The 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 55th season of operation for Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). For the first time since 1982, the Pacific League instituted a playoff system to determine its representative to the Japan Series, in which the second-place and third-place teams would compete against each other for the right to play the regular season champion; previously, the league had a split-season playoff that would match the first-place team of the first and second half of the season from 1973 to 1982. The Pacific League regular season champion Fukuoka Daiei Hawks became part of dubious history when they subsequently lost to the Seibu Lions in five games to become the first regular season champion of the league to not reach the championship series. The Japan Series ended with the Seibu Lions defeating the Chunichi Dragons in the 2004 Japan Series. This season also saw the first and only players strike in Japanese professional baseball history. Players went on strike for two days in September because of the potential mergers and realignment. The result was that the Pacific League saw the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles be created as an expansion team for 2005 while the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and Orix BlueWave would merge to form the Orix Buffaloes.
Format
Central League Season format Regular season Regular season 1st place is the champion
Pacific League Season format Regular season Playoff 1st stage: Regular season 2nd place vs. regular season 3rd place – Best of 3 Playoff 2nd stage: Regular season 1st place vs. playoff 1st stage winner – Best of 5 Playoff 2nd stage winner is the champion
Japan Series Central League champion vs. Pacific League champion – Best of 7
Standings Note:Two games for each team are cancelled due to players' strike
Central League
Regular season Central League G W L T Pct. GBChunichi Dragons 138 79 56 3 .583 —Yakult Swallows 138 72 64 2 .529 7.5Yomiuri Giants 138 71 64 3 .525 8.0Hanshin Tigers 138 66 70 2 .485 13.0Hiroshima Toyo Carp 138 60 77 1 .438 20.0Yokohama BayStars 138 59 76 3 .438 20.0
Pacific League
Regular season Pacific League G W L T Pct. GBFukuoka Daiei Hawks 133 77 52 4 .594 —Seibu Lions 133 74 58 1 .560 4.5Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 133 66 65 2 .504 12.0Chiba Lotte Marines 133 65 65 3 .500 12.5Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 133 61 70 2 .466 17.0Orix BlueWave 133 49 72 2 .376 29.0
Playoff 1st stage Seibu Lions (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1) GameScoreDateLocation1Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 7, Seibu Lions – 10October 1Seibu Dome2Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5, Seibu Lions – 4October 2Seibu Dome3Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5, Seibu Lions – 6October 3Seibu Dome
Playoff 2nd stage Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (2) vs. Seibu Lions (3) GameScoreDateLocation1Seibu Lions – 3, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks – 9October 6Fukuoka Dome2Seibu Lions – 11, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks – 1October 7Fukuoka Dome3Seibu Lions – 6, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks – 5October 9Fukuoka Dome4Seibu Lions – 1, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks – 4October 10Fukuoka Dome5Seibu Lions – 4, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks – 3 (10 innings)October 11Fukuoka Dome
Japan Series
Chunichi Dragons (3) vs. Seibu Lions (4) GameScoreDateLocationAttendance1 Dragons – 0, Lions – 2 October 16Nagoya Dome 37,9092 Dragons – 11, Lions – 6 October 17Nagoya Dome 37,9693 Lions – 10, Dragons – 8 October 19Seibu Dome 23,9104 Lions – 2, Dragons – 8 October 21Seibu Dome 29,0735 Lions – 1, Dragons – 6 October 22Seibu Dome 31,5266 Dragons – 2, Lions – 4 October 24Nagoya Dome 38,1207 Dragons – 2, Lions – 7 October 25Nagoya Dome 38,050
See also 2004 Major League Baseball season
References