Nippon Series 2008
The 2008 Nippon Series was the 59th edition of the finals of the Japanese baseball championship . The best-of-seven series took place between November 1st and 9th, 2008. The record champions from the Central League , the Yomiuri Giants , were defeated by the Saitama Seibu Lions , the historically most successful team from the Pacific League . The Lions won their 13th league title in seven games 4-3. The pitcher Takayuki Kishi of the Seibu Lions, who made it possible to win the sixth game, was chosen as the MVP of the series .
The playoffs
The Giants and Lions had completed the regular season as the first in their respective leagues and only intervened in Stage 2 of the Climax Series in the playoffs. In Stage 1, the third-placed finishers from both leagues initially prevailed, but then lost in Stage 2.
For the first time in 2008, a rule was applied according to which the first-placed started the playoffs with one victory ahead.
| Climax Series Stage 1 | Climax Series Stage 2 | Nippon Series | |||||||||
| 3 | Chūnichi Dragons | 2 | 3 | Chūnichi Dragons | 1 (*) | ||||||
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 1 | 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 3+ 1 (*) | ||||||
| Central League | |||||||||||
| 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 3 | |||||||||
| 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 4th | |||||||||
| 3 | Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters | 2 | 3 | Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters | 2 | ||||||
| 2 | Orix Buffaloes | 0 | 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 3+ 1 | ||||||
| Pacific League | |||||||||||
(*) 1 tie
Games
For the first time since 2004, when the Lions also won the championship, the Nippon Series was not decided until the seventh game: After the Lions were 2-0 behind in the decisive game until the fourth inning , a solo home run by Hiram Bocachica brought them in fifth and RBI hits from Hiroyuki Nakajima and Hiroshi Hirao in the eighth inning took the 3-2 lead, then the former Yankees pitcher Alex Graman made the victory perfect for the Lions with his save .
The third baseman Takeya Nakamura scored the most home runs in the series, struck in the first and twice in the fourth game of the series.
| game | date | guest | Score | home | Score | Total status
(SEI-YOM) |
Ball park | spectator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 1, 2008 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | 1–0 | Tokyo Dome | 44,757 |
| 2 | November 2, 2008 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 2 | Yomiuri Giants | 3 | 1-1 | Tokyo Dome | 44,814 |
| 3 | November 4, 2008 | Yomiuri Giants | 6th | Saitama Seibu Lions | 4th | 2–1 | Seibu Dome | 24,495 |
| 4th | November 5, 2008 | Yomiuri Giants | 0 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 5 | 2–2 | Seibu Dome | 27,930 |
| 5 | November 6, 2008 | Yomiuri Giants | 7th | Saitama Seibu Lions | 3 | 2-3 | Seibu Dome | 28,763 |
| 6th | November 8, 2008 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 4th | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | 3–3 | Tokyo Dome | 44,749 |
| 7th | November 9, 2008 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 2 | 4-3 | Tokyo Dome | 44,737 |
Web links
- Nippon Professional Baseball: Nippon Series 2008 (Japanese)