Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series

The Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series is an annual baseball series of All-Star Games between players from the Central League and the Pacific League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers. The All-Star Game usually occurs in early to mid-July and marks the symbolic halfway point in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season (though not the mathematical halfway point; in most seasons, that takes place one week earlier). Each series consists of two or three games.

History The first NPB All-Star game was played in 1951.

For many years, mimicking the gaijin waku rule of the NPB, each All-Star team was limited to two foreign players.Whiting, Robert. You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage Departures, 1989), p. 275.

Game results Year Winning league Score Overall record Venue Host team MVP2004Pacific3–1Pacific 1-0Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsDaisuke MatsuzakaPacific2–1Pacific 2-0Nagano Olympic StadiumnoneTsuyoshi Shinjo2005Central6–5Pacific 2-1Seibu DomeSeibu LionsTatsuhiko KinjoCentral5–3Tie 2-2Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersTomonori Maeda2006Central3–1Central 3-2Meiji Jingu StadiumYakult SwallowsNorichika AokiCentral7–4Central 4-2Sun Marine StadiumnoneAtsushi Fujimoto2007Central4–0Central 5-2Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsAlex RamírezCentral11–5Central 6-2Fullcast StadiumRakuten EaglesShinnosuke Abe2008Pacific5–4Central 6-3Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesTakeshi YamasakiCentral11–6Central 7-3Yokohama StadiumYokohama BayStarsMasahiro Araki2009Central10–8Central 8-3Sapporo DomeHokkaido Nippon-Ham FightersNorichika AokiPacific7–4Central 8-4Mazda StadiumHiroshima Toyo CarpNobuhiko Matsunaka2010Central4–1Central 8-5Yahoo DomeFukuoka SoftBank HawksShinnosuke Abe Tie5–5Central 8-5-1Hard Off Eco StadiumnoneYasuyuki Kataoka2011Central9–4Central 9-5-1Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsKazuhiro HatakeyamaPacific4–3Central 9-6-1QVC Marine FieldChiba Lotte MarinesTakeya NakamuraPacific5–0Central 9-7-1Kleenex StadiumRakuten EaglesAtsunori Inaba2012Central4–1Central 10-7-1Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesNorihiro Nakamura Central4–0Central 11-7-1Botchan StadiumnoneKenta MaedaPacific6–2Central 11-8-1Iwate Prefectural Baseball StadiumnoneYang Dai-kang2013Tie1–1Central 11-8-2Sapporo DomeHokkaido Nippon-Ham FightersHirokazu SawamuraCentral3–1Central 12-8-2Meiji Jingu StadiumTokyo Yakult SwallowsTakahiro AraiPacific3–1Central 12-9-2Iwaki Green StadiumnoneSeiichi Uchikawa2014Central7–0Central 13-9-2Seibu DomeSaitama Seibu LionsBrad EldredPacific12–6Central 13-10-2Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersYuki Yanagita2015Central8–6Central 14-10-2Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsShintaro FujinamiCentral8–3Central 15-10-2Mazda StadiumHiroshima Toyo CarpTsubasa Aizawa2016Central5–4Central 16-10-2Yahoo DomeFukuoka SoftBank HawksYoshitomo TsutsugoTie5–5Central 16-10-3Yokohama StadiumYokohama DeNA BayStarsShohei Ohtani2017Pacific6–2Central 16-11-3Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsSeiichi UchikawaPacific3–1Central 16-12-3Zozo Marine StadiumChiba Lotte MarinesAlfredo Despaigne2018Pacific7–6Central 16-13-3Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesTomoya MoriPacific5–1Central 16-14-3Fujisakidai Prefectural Baseball StadiumnoneSōsuke Genda2019Pacific6–3Central 16-15-3Tokyo DomeYomiuri GiantsTomoya MoriCentral11–3Central 17-15-3Koshien StadiumHanshin TigersKōji Chikamoto2020 Series canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.2021Central5-4Central 18-15-3MetLife DomeSaitama Seibu LionsRyosuke KikuchiPacific4-3Central 18-16-3Rakuten Seimei Park MiyagiTohoku Rakuten Golden EaglesHiroaki Shimauchi2022Pacific3-2Central 18-17-3Fukuoka PayPay DomeFukuoka SoftBank HawksKotaro KiyomiyaPacific2-1Tie 18-18-3Matsuyama Central Park Baseball StadiumnoneYuki Yanagita2023Pacific8-1Pacific 19-18-3Nagoya DomeChunichi DragonsYuki YanagitaPacific6-1Pacific 20-18-3Mazda StadiumHiroshima Toyo CarpChusei Mannami2024Central11-6Pacific 20-19-3Es Con Field HokkaidoHokkaido Nippon-Ham FightersShugo MakiPacific16-10Pacific 21-19-3Meiji Jingu StadiumTokyo Yakult SwallowsToshiya Satoh2025Pacific5-1Pacific 22-19-3Kyocera Dome OsakaOrix BuffaloesYuma TonguPacific10-7Pacific 23-19-3Yokohama StadiumYokohama DeNA BayStarsKotaro Kiyomiya

Hanshin Tigers player voting controversy The fan votes of the starters of the 2023 All-Star Series revealed 9 of the 10 highest voted starters were Hanshin Tigers players. It was the third time in the NPB where players from the same team led the voting in all positions. The controversy stemmed from the selection of players such as catcher Ryutaro Umeno and third baseman Teruaki Sato, whose numbers were not strong enough to warrant an All-Star Series appearance. Compared with other players at their positions, such as catcher Takumi Ohshiro and third basemen Toshiro Miyazaki and Kazuma Okamoto, Umeno and Sato’s selections appeared to be driven by popularity, rather than performance.

See also Major League Baseball All-Star Game Baseball awards#Japan

References