2008 Japan Series

ja October 2025 2008japanseries.png Japan 2008 Saitama Seibu Lions (4) Hisanobu Watanabe 76–64–4, (.543), GA: 2.5 Yomiuri Giants (3) Tatsunori Hara 84–57–3, (.596), GA: 2 November 1–9 Takayuki Kishi (Saitama) Alex Ramírez (Yomiuri) Japan: NTV (Games 1, 6, 7)TV Asahi (Games 2, 3, 4, 5)South Korea: SBS Sports Channel Ryo Kawamura, Shunsuke Shimizu, Takao Nakayama The 2008 Japan Series was the 59th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff between the respective champions of the Central League's and the Pacific League's Climax Series (postseason) began on Saturday, November 1, 2008, and went the full seven games. The deciding Game 7 took place on Sunday, November 9.一般社団法人日本野球機構 2008年度 日本シリーズ http://npb.jp/nippons/2008/index.html 2025-10-22 NPB.jp 日本野球機構 ja Climax Series 2008 Central League Climax Series 2008 Pacific League Climax Series 200 First Stage Second Stage Japan Series Central League Pacific League yes 2 Hanshin Tigers 1 3 Chunichi Dragons 2 2 Orix Buffaloes 0 3 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2 1 Yomiuri Giants 3 3 Chunichi Dragons 1 1 Saitama Seibu Lions 4 3 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2 CL1 Yomiuri Giants 3 PL1 Saitama Seibu Lions 4 Summary Saitama Seibu Lions 4–3 November 1 Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 1 Tokyo Dome 2:45 44,757 November 2 Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 3:18 44,814 November 4 Yomiuri Giants – 6, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 Seibu Dome 3:14 24,495 November 5 Yomiuri Giants – 0, Saitama Seibu Lions – 5 Seibu Dome 2:53 27,930 November 7 Yomiuri Giants – 7, Saitama Seibu Lions – 3 Seibu Dome 3:31 28,763 November 8 Saitama Seibu Lions – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 1 Tokyo Dome 3:24 44,749 November 9 Saitama Seibu Lions – 3, Yomiuri Giants – 2 Tokyo Dome 3:20 44,737 Game summaries Game 1 Saturday, November 1, 2008, 6:15 pm (JST) Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo Saitama Seibu SEI 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 6 1 Yomiuri YOM 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Hideaki Wakui Koji Uehara Alex Graman Taketoshi Gotoh (1), Hiroyuki Nakajima (1) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_1.html Game 2 Sunday, November 2, 2008, 6:17 pm (JST) Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo Saitama Seibu SEI 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 Yomiuri YOM 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 8 0 Daisuke Ochi Shinya Okamoto ja 岡本真也 Hiroyuki Nakajima (2) Alex Ramírez (1) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_2.html Game 3 Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 6:18 pm (JST) Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Yomiuri YOM 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 6 8 0 Saitama Seibu SEI 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 7 0 Tetsuya Utsumi Kazuhisa Ishii Marc Kroon Takahiro Suzuki (1), Alex Ramírez (2), Michihiro Ogasawara (1) Takeya Nakamura (1) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_3.html Game 4 Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 6:18 pm (JST) Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Yomiuri YOM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Saitama Seibu SEI 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 x 5 7 0 Takayuki Kishi Seth Greisinger Takeya Nakamura (2, 3) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_4.html Takayuki Kishi tossed a 147-pitch, complete-game shutout, striking out 10 Giants in the process. His opponent, Seth Greisinger, gave up 5 runs in as many innings, continuing his season-long struggles against the Lions. Tempers flared in the 4th when Greisinger hit Seibu shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima on the elbow with a pitch. The two started shouting at each other, and the benches cleared. No punches were thrown, but the next batter, Takeya Nakamura, crushed his first home run of the day to extend Seibu's lead to 3-0. Nakamura would strike again in the 6th off Greisinger with another 2-run blast to end the scoring. Game 5 Friday, November 7, 2008, 6:17 pm (JST) Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Yomiuri YOM 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 7 10 2 Saitama Seibu SEI 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 13 0 Kentaro Nishimura (1–0) Hideaki Wakui (1–1) Shinnosuke Abe (1) Hiroshi Hirao (1) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_5.html Game 6 Saturday, November 8, 2008, 6:15 pm (JST) Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo Saitama Seibu SEI 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 10 0 Yomiuri YOM 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 0 Takayuki Kishi Hisanori Takahashi Hiroshi Hirao (2) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_6.html Kishi came through again with 5 2 3 innings of shutout ball in relief of Seibu starter Kazuyuki Hoashi after Hoashi got into trouble in the 4th. The unsung hero of the Series, Hiroshi Hirao, crushed a 3-run home run to give the Lions a 3–0 lead off veteran lefty starter Hisanori Takahashi in the first. Takahashi only lasted 2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2. Game 7 Sunday, November 9, 2008, 6:16 pm (JST) Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo Saitama Seibu SEI 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 6 0 Yomiuri YOM 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Tomoki Hoshino Daisuke Ochi Alex Graman Hiram Bocachica (1) Hayato Sakamoto (1) https://npb.jp/bis/scores/nipponseries/boxscore2008_7.html The critical inning was the 8th. Daisuke Ochi came in for the Giants to keep the Lions at bay, but Ochi got off to a bad start by hitting Kataoka. Kataoka then stole second, and he was sacrificed to 3rd. Hiroyuki Nakajima then hit a slow ground ball to 3rd, and Kataoka's speed allowed him to beat the throw home, tying the game up at 2. Ochi then proceeded to walk the next two batters, then Hiroshi Hirao, on a 3-1 pitch, lined a breaking ball back up the middle to score Takeya Nakamura and give Seibu the lead. Alex Graman closed out the Giants in the 9th to give the Lions their first Japan Series Championship since 2004. References See also 2008 Korean Series 2008 World Series 2008 Category:Saitama Seibu Lions postseason Category:Yomiuri Giants postseason Category:2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season Category:November 2008 sports events in Japan Category:Events at Tokyo Dome