# 2006 Nippon Professional Baseball season

In 2006 the Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Pacific League defeating the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League in the Japan Series.

## Format
### Central League

* Season Format
** Regular Season
* Regular Season 1st place are the champions

### Pacific League

* Season Format
** Regular Season
** Playoff 1st Stage: Regular Season 2nd place vs. Regular Season 3rd place – Best of 3
** Playoff 2nd Stage: Regular Season 1st place vs. Playoff 1st Stage winners – Best of 5 (regular-season 1st place take a one-win advantage)
* Playoff 2nd Stage winners are the champions

### Japan Series

* Central League champions vs. Pacific League champions – Best of 7

## Standings
### Central League
#### Regular season

| Central League | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| Chunichi Dragons | 146 | 87 | 54 | 5 | .617 | -- |
| Hanshin Tigers | 146 | 84 | 58 | 4 | .592 | 3.5 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 146 | 70 | 73 | 3 | .490 | 18 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 146 | 65 | 79 | 2 | .451 | 23.5 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 146 | 62 | 79 | 5 | .440 | 25 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 146 | 58 | 84 | 4 | .408 | 29.5 |

### Pacific League
#### Regular season

| Pacific League | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 136 | 82 | 54 | 0 | .603 | -- |
| Seibu Lions | 136 | 80 | 54 | 2 | .597 | 1 |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 136 | 75 | 56 | 5 | .573 | 4.5 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 136 | 65 | 70 | 1 | .481 | 16.5 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 136 | 52 | 81 | 3 | .391 | 28.5 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 136 | 47 | 85 | 4 | .356 | 33 |

#### Playoff 1st Stage

Seibu Lions (1) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Seibu Lions – 1 | October 7 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 29,187 |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 11, Seibu Lions – 3 | October 8 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 31,338 |
| 3 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Seibu Lions – 1 | October 9 | Invoice Seibu Dome | 27,344 |

#### Playoff 2nd Stage

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (3) vs. Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (0) The Fighters have a one-game advantage.
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 3 | October 11 | Sapporo Dome | 42,380 |
| 2 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 1 | October 12 | Sapporo Dome | 42,380 |

## Japan Series

In the 2006 Japan Series, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Chunichi Dragons 4 games to 1 in five games.
After the Japan Series, the Fighters moved on to the Asian Series, a series which determines the champion of the four major Asian baseball leagues.

## Awards

The Eiji Sawamura Award, the award given to the top pitcher in Japan, was given to pitcher Kazumi Saito of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He had a win–loss record of 18-5, 205 strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.75 in 201.0 innings, winning the Pacific League's pitching triple crown.

### Best Nine Awards

Central League
| Position | Player | Team |
| P | Kenshin Kawakami | Chunichi Dragons |
| C | Akihiro Yano | Hanshin Tigers |
| 1B | Tyrone Woods | Chunichi Dragons |
| 2B | Masahiro Araki | Chunichi Dragons |
| 3B | Akinori Iwamura | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| SS | Hirokazu Ibata | Chunichi Dragons |
| OF | Norichika Aoki | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| OF | Kosuke Fukudome | Chunichi Dragons |
| OF | Tomoaki Kanemoto | Hanshin Tigers |
Pacific League
| Position | Player | Team |
| P | Kazumi Saitoh | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| C | Tomoya Satozaki | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| 1B | Michihiro Ogasawara | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| 2B | Kensuke Tanaka | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| 3B | Jose Fernández | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles |
| SS | Munenori Kawasaki | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| OF | Atsunori Inaba | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| OF | Nobuhiko Matsunaka | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| OF | Kazuhiro Wada | Seibu Lions |
| DH | Fernando Seguignol | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |

### Gold Gloves

Central League
| Position | Player | Team |
| P | Kenshin Kawakami | Chunichi Dragons |
| C | Motonobu Tanishige | Chunichi Dragons |
| 1B | Andy Sheets | Hanshin Tigers |
| 2B | Masahiro Araki | Chunichi Dragons |
| 3B | Akinori Iwamura | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| SS | Hirokazu Ibata | Chunichi Dragons |
| OF | Norihiro Akahoshi | Hanshin Tigers |
| OF | Norichika Aoki | Tokyo Yakult Swallows |
| OF | Kosuke Fukudome | Chunichi Dragons |
Pacific League
| Position | Player | Team |
| P | Daisuke Matsuzaka | Seibu Lions |
| C | Tomoya Satozaki | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| 1B | Michihiro Ogasawara | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| 2B | Kensuke Tanaka | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| 3B | Toshiaki Imae | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| SS | Munenori Kawasaki | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks |
| OF | Atsunori Inaba | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| OF | Hichori Morimoto | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |
| OF | SHINJO | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters |