighters defeated the Orix Buffaloes in the First Stage, but were eliminated by the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Second Stage.

## Regular season
### Standings

Pacific League regular season standings :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GB | PCT | Home | Away |
| 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 144 | 76 | 64 | 4 | — | .542 | 44–27–1 | 32–37–3 |
| 2 | Orix Buffaloes | 144 | 75 | 68 | 1 | 5.5 | .524 | 41–31–0 | 34–37–1 |
| 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 144 | 73 | 69 | 2 | 6 | .514 | 41–30–1 | 32–39–1 |
| 4 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 144 | 73 | 70 | 1 | 7.5 | .510 | 41–30–1 | 32–40–0 |
| 5 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 144 | 65 | 76 | 3 | 12.5 | .462 | 37–34–1 | 28–42–2 |
| 6 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 144 | 64 | 77 | 3 | 13.5 | .455 | 36–33–3 | 28–44–0 |

### Interleague

| Teamvte | Pld | HW | HL | AW | AL | GB | PCT |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 24 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | .625 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 24 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | .625 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 24 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | .583 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 24 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 1 | .583 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 24 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .542 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 24 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .542 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 24 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | .500 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 24 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | .458 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 24 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | .458 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 24 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | .417 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 24 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 | .417 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 24 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 9 | .250 |

### Record vs. opponents

2008 record vs. opponents :
| Team | Central League opponents | Central League opponents | Central League opponents | Central League opponents | Central League opponents | Central League opponents | Pacific League opponents | Pacific League opponents | Pacific League opponents | Pacific League opponents | Pacific League opponents | Pacific League opponents |
| Team | BayStars | Carp | Dragons | Giants | Swallows | Tigers | Buffaloes | Eagles | Fighters | Hawks | Lions | Marines |
| BayStars | — | 11–13 | 7–17 | 5–18–1 | 9–15 | 10–13–1 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Carp | 13–11 | — | 9–13–2 | 12–10–2 | 12–11–1 | 10–14 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Dragons | 17–7 | 13–9–2 | — | 14–10 | 9–13–2 | 6–17–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Giants | 18–5–1 | 10–12–2 | 10–14 | — | 18–6 | 14–10 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–0 |
| Swallows | 15–9 | 11–12–1 | 13–9–2 | 6–18 | — | 10–13–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 |
| Tigers | 13–10–1 | 14–10 | 17–6–1 | 10–14 | 13–10–1 | — | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 |
| Buffaloes | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | — | 13–10–1 | 13–11 | 14–10 | 10–14 | 14–10 |
| Eagles | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 10–13–1 | — | 13–10–1 | 12–12 | 10–14 | 7–16–1 |
| Fighters | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 11–13 | 10–13–1 | — | 17–7 | 9–14–1 | 12–12 |
| Hawks | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 10–14 | 12–12 | 7–17 | — | 10–11–3 | 10–14 |
| Lions | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 14–10 | 14–10 | 14–9–1 | 11–10–3 | — | 13–11 |
| Marines | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 10–14 | 16–7–1 | 12–12 | 14–10 | 11–13 | — |

### Opening Day roster

Thursday, March 20, 2008, vs. Chiba Lotte Marines
| Order | Player | Pos. |
| 1 | Hichori Morimoto | CF |
| 2 | Kensuke Tanaka | 2B |
| 3 | Atsunori Inaba | RF |
| 4 | Terrmel Sledge | 1B |
| 5 | Eiichi Koyano | 3B |
| 6 | Yoshio Itoi | LF |
| 7 | Tomochika Tsuboi | DH |
| 8 | Shinya Tsuruoka | C |
| 9 | Makoto Kaneko | SS |
| — | Yu Darvish | P |

