1964 Japan Series


The 1964 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball for the season. The 15th edition of the Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that featured the Pacific League champion Nankai Hawks against the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers.
It would take 21 years for the Tigers to return to the Japan Series, and in Nankai's case, it took 35 years and an ownership change. This would also be the last Japan Series to be contested by two Kansai-based teams until the 2023 Japan Series. Due to the 1964 Summer Olympics taking place in Tokyo, all games were played at night for the first time ever. It was the only time this had occurred until 1994.

Matchups

Game 7

Joe Stanka was tabbed to start his fourth game of the series. He dominated once again for his third win of the series that saw him throw a five-hit shutout on 110 pitches as the Hawks won the series. For his performance in the series of three complete games with allowing just four earned runs in 29.1 total innings with 21 strikeouts, Stanka was named Japan Series MVP.