1973 Nippon Professional Baseball season
# 1973 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 1973 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 24th season of operation of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :

| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 130 | 66 | 60 | 4 | .524 | — |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 130 | 64 | 59 | 7 | .520 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Chunichi Dragons | 130 | 64 | 61 | 5 | .512 | 1.5 |
| 4 | Yakult Atoms | 130 | 62 | 65 | 3 | .488 | 4.5 |
| 5 | Taiyo Whales | 130 | 60 | 64 | 6 | .484 | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 130 | 60 | 67 | 3 | .472 | 6.5 |

Pacific League regular season standings :

| Pos | Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | 1st half rank | 2nd half rank |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st half winner | Nankai Hawks | 130 | 68 | 58 | 4 | .540 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd half winner | Hankyu Braves | 130 | 77 | 48 | 5 | .616 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Lotte Orions | 130 | 70 | 49 | 11 | .588 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Taiheiyo Club Lions | 130 | 59 | 64 | 7 | .480 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | Nittaku Home Flyers | 130 | 55 | 69 | 6 | .444 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | Kintetsu Buffaloes | 130 | 42 | 83 | 5 | .336 | 6 | 6 |

## Pacific League Playoff

The Pacific League teams with the best first and second-half records met in a best-of-five playoff series to determine the league representative in the Japan Series.

Nankai Hawks won the series 3-2.

| Game | Score | Date | Location |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hawks – 4, Braves – 2 | October 19 | Osaka Stadium |
| 2 | Hawks – 7, Braves – 9 | October 20 | Osaka Stadium |
| 3 | Braves – 3, Hawks – 6 | October 22 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium |
| 4 | Braves – 13, Hawks – 1 | October 23 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium |
| 5 | Braves – 1, Hawks – 2 | October 25 | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium |

## Japan Series

Yomiuri Giants won the series 4-1.

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hawks – 4, Giants – 3 | October 27 | Osaka Stadium | 27,027 |
| 2 | Hawks – 2, Giants – 3 | October 28 | Osaka Stadium | 28,135 |
| 3 | Giants – 8, Hawks – 2 | October 30 | Korakuen Stadium | 34,713 |
| 4 | Giants – 6, Dragons – 2 | October 31 | Korakuen Stadium | 38,270 |
| 5 | Giants – 5, Hawks – 1 | November 1 | Korakuen Stadium | 37,761 |
