2003 Japan Series
The 2003 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball for the season. The 54th edition of the Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the Pacific League champion Fukuoka Daiei Hawks against the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers. In one of the most dramatic series ever played, the home team won every game in the series, with three games ending with sayonara victories, including back-to-back games with the Tigers at home in Koshien Stadium. In Game 7, the Hawks would prevail in the seventh game at the Fukuoka Dome. This was the last Japan Series prior to the Pacific League instituting a playoff system, which the Central League would adopt in 2007.
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
The Hawks were looking for their second championship in five years, and this was their third appearance in that span. Despite the team's youth, slugger and manager Sadaharu Oh whipped the young team into shape in the previous seasons. Daiei had the best offense in the league, led by Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Kenji Johjima, and Tadahito Iguchi, with speedsters Munenori Kawasaki and Arihito Muramatsu setting up the sluggers with their speed. The Hawks also had four hitters with 100 or more runs batted in and the team batted a league record.297.Pitching-wise, the Hawks boasted the best young rotation in the league, with 20-game winner Kazumi Saitoh leading the charge. Toshiya Sugiuchi and Rookie of the Year Tsuyoshi Wada were also key cogs in the Hawks' pennant-winning season. While sometimes shaky, Takayuki Shinohara was pegged the team's closer, and he was helped by a veteran set of relievers.
Hanshin Tigers
On the other side, the Tigers were looking for their first Japan Series championship since 1985, and only their second in the team's long and storied history. This was their fourth appearance in the Japan Series, and their first since 1985. The tigers were managed by Senichi Hoshino.The Tigers had a 20-game winner of their own in Kei Igawa leading the starting rotation. Other key pitchers included veteran Hideki Irabu, who was in his first year back from major league stints with the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Texas Rangers; foreign lefty Trey Moore, a key figure in the Tigers' rotation; and foreign lefty Jeff Williams who led the team with 25 saves.
Makoto Imaoka and Norihiro Akahoshi led the team at the top of the order, followed by power hitters Tomoaki Kanemoto and Shinjiro Hiyama.
Background and series hype
Hanshin fans, known for their almost fanatical devotion to their team, were looking to help their team lift the so-called "Curse of the Colonel", an incident in which a local Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders was thrown into the Dotonbori Canal by fans celebrating the team clinching the Central League Pennant, but was not found the next day. Hanshin had finished fourth or lower in the Central League in 15 of the last 18 years, and so the 2003 season was truly a Cinderella Season for the team.Another element adding to the hype was that 2003 was the first time that the league had seen two 20-game winners: Kazumi Saitoh for Daiei, and Kei Igawa for Hanshin. The two would eventually be named co-winners of the Sawamura Award.
The managers also added to the series drama. First of all, this was a rematch of the 1999 Japan Series from a managerial standpoint. Senichi Hoshino was the manager of the Chunichi Dragons four years prior, and was defeated by Oh's Hawks in 5 games to win their first Japan Series title since 1964. Secondly, news leaked prior to Game 1 that Hoshino intended to retire after the Series due to health concerns.
Summary
Game summaries
Game 1
The first game of the 2003 Japan Series set the stage for one of the most exciting series in recent memory. The first game was a matchup of matching 20-game winners: Igawa for Hanshin, and Saitoh for Daiei. Saitoh got out of a jam in the first, and Igawa struck out Hiroshi Shibahara and Munenori Kawasaki in his half of the first. The game would turn into an exciting back-and-forth affair.Daiei would score the first run of the series in the next inning, with a walk to Pedro Valdés and a single by Julio Zuleta setting up Arihito Muramatsu, who laced a single up the middle to score Valdes. Daiei almost scored again in the 3rd, when Kawasaki beat out a line drive that bounced off Igawa's glove and ricocheted to 2nd base. Hanshin almost had Kawasaki, but the speedy Hawks 3rd baseman dove into first head-first to beat the throw. Tadahito Iguchi then lined an Igawa offering down the 3rd base line and into left field for a double. Nobuhiko Matsunaka caught a bad break though, as he smoked a liner to 3rd, but it was caught and Kawasaki was doubled up to end the inning.
Hanshin got on the board and took the lead in the 4th when, with runners on 1st and 2nd, Akihiro Yano took the stage. Saitoh tried to run Yano up and in with a pitch, but Yano connected and knocked it into deep right-center for a 2-run triple, putting Hanshin up, 2–1. Daiei responded in the bottom of the inning, with star catcher Kenji Johjima crushing a high Igawa pitch into the left-field stands and pulling Daiei even, 2–2. Valdes then singled up the middle, Zuleta was hit with a pitch, and Muramatsu singled up the middle to load the bases with nobody out. The light-hitting Yusuke Torigoe then came up, and he lifted a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left, which put Daiei ahead again, 3–2.
Hanshin would pull even again in the 6th on a throwing error from Johjima, allowing the runner to advance to third. Arias then came up and singled the runner on 3rd home to tie the score for a 3rd time, 3–3. As was the theme in the game, Hanshin had a chance to break the deadlock and bust the game open after a walk, but Yano grounded into a 5–4–3 double play to end the inning. Igawa was replaced by Jerrod Riggan in the bottom of the 6th, and Riggan was touched up immediately for a run when Iguchi singled home Shibahara.
