2006 Nippon Professional Baseball season

2006 2006 NPB season Nippon Professional Baseball Baseball March 25, 2006 – October 26, 2006 Regular season CL: Kosuke Fukudome (CHU)PL: Michihiro Ogasawara (NIP) Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award League postseason CL Central League Chunichi Dragons Hanshin Tigers PL Pacific League Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Japan Series 2006 Japan Series Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Hokkaidō Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Nagoya, Aichi Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Chunichi Dragons Atsunori Inaba (NIP) Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award List of Nippon Professional Baseball seasons NPB 2005 Nippon Professional Baseball season 2005 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season 2007 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. GBChunichi Dragons14687545.617--Hanshin Tigers14684584.5923.5Tokyo Yakult Swallows14670733.49018Yomiuri Giants14665792.45123.5Hiroshima Toyo Carp14662795.44025Yokohama BayStars14658844.40829.5 Pacific League Regular season Pacific League G W L T Pct. GBHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters13682540.603--Seibu Lions13680542.5971Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks13675565.5734.5Chiba Lotte Marines13665701.48116.5Orix Buffaloes13652813.39128.5Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles13647854.35633 Playoff 1st stage Seibu Lions (1) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2) GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Seibu Lions – 1October 7Invoice Seibu Dome29,187http://bis.npb.or.jp/2006/games/s2006100701664.html 2006 PL Playoff 1st Stage Game 12Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 11, Seibu Lions – 3October 8Invoice Seibu Dome31,338http://bis.npb.or.jp/2006/games/s2006100801668.html 2006 PL Playoff 1st Stage Game 23Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Seibu Lions – 1October 9Invoice Seibu Dome27,344http://bis.npb.or.jp/2006/games/s2006100901671.html 2006 PL Playoff 1st Stage Game 3 Playoff 2nd stage Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (3) vs. Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (0) The Fighters have a one-game advantage. GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 3October 11Sapporo Dome42,380http://bis.npb.or.jp/2006/games/s2006101101674.html 2006 PL Playoff 2nd Stage Game 12Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 0, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters – 1October 12Sapporo Dome42,380http://bis.npb.or.jp/2006/games/s2006101201677.html 2006 PL Playoff 2nd Stage Game 2 Japan Series 2006 Japan Series It featured the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, champions of the Pacific League, and the Chunichi Dragons, champions of the Central League. The series was played as a best-of-seven format and took place from October 21 to October 26, 2006.2006 Japan Central League https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=bd17499f 2025-05-02 Baseball-Reference.com en The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters emerged victorious, defeating the Chunichi Dragons 4 games to 1 to secure their first Japan Series title since 1962. The series began at the Nagoya Dome, home of the Dragons, where the Fighters claimed a narrow victory in Game 1. The remaining games were held at the Sapporo Dome, where the Fighters capitalized on strong pitching and timely hitting to dominate the series. Atsunori Inaba of the Fighters was named the Japan Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his exceptional performance throughout the series, which included critical offensive contributions and solid defensive play. The Fighters were managed by Trey Hillman, who became the first foreign manager to win the Japan Series since Bobby Valentine in 2005. Following their Japan Series victory, the Fighters advanced to the Asian Series, representing NPB against other league champions from Asia to compete for the title of the top baseball team in the region.2005-11-06 KONAMI CUP Asia Series 2005 http://asia.npb.or.jp/en/ 2025-05-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20051106011559/http://asia.npb.or.jp/en/ 6 November 2005 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 See also 2006 Major League Baseball season References 2006 NPB Final standings (Japanese) Category:Nippon Professional Baseball seasons