2005 Japan Series
| 2005 Japan Series | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 22–26 | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Toshiaki Imae (Chiba Lotte) | ||||||||||||
| FSA | Akihiro Yano (Hanshin) | ||||||||||||
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
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| Chiba Lotte Marines (4) | Bobby Valentine | 84–49–3 | |
| Hanshin Tigers (0) | Akinobu Okada | 87–54–5 |
The 2005 Japan Series, the 56th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 22 and ended on October 26, and matched the Central League champion Hanshin Tigers against the Pacific League Champion, Chiba Lotte Marines. It would become the most one-sided Japan Series in history, as the Marines outscored the Tigers 33-4 throughout the series. On the other hand, the Tigers had several worst records in the Japan Series, scoring only 4 runs, an earned run average of 8.63, and getting no home runs.
The Marines, led by charismatic manager Bobby Valentine, pulled off an incredible season, finishing 2nd in the Pacific League, qualifying for the newly created Pacific League Climax Series. They defeated the defending Japan Series champion Seibu Lions, then squeaked by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, 3 games to 2, in a series where they were just one out away from sweeping the heavily favored Hawks.
Naoyuki Shimizu and submariner Shunsuke Watanabe led the Marines pitching staff, one that allowed the fewest runs in Nippon Professional Baseball. Masahide Kobayashi was the team's closer, although he did blow his fair share of saves over the season.
The Marines offense scored the most runs in the league with a hard-hitting lineup featuring Benny Agbayani, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Toshiaki Imae, and star Korean import Lee Seung-Yeop, who led the team in home runs.
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