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08/31/2006 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News:Update"
Japanese Baseball News:Update
Japanese Baseball News: The Monday Report By Glenn Davies,Tokyo Japan |
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Central League News | ||
In a major about-face on Wednesday, the Central league agreed to introduce a playoff system in 2007. The playoff looks likely to mirror that of the Pacific league in having the 2nd and 3rd teams in the CL playoff for a chance to play the pennant winner for a place in the championship finals. The CL had been against this move for quite some time and some feel that the key to the change of position has been the failure of the all-powerful Giants to win for some years now. Giving the Giants a shot at the playoffs and postseason play would be their hope to bring fans back to the park as attendance has dropped and improve low TV ratings. | ||
Pacific League News | ||
The Lions pushed ahead in the standings and are trying to put some daylight between themselves and the Hawks. The Fighters continue to impress with a 15-8 record this months and being only 2 back from the Lions may actually fight for the PL pennant. That said the Lions look like the goods and with Nakajima and Cabrera tearing up opposition pitching they look likely to capture the title. | ||
Batting Leaders | ||||||||||||||
Central | Team | Avg. | AB | HR | RBI | Pacific | Team | Avg. | AB | HR | RBI | |||
1 | Fukudome | Dragons | .354 | 364 | 21 | 70 | 1 | Matsunaga | Hawks | .335 | 394 | 18 | 70 | |
2 | Lee | Giants | .323 | 446 | 37 | 88 | 2 | Nakajima | Lions | .319 | 360 | 16 | 62 | |
3 | Sheets | Tigers | .315 | 482 | 15 | 61 | 3 | Short | Eagles | .317 | 356 | 3 | 30 | |
4 | Kanemoto | Tigers | .309 | 434 | 17 | 76 | 4 | Cabrera | Lions | .317 | 388 | 27 | 86 | |
5 | Aoki | Swallows | .307 | 460 | 7 | 42 | 5 | Fukuura | Marines | .317 | 357 | 3 | 38 | |
Pitching Leaders | ||||||||||||||
Central | Team | ERA | W | L | Sv | Pacific | Team | ERA | W | L | Sv | |||
1 | Kuroda | Carp | 1.93 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | Saitoh | Hawks | 1.85 | 15 | 4 | 0 | |
2 | Sato | Dragons | 2.00 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Matsuzaka | Lions | 2.13 | 14 | 4 | 0 | |
3 | Kawakami | Dragons | 2.11 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Davey | Buffaloes | 2.50 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |
4 | Utsumi | Giants | 2.65 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 4 | Ono | Marines | 2.57 | 6 | 7 | 0 | |
5 | Kadokura | Dragons | 2.68 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 5 | Yagi | Fighters | 2.62 | 10 | 7 | 0 | |
Central | W | L | T | Pct% | GB | Pacific | W | L | T | Pct% | GB |
Chunichi Dragons | 65 | 40 | 5 | .619 | - | Seibu Lions | 69 | 46 | 2 | .600 | - |
Hanshin Tigers | 61 | 52 | 4 | .540 | 8.0 | Softbank Hawks | 68 | 47 | 4 | .591 | 1.0 |
Yakult Swallows | 56 | 55 | 2 | .505 | 12.0 | Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters | 67 | 49 | 0 | .578 | 2.5 |
Yomiuri Giants | 55 | 63 | 2 | .466 | 16.5 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 58 | 58 | 0 | .500 | 11.5 |
Hiroshima Carp | 49 | 59 | 5 | .454 | 17.5 | Orix Buffaloes | 46 | 71 | 2 | .393 | 24.0 |
Yokohama Bay Stars | 47 | 65 | 3 | .420 | 21.5 | Rakuten Eagles | 38 | 74 | 2 | .339 | 29.5 |