### Game log

2008 game log: 73–69–2 (Home: 41–30–1; Away: 32–39–1) :
March: 3–5–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Away: 0–2–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1March 20Marines1–0Darvish (1–0)Kobayashi (0–1)—Sapporo Dome42,1261–0–0W1
2March 22Marines2–3Naruse (1–0)Sakamoto (0–1)—Sapporo Dome31,0281–1–0L1
3March 23Marines1–4Watanabe (1–0)Glynn (0–1)Takagi (1)Sapporo Dome32,2151–2–0L2
4March 25Lions9–1Takeda (1–0)Nishiguchi (0–1)—Sapporo Dome16,4102–2–0W1
5March 26Lions0–8Kishi (1–0)Yoshikawa (0–1)—Sapporo Dome19,2062–3–0L1
6March 27Lions1–0 (10)Takeda (1–0)Wakui (0–2)—Sapporo Dome25,0113–3–0W1
7March 29@ Eagles2–7Tanaka (1–0)Hoshino (0–1)—Kleenex Stadium20,1893–4–0L1
8March 30@ Eagles1–3Asai (1–1)Glynn (0–2)Aoyama (1)Kleenex Stadium19,5183–5–0L2 :
April: 14–10–1 (Home: 7–2–0; Away: 7–8–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
9April 1@ Hawks6–0Takeda (2–0)Arakaki (0–1)—Yahoo Dome29,2044–5–0W1
10April 2@ Hawks0–9Otonari (2–0)Yoshikawa (0–2)—Kitakyushu Stadium17,7214–6–0L1
11April 3@ Hawks6–2Darvish (2–0)Guttormson (0–1)—Yahoo Dome32,1445–6–0W1
12April 4@ Buffaloes3–2Sweeney (1–0)Kamoshida (0–1)Nakamura (1)Kyocera Dome11,7386–6–0W2
13April 5@ Buffaloes2–7Kondo (2–0)Fujii (0–1)—Kyocera Dome18,1296–7–0L1
14April 6@ Buffaloes3–2Glynn (1–2)Kawagoe (1–1)Nakamura (2)Skymark Stadium14,1117–7–0W1
15April 8Eagles8–7Takeda (3–0)Lin (0–2)Nakamura (3)Sapporo Dome20,2578–7–0W2
16April 9Eagles4–2Yoshikawa (1–2)Nagai (2–1)Nakamura (4)Sapporo Dome19,0449–7–0W3
17April 10Eagles1–0Darvish (3–0)Iwakuma (2–1)—Sapporo Dome25,19710–7–0W4
18April 11@ Marines3–2Sweeney (2–0)Kobayashi (1–2)Nakamura (5)Chiba Marine Stadium15,16111–7–0W5
19April 12@ Marines1–2Naruse (2–1)Miyanishi (0–1)—Chiba Marine Stadium27,51311–8–0L1
20April 13@ Marines1–2 (10)Watanabe (2–1)Takeda (1–1)—Chiba Marine Stadium16,28211–9–0L2
21April 15@ Lions3–3 (12)Game tied after 12 inningsSeibu Dome8,39711–9–1T1
22April 16@ Lions2–4Wakui (2–2)Yoshikawa (1–3)—Seibu Dome11,26311–10–1L1
23April 18Hawks3–1Darvish (4–0)Sugiuchi (1–2)—Sapporo Dome18,10712–10–1W1
24April 19Hawks4–2Fujii (1–1)Oba (2–2)Nakamura (6)Sapporo Dome27,04113–10–1W2
25April 20Hawks2–4Wada (1–0)Glynn (1–3)Houlton (2)Sapporo Dome30,53613–11–1L1
26April 22Buffaloes4–2Hoshino (1–1)Takagi (1–2)Nakamura (7)Sapporo Dome14,25314–11–1W1
27April 23Buffaloes0–5Yamamoto (2–0)Sweeney (2–1)—Sapporo Dome14,35814–12–1L1
28April 24Buffaloes3–2 (10)Takeda (2–1)Kato (0–1)—Sapporo Dome15,64415–12–1W1
29April 25@ Eagles1–6Iwakuma (4–1)Yoshikawa (1–4)—Kleenex Stadium13,21315–13–1L1
