2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

2015 NPB season
2015 NPB season
League	Nippon Professional Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	March 27 – October 29
Central League pennant
League champions	Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Runners-up	Yomiuri Giants
Season MVP	Tetsuto Yamada (Yakult)
Pacific League pennant
League champions	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Runners-up	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Season MVP	Yuki Yanagita (SoftBank)
Climax Series
CL champions	Tokyo Yakult Swallows
CL runners-up	Yomiuri Giants
PL champions	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
PL runners-up	Chiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
Champions	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Runners-up	Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Finals MVP	Dae-ho Lee (SoftBank)
NPB seasons
	← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.

Incidents

A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NPB games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball.^[1]^[2]

Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings
Team	G	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
Tokyo Yakult Swallows	143	76	65	2	.539	–
Yomiuri Giants	143	75	67	1	.528	1.5
Hanshin Tigers	143	70	71	2	.496	6.0
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	143	69	71	3	.493	6.5
Chunichi Dragons	143	62	77	4	.446	13.0
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	143	62	80	1	.437	14.5

Pacific League regular season standings
Team	G	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	143	90	49	4	.647	–
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	143	79	62	2	.560	12.0
Chiba Lotte Marines	143	73	69	1	.511	19.0
Saitama Seibu Lions	143	69	69	5	.500	20.5
Orix Buffaloes	143	61	80	2	.433	30.0
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	143	57	83	3	.410	33.0

Climax Series

Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system (Climax Series), all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended in a tie.


First stage			Final stage			Japan Series



Central League			1	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	4

2	Yomiuri Giants	2	2	Yomiuri Giants	1

3	Hanshin Tigers	1				CL1	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	1

						PL1	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	4

Pacific League			1	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	4

2	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	1	3	Chiba Lotte Marines	0

3	Chiba Lotte Marines	2

First stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received byes to the championship round.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants (2) vs. Hanshin Tigers (1)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 10	Hanshin Tigers – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3	Tokyo Dome	3:40	45,298
2	October 11	Hanshin Tigers – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2	Tokyo Dome	3:48	46,698
3	October 12	Hanshin Tigers – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 3	Tokyo Dome	2:48	46,067

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 10	Chiba Lotte Marines – 9, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3	Sapporo Dome	3:28	41,138
2	October 11	Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4	Sapporo Dome	3:06	41,138
3	October 12	Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1	Sapporo Dome	3:42	32,201

Final stage

The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received a one-game advantage.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants (1) vs. Tokyo Yakult Swallows (4)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 14	Yomiuri Giants – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 1	Meiji Jingu Stadium	3:38	31,502
2	October 15	Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 4	Meiji Jingu Stadium	2:51	31,274
3	October 16	Yomiuri Giants – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 2	Meiji Jingu Stadium	3:27	33,102
4	October 17	Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tokyo Yakult Swallows– 3	Meiji Jingu Stadium	2:58	34,038

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines (0) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 14	Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 (10 innings)	Fukuoka Dome	3:43	37,360
2	October 15	Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6	Fukuoka Dome	2:59	37,603
3	October 16	Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3	Fukuoka Dome	2:53	37,235

Japan Series

CL Tokyo Yakult Swallows (1) vs. PL Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)

Game	Date	Score	Location	Time	Attendance
1	October 24	Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4	Fukuoka Dome	3:04	35,732
2	October 25	Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4	Fukuoka Dome	3:35	35,764
3	October 27	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 8	Meiji Jingu Stadium	3:38	31,037
4	October 28	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 4	Meiji Jingu Stadium	4:06	31,288
5	October 29	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0	Meiji Jingu Stadium	3:36	31,239

League leaders

^[3]

Central League

Batting leaders
Stat	Player	Team	Total
Batting average	Shingo Kawabata	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	.336
Home runs	Tetsuto Yamada	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	38
Runs batted in	Kazuhiro Hatakeyama	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	105
Runs	Tetsuto Yamada	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	119
Hits	Shingo Kawabata	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	195
Stolen bases	Tetsuto Yamada	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	34

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Team	Total
Wins	Kenta Maeda	Hiroshima Carp	15
Losses	Atsushi Nomi	Hanshin Tigers	13
Earned run average	Kris Johnson	Hiroshima Carp	1.85
Strikeouts	Shintaro Fujinami	Hanshin Tigers	221
Innings pitched	Yudai Ono	Chunichi Dragons	207.1
Saves	Tony Barnette	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	41
Saves	Oh Seung-hwan	Hanshin Tigers	41

Pacific League

Batting leaders
Stat	Player	Team	Total
Batting average	Yuki Yanagita	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	.363
Home runs	Takeya Nakamura	Saitama Seibu Lions	37
Runs batted in	Takeya Nakamura	Saitama Seibu Lions	124
Runs	Yuki Yanagita	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	110
Hits	Shogo Akiyama	Saitama Seibu Lions	216
Stolen bases	Takuya Nakashima	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	34

Pitching leaders
Stat	Player	Team	Total
Wins	Shohei Ohtani	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	15
Losses	Ayumu Ishikawa	Chiba Lotte Marines	12
Earned run average	Shohei Ohtani	Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters	2.24
Strikeouts	Takahiro Norimoto	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	215
Innings pitched	Takahiro Norimoto	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	194.2
Saves	Dennis Sarfate	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	41

References

^ "More pitchers involved in gambling scandal in Japan baseball". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
^ "Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds". Japan Times. Kyodo News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
^ 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2015 Regular Season | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.

[1] "More pitchers involved in gambling scandal in Japan baseball". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.

[2] "Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds". Japan Times. Kyodo News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.

[3] 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "2015 Regular Season | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Nippon Professional Baseball seasons
1930s–1940s (Japanese Baseball League)	1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s–1960s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s–1980s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s–2000s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s–2020s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Japan Series Climax Series

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Hub talks

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Hub rules

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Hub overview

Add your contribution

Inside this hub

Media Collections

Timelines

Articles

Notes collections

Notes

Days in Chronicle

Root Wikipedia Article

2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season

Incidents

Regular season standings

Climax Series

First stage

Central League

Pacific League

Final stage

Central League

Pacific League

Japan Series

League leaders

Central League

Pacific League

See also

References

Add your contribution

Related Hubs