The 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 64th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950.
Juiced ball scandal At the beginning of the 2013 NPB season, a new livelier ball was introduced in secret. This juiced up baseball allowed more home runs to be scored, leading to Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien to break the 55 single season home run record set by Sadaharu Oh and later tied by Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. This caused three-term NPB commissioner Ryozo Kato to resign, although he claimed to be unaware of the juiced baseballs.
Regular season standings + Central League regular season standings Team G W L T Pct. GBYomiuri Giants 144 84 53 7 .613 —Hanshin Tigers 144 73 67 4 .521 12.5Hiroshima Toyo Carp 144 69 72 3 .489 17.0Chunichi Dragons 144 64 77 3 .454 22.0Yokohama DeNA BayStars 144 64 79 1 .448 23.0Tokyo Yakult Swallows 144 57 83 4 .407 28.5
+ Pacific League regular season standings Team G W L T Pct. GBTohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 144 82 59 3 .582 —Saitama Seibu Lions 144 74 66 4 .529 7.5Chiba Lotte Marines 144 74 68 2 .521 8.5Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 144 73 69 2 .514 9.5Orix Buffaloes 144 66 73 5 .475 15.0Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 144 64 78 2 .451 18.5
Climax Series
Note: All of the games that are played in the first two rounds of the Climax Series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advances if the round ends in a tie.
First stage The regular season league champions, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received byes to the championship round.
Central League
Pacific League
Final stage The regular season league champions, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (PL) and the Yomiuri Giants (CL), received a one-game advantage.
Central League
Pacific League
* Postponed from October 20 due to rain
Japan Series
League leaders
Central League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Tony Blanco Yokohama DeNA BayStars .333 Home runs Wladimir Balentien Tokyo Yakult Swallows 60 Runs batted in Tony Blanco Yokohama DeNA BayStars 136 Runs Wladimir Balentien Tokyo Yakult Swallows 94 Hits Matt Murton Hanshin Tigers 178 Stolen bases Yoshihiro Maru Hiroshima Toyo Carp 29
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Yasuhiro Ogawa Tokyo Yakult Swallows 16 Losses Daisuke MiuraRyosuke Yagi Yokohama DeNA BayStarsTokyo Yakult Swallows 13 Earned run average Kenta Maeda Hiroshima Toyo Carp 2.10 Strikeouts Randy Messenger Hanshin Tigers 183 Innings pitched Randy Messenger Hanshin Tigers 196 Saves Kentaro Nishimura Yomiuri Giants 42
Pacific League
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting average Yuya Hasegawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks .341 Home runs Michel Abreu Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 31 Runs batted in Hideto Asamura Saitama Seibu Lions 110 Runs Dai-Kang Yang Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 93 Hits Yuya Hasegawa Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 198 Stolen bases Dai-Kang Yang Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 47
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Wins Masahiro Tanaka Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 24 Losses Mitsuo Yoshikawa Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 15 Earned run average Masahiro Tanaka Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1.27 Strikeouts Chihiro Kaneko Orix Buffaloes 200 Innings pitched Chihiro Kaneko Orix Buffaloes 223 Saves Naoya Masuda Chiba Lotte Marines 33
2013 average attendance
Team Games Total attendance Av. attendance Yomiuri 72 3,008,197 41,780 Hanshin 72 2,771,603 38,494 SoftBank 72 2,408,993 33,458 Chunichi 72 1,998,188 27,752 Nippon-Ham 72 1,855,655 25,772 Seibu 72 1,600,841 22,233 Hiroshima 72 1,565,598 21,744 Orix 72 1,438,467 19,978 Yakult 72 1,432,695 19,898 Yokohama 72 1,425,728 19,801 Rakuten 72 1,281,087 17,792 Lotte 72 1,260,439 17,506
See also 2013 Korea Professional Baseball season 2013 Major League Baseball season
References