30April 26@ Eagles0–4Guzmán (1–2)Fujii (1–2)—Kleenex Stadium16,82615–14–1L2
31April 27@ Eagles0–5Tanaka (3–1)Glynn (1–4)—Kleenex Stadium20,63415–15–1L3
32April 29@ Marines3–2Nakamura (1–0)Sikorski (1–4)—Chiba Marine Stadium30,02116–15–1W1
33April 30@ Marines6–3Darvish (5–0)Watanabe (3–2)Nakamura (8)Chiba Marine Stadium17,51617–15–1W2 :
May: 15–9–0 (Home: 10–3–0; Away: 5–6–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
34May 1@ Marines6–1Yoshikawa (2–4)Ono (2–1)—Chiba Marine Stadium17,14318–15–1W3
35May 2Eagles5–1Tadano (1–0)Iwakuma (4–2)Nakamura (9)Sapporo Dome41,12419–15–1W4
36May 3Eagles12–5Sakamoto (1–1)Kawagishi (0–1)—Sapporo Dome40,08320–15–1W5
37May 4Eagles1–7Tanaka (4–1)Glynn (1–5)—Sapporo Dome42,12620–16–1L1
38May 5@ Lions6–8Onodera (2–2)Takeda (2–2)Graman (8)Seibu Dome34,78320–17–1L2
39May 6@ Lions1–3Ishii (5–1)Miyanishi (0–2)—Seibu Dome27,34020–18–1L3
40May 7@ Lions3–4Hoshino (2–0)Darvish (5–1)—Seibu Dome15,57420–19–1L4
41May 10Hawks0–1Sugiuchi (3–3)Fujii (1–3)—Ocean Stadium16,82220–20–1L5
42May 11Hawks4–3Miyanishi (1–2)Kume (3–1)Nakamura (10)Ocean Stadium17,91921–20–1W1
43May 13Marines2–8Karakawa (3–0)Glynn (1–6)—Tokyo Dome19,82821–21–1L1
44May 14Marines4–3 (11)Nakamura (2–0)Ogino (1–3)—Tokyo Dome22,26522–21–1W1
45May 15Marines6–5Tateyama (1–0)Abreu (1–1)—Tokyo Dome17,36823–21–1W2
46May 16@ Hawks10–3Tadano (2–0)Otonari (3–5)—Yahoo Dome30,94824–21–1W3
47May 17@ Hawks2–3Sugiuchi (4–3)Tateyama (1–1)—Yahoo Dome30,21824–22–1L1
48May 18@ Hawks4–3Sweeney (3–1)Oba (3–4)Takeda (1)Yahoo Dome32,49425–22–1W1
49May 20BayStars6–3Glynn (2–6)Nasuno (2–6)Takeda (2)Sapporo Dome16,95726–22–1W2
50May 21BayStars4–3Hoshino (2–1)Miura (2–5)Takeda (3)Sapporo Dome20,27127–22–1W3
51May 23Dragons1–0Sakamoto (2–1)Kawakami (2–3)Takeda (4)Sapporo Dome23,96628–22–1W4
52May 24Dragons11–1Sweeney (4–1)Kawai (1–2)—Sapporo Dome30,98329–22–1W5
53May 25@ Giants4–6Nishimura (6–2)Fujii (1–4)Kroon (15)Tokyo Dome43,81329–23–1L1
54May 26@ Giants3–4Burnside (1–0)Glynn (2–7)Kroon (16)Tokyo Dome39,27829–24–1L2
55May 28@ Swallows7–3Darvish (6–1)Muranaka (3–6)—Meiji Jingu Stadium18,05030–24–1W1
56May 29@ Swallows3–2Miyanishi (2–2)Oshimoto (2–1)Takeda (5)Meiji Jingu Stadium9,68331–24–1W2
57May 31Tigers2–1Sweeney (5–1)Iwata (5–2)Takeda (6)Sapporo Dome42,12632–24–1W3 :
June: 9–9–0 (Home: 3–4–0; Away: 6–5–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
58June 1Tigers4–5 (10)Kubota (3–1)Takeda (2–3)Fujikawa (18)Sapporo Dome42,12632–25–1L1
59June 3Carp4–2Glynn (3–7)Otake (2–7)—Sapporo Dome17,81533–25–1W1
