1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season

This article is about the 1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1953 in baseball.

Sports season

1953 NPB season

League| Nippon Professional Baseball
Sport| Baseball
Central League pennant
League champions| Yomiuri Giants
Runners-up| Osaka Tigers
Season MVP| Takumi Otomo (YOM)
Pacific League pennant
League champions| Nankai Hawks
Runners-up| Hankyu Braves
Season MVP| Isami Okamoto (NAN)
Japan Series
Champions| Yomiuri Giants
Runners-up| Nankai Hawks
Finals MVP| Tetsuharu Kawakami (YOM)
NPB seasons

← 1952

1954 →

The 1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the fourth season of operation of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

That season would be the first to be televised on the young NHK General TV \- which opened that year. The young channel and its then few national relay stations aired some games during the year, tying baseball to the young TV industry and thus beginning the sports connection to Japanese television, as well as its transformation into the top sport of the nation.

## Regular season

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### Standings

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Central League regular season standings  Team  | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB

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Yomiuri Giants | 125 | 87 | 37 | 1 | .702 | —
Osaka Tigers | 130 | 74 | 56 | 0 | .569 | 16.0
Chunichi Dragons | 130 | 70 | 57 | 3 | .551 | 18.5
Hiroshima Carp | 130 | 53 | 75 | 2 | .414 | 36.0
Taiyo Shochiku Robins | 130 | 52 | 77 | 1 | .403 | 37.5
Kokutetsu Swallows | 125 | 45 | 79 | 1 | .363 | 42.0
Pacific League regular season standings  Team  | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB

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Nankai Hawks | 120 | 71 | 48 | 1 | .597 | —
Hankyu Braves | 120 | 67 | 52 | 1 | .563 | 4.0
Daiei Stars | 120 | 63 | 53 | 4 | .543 | 6.5
Nishitetsu Lions | 120 | 57 | 61 | 2 | .483 | 13.5
Mainichi Orions | 120 | 56 | 62 | 2 | .475 | 14.5
Tokyu Flyers | 120 | 50 | 67 | 3 | .427 | 20.0
Kintetsu Pearls | 120 | 48 | 69 | 3 | .410 | 22.0

## Postseason

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### Japan Series

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Main article: 1953 Japan Series

CL Yomiuri Giants (4) vs. PL Nankai Hawks (2)

Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance

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1 | October 10 | Yomiuri Giants – 3, Nankai Hawks – 4 | Osaka Stadium | 3:15 | 24,913[1]
2 | October 11 | Yomiuri Giants – 5, Nankai Hawks – 3 | Osaka Stadium | 2:33 | 30,524[1]
3 | October 12 | Nankai Hawks – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Korakuen Stadium | 2:21 | 22,546[1]
4 | October 13 | Nankai Hawks – 0, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Korakuen Stadium | 1:45 | 25,953[1]
5 | October 14 | Yomiuri Giants – 5, Nankai Hawks – 0 | Osaka Stadium | 2:04 | 21,652[1]
6 | October 15 | Yomiuri Giants – 0, Nankai Hawks – 2 | Koshien Stadium | 1:55 | 6,346[1]
7 | October 16 | Nankai Hawks – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 4 | Korakuen Stadium | 1:36 | 21,332[1]

## League leaders

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### Central League

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Batting leaders  | Stat  | Player  | Team  | Total

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|
|

Batting average | Tetsuharu Kawakami | Yomiuri Giants | .347
Home runs | Fumio Fujimura | Osaka Tigers | 27
Runs batted in | Fumio Fujimura | Osaka Tigers | 98
Runs | Saburo Hirai | Yomiuri Giants | 97
Hits | Tetsuharu Kawakami | Yomiuri Giants | 162
Stolen bases | Jiro Kanayama | Hiroshima Carp | 58
Pitching leaders  | Stat  | Player  | Team  | Total

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|
|

Wins | Takumi Otomo | Yomiuri Giants | 27
Losses | Yoshiaki Inoue | Kokutetsu Swallows | 26
Earned run average | Takumi Otomo | Yomiuri Giants | 1.85
Strikeouts | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 229
Innings pitched | Masaichi Kaneda | Kokutetsu Swallows | 3032⁄3

### Pacific League

[edit]

Batting leaders  | Stat  | Player  | Team  | Total

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|
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Batting average | Isami Okamoto | Nankai Hawks | .318
Home runs | Futoshi Nakanishi | Nishitetsu Lions | 36
Runs batted in | Futoshi Nakanishi | Nishitetsu Lions | 86
Runs | Futoshi Nakanishi
Larry Raines | Nishitetsu Lions
Hankyu Braves | 92
Hits | Futoshi Nakanishi | Nishitetsu Lions | 146
Stolen bases | Larry Raines | Hankyu Braves | 61
Pitching leaders  | Stat  | Player  | Team  | Total

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Wins | Tokuji Kawasaki | Nishitetsu Lions | 24
Losses | Yasuo Yonekawa | Tokyu Flyers | 21
Earned run average | Tokuji Kawasaki | Nishitetsu Lions | 1.98
Strikeouts | Yasuo Yonekawa | Tokyu Flyers | 180
Innings pitched | Tokuji Kawasaki | Nishitetsu Lions | 2941⁄3

## Awards

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* Most Valuable Player
* Takumi Otomo, Yomiuri Giants (CL)
* Isami Okamoto, Nankai Hawks (PL)
* Rookie of the Year
* Masatoshi Gondo, Taiyo Shochiku Robins (CL)
* Yasumitsu Toyoda, Nishitetsu Lions (PL)
* Eiji Sawamura Award
* Takumi Otomo, Yomiuri Giants (CL)

Central League Best Nine Award winners  | Position  | Player  | Team

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|

Pitcher | Takumi Otomo | Yomiuri Giants
Catcher | Jun Hirota | Yomiuri Giants
First baseman | Tetsuharu Kawakami | Yomiuri Giants
Second baseman | Shigeru Chiba | Yomiuri Giants
Third baseman | Larry Yogi | Osaka Tigers
Shortstop | Saburo Hirai | Yomiuri Giants
Outfielder | Masayasu Kaneda | Osaka Tigers
Wally Yonamine | Yomiuri Giants
Fukashi Minamimura | Yomiuri Giants
Pacific League Best Nine Award winners  | Position  | Player  | Team

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Pitcher | Tokuji Kawasaki | Nishitetsu Lions
Catcher | Jun Matsui | Nankai Hawks
First baseman | Tokuji Iida | Nankai Hawks
Second baseman | Isami Okamoto | Nankai Hawks
Third baseman | Futoshi Nakanishi | Nishitetsu Lions
Shortstop | Chusuke Kizuka | Nankai Hawks
Outfielder | Kaoru Betto | Mainichi Orions
Hazuo Horii | Nankai Hawks
Hiroshi Oshita | Tokyu Flyers

## See also

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* 1953 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League season
* 1953 Major League Baseball season

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g 1953年度日本シリーズ 試合結果 (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved April 9, 2010.

* Johnson, Daniel E. (July 2006). Japanese Baseball: A Statistical Handbook. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2841-0.

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