Saitoh stayed in for the start of the 7th but walked Atsushi Fujimoto and slugger Tomoaki Kanemoto with 2 down. Saitoh was finished for the day, as he was replaced by Yoshida. Hiyama came up and singled in Fujimoto to tie the game up once again, 4–4. Hanshin would threaten again in their half of the 9th, getting Makoto Imaoka to 2nd, but Hawks reliever Takayuki Shinohara snuffed out the threat by getting Kanemoto to foul out.
That set the stage for the Hawks half of the 9th inning. Yuya Andoh walked Matsunaka and Johjima singled through the right side to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Andoh struck out Valdes for the 2nd out to set the stage for first-year foreigner Zuleta. Zuleta lifted and Andoh pitch to left-center, and it landed just out of the reach of the center fielder to give the Hawks the 5–4 sayonara victory and a 1–0 lead in the series.
Game 2
Riding the momentum from the sayonara victory the previous night, the Hawks took the field and crushed the Tigers and their starting pitcher, Hideki Irabu. Toshiya Sugiuchi started for the Hawks, and like Saitoh the night before, got into a small bit of trouble in the first. Imaoka singled his way on, then was sacrificed to 2nd by Norihiro Akahoshi, but Kanemoto struck out, and Hiyama flew out to right. Similarly, Kawasaki singled his way on and stole second, but Matsunaka grounded to first to end the home half of the inning.Daiei broke the game open in the 2nd. With one out, Valdes, Zuleta, and Muramatsu all singled their way on. Veteran shortstop Yusuke Torigoe, not known for his bat, doubled them all home as he put Daiei out in front, 3–0. Shibahara singled Torigoe to 3rd, but was caught stealing. With 2 down, Kawasaki kept the inning alive by tripling in Torigoe. Mercifully, Iguchi grounded out to end the four-run second. That would be all Daiei would need in the game.
Johjima would keep up the Hawks number-one offensive attack by hitting his second home run of the series, a solo shot, in the bottom of the 3rd. The very next inning, Muramatsu singled and Torigoe walked, which would end Irabu's bad outing. Makoto Yoshino would take over for him, and Shibahara immediately sacrificed Muramatsu and Torigoe to 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Yoshino would load the bases with a walk to Kawasaki, but again, Matsunaka could not come through in the clutch, grounding back to Yoshino to end the inning.
Still leading 5–0 in the 7th, new pitcher Takehito Kanazawa gave up singles to Matsunaka and Valdes, then helplessly watched as Zuleta crushed his first home run of the series, a three-run blast that propelled Daiei to an 8–0 lead. To make matters worse, Torigoe walked, then Shibahara drove Torigoe in for the fourth run of the inning. Kawasaki then got in on the hit parade by tripling in Shibahara for the 5th and final run of the inning and a 10–0 lead.
Sugiuchi was on cruise control after the first inning, throwing eight shutout innings and only surrendering four hits in that span.
The Hawks would end the scoring in the 8th inning, tacking on three more thanks to a throwing error by Kanazawa, and a three-run home run from Valdes. Rookie Nagisa Arakaki would mop up for Daiei in the 9th to end the game. Daiei took a commanding two games to none lead in the series. Little did the Hawks know that the series was just beginning, as the next three would be taking place at Koshien Stadium.
Game 3
Returning home, the Tigers were in a must-win situation, as the Hawks potentially could take a 3–0 series lead. Trey Moore started for the Tigers, while Daiei countered with lefty Tsuyoshi Wada, who won 14 games during his rookie campaign. The left-handed Moore started the game by throwing the first pitch of the game over Shibahara's head. Shibahara would strike out, but the Hawks got their revenge by driving in the first run of the game, as Matsunaka drove in Kawasaki after he and Iguchi singled. Daiei almost had more, but Iguchi was cut down at home on an infield grounder by Johjima, and Valdes struck out to end the inning.In the bottom of the 3rd against Wada, Moore helped his own cause by singling his way on, but nothing came of it. Kanemoto made sure that his team pulled even the very next inning though, as he took a low Wada fastball and deposited it into the right-center field stands, sending the Hanshin faithful into a frenzy. Kanemoto's solo shot tied the game, 1–1.
Already a pitcher's duel, Moore and Wada matched zeroes, with both teams threatening at times. Daiei had a chance in the 6th with 1 out, but Iguchi flew out to the warning track in left, and Matsunaka weakly grounded out to the catcher. In the 7th, the Hawks had Valdes and 2nd and Muramatsu at 1st on a controversial hit-batsman call. Wada was pinch-hit for by Ohmichi with runners on 2nd and 3rd after Torigoe sacrificed, but Moore got Ohmichi to ground out to 2nd to end the threat.
Katsunori Okamoto took over for Wada and struck out the side in the 7th, and wiggled out of a jam in the 8th. On the other side, Yoshino took over in the 9th after Moore was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the previous inning. Yoshino struck out Valdes, then Johjima was caught stealing to end the inning.
Okamoto got the first out of the 9th, then turned it over to Shinohara for the lefty-on-lefty matchups. He induced a flyout with Akahoshi, then got Kanemoto on a check swing, in which Kanemoto was convinced he did not go around.
In the 10th inning, Yoshino stayed out on the mound and worked a 1-2-3 inning, in which Shinohara was allowed to bat, but struck out. The decision to not pinch-hit would come back to haunt Oh-kantoku as Shinohara started the inning well by striking out Hirosawa, but Arias then walked, and Hiyama singled, sending Arias to 3rd. Yano was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting up Fujimoto. He lifted a high sacrifice fly to center to score Arias and give Hanshin the 2–1 sayonara victory, and also make the series 2 games to 1 in favor of Daiei.