60June 4Carp2–3Lewis (8–4)Darvish (6–2)Nagakawa (8)Sapporo Dome23,87033–26–1L1
61June 6@ Dragons7–3Sakamoto (3–1)Sato (0–1)—Nagoya Dome36,72534–26–1W1
62June 7@ Dragons1–4Kawakami (4–3)Sweeney (5–2)Iwase (18)Nagoya Dome38,24734–27–1L1
63June 8@ BayStars9–3Fujii (2–4)Nasuno (4–7)—Yokohama Stadium17,84235–27–1W1
64June 9@ BayStars3–13Oyamada (2–3)Glynn (3–8)—Yokohama Stadium9,79635–28–1L1
65June 11Giants0–1Nomaguchi (2–3)Darvish (6–3)Kroon (18)Sapporo Dome35,29835–29–1L2
66June 12Giants3–2Tadano (3–0)Burnside (2–1)Nakamura (11)Sapporo Dome30,13536–29–1W1
67June 14Swallows2–1 (10)Takeda (3–3)Lim (1–3)—Sapporo Dome40,05837–29–1W2
68June 15Swallows1–3Muranaka (4–7)Glynn (3–9)Lim (16)Sapporo Dome31,55637–30–1L1
69June 17@ Carp8–7Darvish (7–3)Otake (2–9)Nakamura (12)Hiroshima Stadium19,86038–30–1W1
70June 18@ Carp1–2Maeda (1–0)Tadano (3–1)Nagakawa (12)Hiroshima Stadium18,52738–31–1L1
71June 21@ Tigers4–0Sweeney (6–2)Iwata (5–4)—Koshien Stadium43,52839–31–1W1
72June 22@ Tigers3–5Atchison (5–4)Glynn (3–10)Fujikawa (25)Koshien Stadium43,52439–32–1L1
73June 27@ Buffaloes4–3Darvish (8–3)Kawagoe (1–3)Nakamura (13)Kyocera Dome14,65440–32–1W1
74June 28@ Buffaloes1–5Kaneko (3–6)Tadano (3–2)—Kyocera Dome16,80940–33–1L1
75June 29@ Buffaloes9–4Takeda (4–0)Kondo (5–7)Tateyama (1)Kyocera Dome18,15341–33–1W1 :
July: 9–13–1 (Home: 7–9–0; Away: 2–4–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
76July 1Lions7–12Onodera (3–4)Miyanishi (2–3)—Sapporo Dome22,12541–34–1L1
77July 2Lions6–8Wakui (7–6)Glynn (3–11)Graman (15)Sapporo Dome17,68241–35–1L2
78July 3Lions6–4Darvish (9–3)Hoashi (7–2)Nakamura (14)Sapporo Dome24,42042–35–1W1
79July 5Buffaloes4–3Tadano (4–2)Ortiz (3–5)Nakamura (15)Kushiro Stadium17,89243–35–1W2
80July 6Buffaloes5–8Kaneko (4–6)Takeda (4–1)Kato (17)Obihiro Stadium21,06343–36–1L1
81July 8@ Marines2–5Shimizu (7–6)Sweeney (6–3)—Chiba Marine Stadium18,56243–37–1L2
82July 9@ Marines5–7Kawasaki (1–3)Glynn (3–12)Ogino (11)Chiba Marine Stadium28,19843–38–1L3
83July 11Hawks3–2Darvish (10–3)Otonari (7–7)—Sapporo Dome22,71244–38–1W1
84July 12Hawks9–6Tadano (5–2)Oba (3–5)Nakamura (16)Sapporo Dome31,88245–38–1W2
85July 13Hawks1–10Wada (8–3)Takeda (4–2)—Sapporo Dome32,12745–39–1L1
86July 15Eagles4–4 (12)Game tied after 12 inningsTokyo Dome16,18645–39–2T1
87July 16Eagles2–5Katayama (2–1)Miyanishi (2–4)Kawagishi (2)Tokyo Dome16,24945–40–2L1
88July 17Eagles3–1Darvish (11–3)Guzmán (2–5)—Tokyo Dome20,77346–40–2W1
89July 19@ Buffaloes2–6Yamamoto (7–2)Tadano (5–3)—Skymark Stadium20,01646–41–2L1
