2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season


Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league, and the highest level of baseball in Japan. The NPB is organized into two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. After the regular season, the top three teams of each league play off in the Climax Series, which determines which team from each league will play off in the Japan Series to determine the national championship team. The 2016 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 67th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The Japan Series championship competition was played between the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, with the Nippon-Ham fighters winning the overall championship.

Incidents

A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NPB games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball. While there was no suspicion of match fixing, Sports Gambling is illegal in Japan. The players involved were received suspensions, and members of team management resigned to take responsibility for the scandal.

Climax Series

''Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system, all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended in a tie.''

League leaders

Central League

StatPlayerTeamTotal
Batting averageHayato SakamotoYomiuri Giants.344
Home runsYoshitomo TsutsugoYokohama DeNA BayStars44
Runs batted inYoshitomo TsutsugoYokohama DeNA BayStars110
RunsTetsuto Yamada
Kosuke Tanaka		Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Hiroshima Toyo Carp		102
HitsRyosuke KikuchiHiroshima Toyo Carp181
Stolen basesTetsuto YamadaTokyo Yakult Swallows30

StatPlayerTeamTotal
WinsYusuke NomuraHiroshima Toyo Carp16
LossesAtsushi Nomi
Hirofumi Yamanaka		Hanshin Tigers
Tokyo Yakult Swallows		12
Earned run averageTomoyuki SuganoYomiuri Giants2.01
StrikeoutsTomoyuki SuganoYomiuri Giants189
Innings pitchedRandy MessengerHanshin Tigers185.1
SavesHirokazu SawamuraYomiuri Giants37

Pacific League

StatPlayerTeamTotal
Batting averageKatsuya KakunakaChiba Lotte Marines.339
Home runsBrandon LairdHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters39
Runs batted inSho NakataHokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters110
RunsShogo AkiyamaSaitama Seibu Lions98
HitsKatsuya KakunakaChiba Lotte Marines176
Stolen basesYoshio Itoi
Yuji Kaneko		Orix Buffaloes
Saitama Seibu Lions		53

StatPlayerTeamTotal
WinsTsuyoshi WadaFukuoka SoftBank Hawks15
LossesYuki NishiOrix Buffaloes12
Earned run averageAyumu IshikawaChiba Lotte Marines2.16
StrikeoutsTakahiro NorimotoTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles216
Innings pitchedTakahiro NorimotoTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles195
SavesYoshihisa HiranoOrix Buffaloes31

Attendances

TeamTotal attendanceHome average
Yomiuri Giants3,004,10841,724
Hanshin Tigers2,910,56240,994
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks2,492,98335,112
Hiroshima Toyo Carp2,157,33129,963
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters2,078,98129,281
Chunichi Dragons2,058,38128,991
Yokohama DeNA Baystars1,939,14626,933
Tokyo Yakult Swallows1,779,46025,063
ORIX Buffaloes1,794,47524,923
Saitama Seibu Lions1,618,19422,791
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles1,620,96122,513
Chiba Lotte Marines1,526,93221,207

This was a very small increase on attendance from the 2015 season.