1999 Japan Series
| 1999 Japan Series | |||||||||||||
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| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 23 — October 28 | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Koji Akiyama (Daiei) | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast | |||||||||||||
| Television | NTV (Game 1), TNC and Fuji TV (Game 2), CBC (Game 3, 5), Tokai TV and Fuji TV (Game 4) | ||||||||||||
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (4) | Sadaharu Oh | ||
| Chunichi Dragons (1) | Senichi Hoshino |
The 1999 Japan Series was the 49th meeting between the champion baseball teams of the Pacific and Central Leagues. The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks represented the Pacific League, while the Chunichi Dragons represented the Central League. The Hawks won the series over 5 games, giving them their first Japan Series title since 1964.
This was an interesting series in that neither team had reached the Japan Series in the 1990s (and in Daiei's case, they hadn't reached the Series in the '80s, either). Both teams also had long-standing championship droughts: Chunichi had not won the Series since 1954, and Daiei had not won since 1964, when they were known as the Nankai Hawks. Also heightening the drama was the managers: Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh had been a longtime star slugger with the Yomiuri Giants, and Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino, himself a former star player, was well known for his hatred of the Giants. The two would meet again in the 2003 Japan Series, this time with Hoshino managing the Hanshin Tigers.
The 1999 event was the first time that the Hawks had reached the Japan Series since 1973. They had made a number of free-agent acquisitions and also conducted good drafts over the years, with many of the free agents coming from the Seibu Lions. Koji Akiyama and Kimiyasu Kudoh were two such acquisitions from Seibu. Youth was also on the Hawks' side as they had many home-grown stars like Hiroki Kokubo (.234, 24 HR, 77 RBI), Nobuhiko Matsunaka (.268, 23 HR, 71 RBI), and Kenji Johjima (.306, 17 HR, 77 RBI). Rodney Pedraza was the team's closer, and the first-year foreigner recorded 27 saves to set a team record.
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