90July 20@ Buffaloes1–4Kaneko (6–6)Takeda (4–3)Kato (20)Kyocera Dome16,06846–42–2L2
91July 22Marines3–2Sweeney (7–3)Kobayashi (2–9)Nakamura (17)Sapporo Dome25,84547–42–2W1
92July 23Marines2–3Shimizu (8–6)Fujii (2–5)Ogino (14)Sapporo Dome26,90247–43–2L1
93July 24Marines2–5Omine (1–2)Darvish (11–4)Ogino (15)Sapporo Dome27,82547–44–2L2
94July 25Lions2–1Tadano (6–3)Hoashi (9–3)Nakamura (18)Sapporo Dome23,32348–44–2W1
95July 26Lions3–6Iwasaki (2–0)Kanamori (0–1)Graman (20)Sapporo Dome33,53848–45–2L1
96July 27Lions2–3 (10)Graman (2–2)Takeda (3–4)—Sapporo Dome36,06448–46–2L2
97July 28@ Hawks10–2Takeda (5–3)Powell (1–5)—Yahoo Dome34,22249–46–2W1
98July 29@ Hawks5–2Sweeney (8–3)Yang (1–2)Nakamura (19)Yahoo Dome32,65350–46–2W2
All-Star Break: CL and PL split series, 1–1 :
August: 8–14–0 (Home: 2–5–0; Away: 6–9–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
99August 3@ Eagles4–11Asai (7–7)Tadano (6–4)—Kleenex Stadium20,51650–47–2L1
100August 4@ Eagles6–2Takeda (6–3)Aoyama (2–5)—Kleenex Stadium18,76051–47–2W1
101August 5@ Eagles7–2Sweeney (9–3)Guzmán (2–7)—Kleenex Stadium17,94252–47–2W2
102August 10@ Lions2–11Hoashi (10–3)Tadano (6–5)—Seibu Dome30,02452–48–2L1
103August 11@ Lions0–3Kishi (9–4)Takeda (6–4)Graman (22)Seibu Dome19,26052–49–2L2
104August 12@ Lions4–8Onodera (4–4)Takeda (3–5)—Seibu Dome19,05552–50–2L3
105August 13Buffaloes2–4Komatsu (9–3)Glynn (3–13)Kato (24)Sapporo Dome24,41652–51–2L4
106August 14Buffaloes0–2 (11)Kato (2–3)Takeda (3–6)Shimizu (1)Sapporo Dome22,47652–52–2L5
107August 15Buffaloes3–5 (10)Kawagoe (2–3)Nakamura (2–1)Kato (25)Sapporo Dome22,82952–53–2L6
108August 16@ Hawks5–1Yagi (1–0)Standridge (0–2)—Yahoo Dome33,68753–53–2W1
109August 17@ Hawks1–2Otonari (11–8)Takeda (6–5)Mahara (5)Yahoo Dome33,53353–54–2L1
110August 18@ Hawks7–0Sweeney (10–3)Hoshino (0–1)—Yahoo Dome30,63654–54–2W1
111August 19Marines4–0Glynn (4–13)Kobayashi (3–11)—Tokyo Dome20,06155–54–2W2
112August 20Marines3–6Shimizu (9–8)Fujii (2–6)Ogino (20)Tokyo Dome21,03455–55–2L1
113August 24Lions9–3Tadano (7–5)Hoashi (10–4)—Starffin Stadium22,58356–55–2W1
114August 25Lions3–4Onodera (5–4)Takeda (3–7)Graman (23)Sapporo Dome21,84056–56–2L1
115August 26@ Marines3–2Sweeney (11–3)Watanabe (11–5)Nakamura (20)Chiba Marine Stadium20,76457–56–2W1
116August 27@ Marines1–0Glynn (5–13)Kubo (2–6)Nakamura (21)Chiba Marine Stadium22,03858–56–2W2
117August 28@ Marines0–3Shimizu (10–8)Fujii (2–7)—Chiba Marine Stadium16,52258–57–2L1
118August 29@ Buffaloes4–7Kishida (2–0)Kanazawa (0–1)Kato (29)Skymark Stadium20,27958–58–2L2
