1997 Japan Series

Japan 1997 Yakult Swallows (4) Katsuya Nomura 83–52–2, .615, GA: 11 Seibu Lions (1) Osamu Higashio 76–56–3, .576, GA: 5 October 18–23 Atsuya Furuta (YKS) Kazuo Matsui (SEI) TV Asahi (Games 1, 2, 4), Fuji TV (Games 3, 5) NHK Radio, JRN, NRN The 1997 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 1997 season. The 48th edition of the Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yakult Swallows. It was the third time the two teams had faced each other for the championship, with the other two contests being in 1992 and 1993. Played at Seibu Dome and Meiji Jingu Stadium, the Swallows defeated the Lions in five games to win the franchise's 4th Japan Series title. The Swallows' star catcher Atsuya Furuta was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 18 and October 23, 1997, with home field advantage going to the Pacific League. Summary CL Yakult Swallows (4) vs. PL Seibu Lions (1) October 18 Yakult Swallows – 1, Seibu Lions – 0 Seibu Dome 2:41 31,634 http://bis.npb.or.jp/scores/nipponseries/linescore1997.html ja:1997年度日本シリーズ　試合結果 June 5, 2010 Nippon Professional Baseball Japanese October 19 Yakult Swallows – 5, Seibu Lions – 6 Seibu Dome 4:45 31,397 October 21 Seibu Lions – 3, Yakult Swallows – 5 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:25 32,867 October 22 Seibu Lions – 1, Yakult Swallows – 7 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:08 32,877 October 23 Seibu Lions – 0, Yakult Swallows – 3 Meiji Jingu Stadium 2:50 33,056 Matchups Game 1 Saturday, October 18, 1997 6:20 pm (JST) Seibu Dome, Tokorozawa, Saitama Yakult YKS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 0 Seibu SEI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 Kazuhisa Ishii (1–0) Fumiya Nishiguchi (0–1) Jim Tatum (1) Game 1 of the series featured a pitching match-up of two strong aces. Seibu's Fumiya Nishiguchi had a career year in 1997 (only his second full season), finishing first in the Pacific League in wins, strikeouts and winning percentage. His sparkling season earned him the Best Nine Award, the Golden Glove, the Sawamura Award and league MVP. Facing him in Game 1 from the visitor's side was Kazuhisa Ishii, a former number-one draft pick and established southpaw who had pitched a no-hitter earlier in the season. The game lived up to its billing as a pitcher's duel, with each starter not allowing any runs after seven innings. However, Yakult finally managed to get to Nishiguchi when journeyman Jim Tatum deposited a slider into the right-center field seats. Ishii protected this lead, and finished the game with no runs allowed and 12 strikeouts. Game 2 Saturday, October 19, 1997 6:21 pm (JST) Seibu Dome, Tokorozawa, Saitama Yakult YKS 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 14 2 Seibu SEI 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 13 3 Shinji Mori (1–0) Futoshi Yamabe (0–1) Yusuke Kawada (1) Game 3 Tuesday, October 21, 1997 6:36 pm (JST) Meiji Jingu Stadium, Shinjuku, Tokyo Seibu SEI 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 1 Yakult YKS 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 5 11 0 Shingo Takatsu (1–0) Hisanobu Watanabe (0–1) Atsuya Furuta (1) Game 4 Wednesday, October 22, 1997 6:36 pm (JST) Meiji Jingu Stadium, Shinjuku, Tokyo Seibu SEI 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Yakult YKS 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 X 7 13 0 Kenjiro Kawasaki (1–0) Hiroshi Shintani (0–1) Shinichi Sato (1) Game 5 Thursday, October 23, 1997 6:36 pm (JST) Meiji Jingu Stadium, Shinjuku, Tokyo Seibu SEI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Yakult YKS 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 9 1 Kazuhisa Ishii (2–0) Fumiya Nishiguchi (0–2) Shingo Takatsu (1) See also 1997 World Series References External links Nippon Professional Baseball—Official website (in English) Category:Japan Series Category:1997 Nippon Professional Baseball season Category:Tokyo Yakult Swallows Category:Seibu Lions Category:October 1997 sports events in Japan