119August 30@ Buffaloes2–7Yamamoto (9–4)Yagi (1–1)—Kyocera Dome18,16958–59–2L3
120August 31@ Buffaloes1–5Kaneko (9–8)Tadano (7–6)—Kyocera Dome18,03358–60–2L4 :
September: 14–9–0 (Home: 9–4–0; Away: 5–5–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
121September 2Hawks2–0Darvish (12–4)Guttormson (4–5)Nakamura (22)Sapporo Dome20,11859–60–2W1
122September 3Hawks3–4Sato (3–1)Takeda (6–6)Mahara (7)Sapporo Dome17,70259–61–2L1
123September 4Hawks4–3Takeda (4–7)Sato (3–2)—Sapporo Dome16,97560–61–2W1
124September 5Eagles3–5 (10)Gwyn (1–0)Nakamura (2–2)—Sapporo Dome22,69260–62–2L1
125September 6Eagles4–1Fujii (3–7)Katayama (2–5)Nakamura (23)Sapporo Dome33,19761–62–2W1
126September 7Eagles2–5Satake (1–0)Tadano (7–7)Arime (2)Sapporo Dome33,22461–63–2L1
127September 9@ Lions4–1Darvish (13–4)Ishii (10–9)Nakamura (24)Seibu Dome14,55462–63–2W1
128September 10@ Lions6–5Sakamoto (4–1)Nishiguchi (8–6)Nakamura (25)Seibu Dome14,29263–63–2W2
129September 11@ Lions3–5Wakui (9–9)Sweeney (11–4)Graman (27)Seibu Dome14,01663–64–2L1
130September 13Buffaloes7–4Glynn (6–13)Yamamoto (9–6)Nakamura (26)Sapporo Dome25,07464–64–2W1
131September 14Buffaloes9–6Sakamoto (5–1)Kaneko (10–9)Nakamura (27)Sapporo Dome30,45765–64–2W2
132September 15Buffaloes5–4Darvish (14–4)Kato (2–4)—Sapporo Dome31,47366–64–2W3
133September 16@ Eagles1–6Iwakuma (19–3)Takeda (6–7)—Kleenex Stadium11,96666–65–2L1
134September 17@ Eagles7–15Asai (9–10)Sweeney (11–5)—Kleenex Stadium12,43066–66–2L2
135September 18@ Eagles2–5Tanaka (8–6)Fujii (3–8)—Kleenex Stadium13,69766–67–2L3
136September 20@ Buffaloes1–6Yamamoto (10–6)Glynn (6–14)—Kyocera Dome20,22266–68–2L4
137September 21@ Buffaloes10–5Sakamoto (6–1)Motoyanagi (2–7)—Kyocera Dome25,03667–68–2W1
138September 22@ Hawks9–0Darvish (15–4)Arakaki (2–6)—Yahoo Dome30,49168–68–2W2
139September 23@ Hawks5–2Takeda (7–7)Sugiuchi (10–7)—Yahoo Dome30,27869–68–2W3
140September 26Lions2–0Sweeney (12–5)Hoashi (11–6)Tateyama (2)Sapporo Dome28,33170–68–2W4
141September 27Lions5–4Glynn (7–14)Hsu (1–3)Nakamura (28)Sapporo Dome35,46071–68–2W5
142September 28Marines1–4Naruse (8–6)Tateyama (1–2)Ogino (29)Sapporo Dome42,12671–69–2L1
143September 29Marines2–1Darvish (16–4)Kobayashi (5–12)—Sapporo Dome42,12672–69–2W1 :
October: 1–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Away: 1–0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
144October 1@ Eagles17–0Takeda (8–7)Tanaka (9–7)—Kleenex Stadium14,95373–69–2W2 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie        = Postponement Bold = Fighters team member :

## Postseason
### Game log

2008 postseason game log: 4–3–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Away: 4–3–0) :
Climax Series First Stage: 2–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Away: 2–0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1October 11@ Buffaloes4–1Darvish (1–0)Kondo (0–1)—Kyocera Dome25,5321–0–0W1
2October 12@ Buffaloes7–2Fujii (1–0)Komatsu (0–1)—Kyocera Dome26,7032–0–0W2 :
Climax Series Second Stage: 2–3–0 (Home: 0–0–0; Away: 2–3–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1October 17@ Lions3–10Wakui (1–0)Glynn (0–1)—Omiya Park Stadium20,5000–1–0L1
2October 18@ Lions5–0Darvish (1–0)Kishi (0–1)—Seibu Dome30,9181–1–0W1
3October 19@ Lions7–4Takeda (1–0)Hoashi (0–1)—Seibu Dome33,0782–1–0W2
4October 21@ Lions4–9Ishii (1–0)Sweeney (0–1)—Seibu Dome18,7042–2–0L1
5October 22@ Lions0–9Wakui (2–0)Glynn (0–2)—Seibu Dome21,7312–3–0L2 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie        = Postponement Bold = Fighters team member :

## Player statistics
### Batting

2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters batting statistics :
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | TB |
| Jason Botts$^†$ | 55 | 142 | 14 | 36 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 53 | .254 | .327 | .423 | 60 |
| Yu Darvish | 25 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .125 | .125 | .250 | 2 |
| Shugo Fujii | 19 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 2 |
| Ryan Glynn | 26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Suguru Ichikawa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Yuji Iiyama | 74 | 49 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 13 | .163 | .212 | .204 | 10 |
| Takahiro Imanami | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Ryota Imanari | 9 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .455 | .500 | .545 | 6 |
| Atsunori Inaba | 127 | 448 | 71 | 135 | 25 | 5 | 20 | 82 | 2 | 56 | 85 | .301 | .380 | .513 | 230 |
| Naoto Inada | 99 | 185 | 10 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 13 | .222 | .254 | .238 | 44 |
| Yoshio Itoi | 63 | 188 | 19 | 45 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 53 | .239 | .285 | .404 | 76 |
| Mitch Jones$^‡$ | 8 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .111 | .111 | .148 | 4 |
| Makoto Kaneko | 96 | 291 | 24 | 63 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 20 | 76 | .216 | .267 | .292 | 85 |
| Yohei Kaneko | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Toshimasa Konta | 89 | 140 | 32 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 9 | 40 | .236 | .287 | .300 | 42 |
| Eiichi Koyano | 120 | 379 | 32 | 95 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 60 | 0 | 29 | 83 | .251 | .303 | .359 | 136 |
| Takahito Kudo | 104 | 199 | 20 | 51 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 42 | .256 | .307 | .322 | 64 |
| Hajime Miki | 17 | 28 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .286 | .333 | .357 | 10 |
| Hichori Morimoto | 121 | 478 | 66 | 121 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 12 | 49 | 81 | .253 | .327 | .289 | 138 |
| Kazuya Murata | 15 | 34 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | .235 | .297 | .235 | 8 |
| Satoshi Nakajima | 22 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .750 | .750 | .750 | 3 |
| Tomoyuki Oda | 64 | 141 | 13 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 33 | .291 | .342 | .390 | 55 |
| Keiji Oyama | 27 | 29 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .172 | .200 | .207 | 6 |
| Masaya Ozaki | 8 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .133 | .133 | .133 | 2 |
| Yoshihiro Sato | 7 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .083 | .154 | .333 | 4 |
| Terrmel Sledge | 113 | 395 | 41 | 114 | 21 | 2 | 16 | 69 | 0 | 44 | 88 | .289 | .361 | .473 | 187 |
| Brian Sweeney | 29 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .250 | .250 | 1 |
| Kazuhito Tadano | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .200 | 1 |
| Takayuki Takaguchi | 74 | 167 | 12 | 36 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 49 | .216 | .272 | .293 | 49 |
| Shinji Takahashi | 108 | 357 | 33 | 102 | 19 | 0 | 9 | 58 | 3 | 24 | 74 | .286 | .333 | .415 | 148 |
| Kensuke Tanaka | 144 | 536 | 89 | 159 | 32 | 9 | 11 | 63 | 21 | 62 | 80 | .297 | .379 | .451 | 242 |
| Tomochika Tsuboi | 26 | 50 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .220 | .250 | .260 | 13 |
| Shinya Tsuruoka | 97 | 248 | 24 | 52 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 49 | .210 | .247 | .278 | 69 |
| Atsushi Ugumori | 11 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .300 | .364 | .350 | 7 |
| Ryuichi Watanabe | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .500 | 2 |
| Dai-Kang Yang | 44 | 111 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 31 | .144 | .193 | .216 | 24 |
| Total：36 players | 1,875 | 4,726 | 533 | 1,206 | 224 | 27 | 82 | 516 | 79 | 380 | 1,010 | .255 | .316 | .366 | 1,730 |
    $^†$Denotes player joined the team mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Fighters only.
    $^‡$Denotes player left the team mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Fighters only.
    Bold/italics denotes best in the league

### Pitching

2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitching statistics :
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Yu Darvish | 16 | 4 | 1.88 | 25 | 24 | 0 | 200.2 | 136 | 44 | 42 | 44 | 208 |
| Romash Tasuku Dass | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Shugo Fujii | 3 | 8 | 3.25 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 110.2 | 115 | 46 | 40 | 41 | 76 |
| Ryan Glynn | 7 | 14 | 3.64 | 26 | 25 | 0 | 163.1 | 160 | 74 | 66 | 61 | 99 |
| Yachiho Hoshino | 2 | 1 | 4.94 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 23.2 | 31 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 11 |
| Takeshi Ito | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Takayuki Kanamori | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| Takehito Kanazawa | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 8 |
| Tatsuo Kato | 0 | 0 | 8.44 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 7 |
| Kazumasa Kikuchi | 0 | 0 | 9.90 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 4 |
| Ken Miyamoto | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| Naoki Miyanishi | 2 | 4 | 4.37 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 45.1 | 47 | 24 | 22 | 15 | 25 |
| Micheal Nakamura | 2 | 2 | 2.14 | 46 | 0 | 28 | 46.1 | 32 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 47 |
| Yataro Sakamoto | 6 | 1 | 3.18 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 41 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 35 |
| Brian Sweeney | 12 | 5 | 3.48 | 28 | 25 | 0 | 163 | 139 | 65 | 63 | 72 | 90 |
| Kazuhito Tadano | 7 | 7 | 4.78 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 105.1 | 107 | 57 | 56 | 22 | 61 |
| Hisashi Takeda | 4 | 7 | 4.40 | 62 | 0 | 6 | 61.1 | 68 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 40 |
| Masaru Takeda | 8 | 7 | 2.96 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 121.2 | 110 | 44 | 40 | 19 | 68 |
| Yoshinori Tateyama | 1 | 2 | 3.07 | 58 | 0 | 2 | 67.1 | 61 | 23 | 23 | 12 | 53 |
| Akiyoshi Toyoshima | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yusuke Uemura | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Tomoya Yagi | 1 | 1 | 6.75 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10.2 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Mitsuo Yoshikawa | 2 | 4 | 6.23 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 34.2 | 39 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 23 |
| Total：23 players | 73 | 69 | 3.54 | 473 | 144 | 36 | 1,277.1 | 1,196 | 541 | 503 | 395 | 882 |
    $^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Eagles. Stats reflect time with the Eagles only.
    $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Eagles only.
    Bold/italics denotes best in the league

## Awards

Nippon Life Monthly MVP Award
* Yu Darvish - March/April, September (pitcher)
Best Nine Award
* Atsunori Inaba - outfielder
Mitsui Golden Glove Award
* Yu Darvish - pitcher
* Kensuke Tanaka - second baseman
* Atsunori Inaba - outfielder
* Hichori Morimoto - outfielder
All-Star Series selections
* Masataka Nashida - manager
* Yu Darvish - starting pitcher
* Hisashi Takeda - relief pitcher
* Kensuke Tanaka - second baseman
* Atsunori Inaba - outfielder
* Hichori Morimoto - outfielder

## Farm team

Eastern League regular season standings :
| Team | G | W | L | T | Win% | GB | Home | Away |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 96 | 55 | 34 | 7 | .618 | — | 35–10–3 | 20–24–4 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 96 | 58 | 36 | 2 | .617 | — | 29–15–1 | 29–21–1 |
| Shonan Searex | 96 | 50 | 43 | 3 | .538 | 7 | 23–24–1 | 27–19–2 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 96 | 46 | 45 | 5 | .505 | 10 | 24–21–3 | 22–24–2 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 96 | 42 | 51 | 3 | .452 | 15 | 23–25–2 | 19–26–1 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 96 | 37 | 53 | 6 | .411 | 18½ | 21–24–3 | 16–29–3 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 96 | 33 | 61 | 2 | .351 | 24½ | 22–26–1 | 11–35–1 |

## Nippon Professional Baseball draft

2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Draft selections :
| Round | Name | Position | Affiliation | Signed? |
| 1 | Shota Ono | Catcher | Toyo University | yes |
| 2 | Ryo Sakakibara | Pitcher | Kansai University of International Studies | yes |
| 3 | Toshiyuki Yanuki | Pitcher | Mitsubishi Fuso Kawasaki | yes |
| 4 | Kenji Tsuchiya | Pitcher | Yokohama High School | yes |
| 5 | Takuya Nakashima | Infielder | Fukuoka Technical High School | yes |
| 6 | Kenshi Sugiya | Infielder | Iizuka High School | yes |
| 7 | Keisuke Tanimoto | Pitcher | VITAL-NET | yes |