2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season
# 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 62nd season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The season was delayed by the Tohoku earthquake. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, based in northern Japan, and coached by Senichi Hoshino, were particularly affected by the quake, as the Miyagi Baseball Stadium was badly damaged.

Because of energy concerns following the earthquake, NPB also imposed restrictions on games during the regular season. A three-hour-thirty-minute rule was imposed. If a game went past the 3:30 mark, regardless of inning, the inning in question would be the last inning. A game would be called should any blackout occur during the game. The 3:30 clock starts at the first pitch of the game and continues in case of any delay.

At the season's end, the Yokohama BayStars was renamed as Yokohama DeNA BayStars as the owner changes.

## Regular season standings

Central League regular season standings :

| Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chunichi Dragons | 144 | 75 | 59 | 10 | .560 | — |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 144 | 70 | 59 | 15 | .543 | 2.5 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 144 | 71 | 62 | 11 | .534 | 3.5 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 144 | 68 | 70 | 6 | .493 | 9.0 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 144 | 60 | 76 | 8 | .441 | 16.0 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 144 | 47 | 86 | 11 | .353 | 27.5 |

Pacific League regular season standings :

| Team | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 144 | 88 | 46 | 10 | .657 | — |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 144 | 72 | 65 | 7 | .526 | 17.5 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 144 | 68 | 67 | 9 | .504 | 20.5 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 144 | 69 | 68 | 7 | .504 | 20.5 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 144 | 66 | 71 | 7 | .482 | 23.5 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 144 | 54 | 79 | 11 | .406 | 33.5 |

## Climax Series

Note: All of the games that are played in the first two rounds of the Climax Series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advances if the round ends in a tie.

| First Stage | First Stage | First Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Final Stage | Japan Series | Japan Series | Japan Series |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Central League | Central League | Central League | 1 | Chunichi Dragons | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 2 | 2 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Yomiuri Giants | 1 | | | | CL1 | Chunichi Dragons | 3 |
| | | | | | | PL1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 4 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 0 | 3 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 0 | | | |
| 3 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 2 | | | | | | |

### First stage

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

**Central League**

Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2) vs. Yomiuri Giants (1)

| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | October 29 | Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:28 | 32,339 |
| 2 | October 30 | Yomiuri Giants – 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:24 | 32,148 |
| 3 | October 31 | Yomiuri Giants – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 2:51 | 31,687 |

**Pacific League**

Saitama Seibu Lions (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (0)

| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | October 29 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 5, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2 | Sapporo Dome | 3:55 | 42,063 |
| 2 | October 30 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 8, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1 | Sapporo Dome | 3:15 | 41,926 |

### Final stage

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

**Central League**

Chunichi Dragons (4) vs. Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2)

| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | November 2 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 2 | Nagoya Dome | 3:05 | 34,689 |
| 2 | November 3 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3, Chunichi Dragons – 1 | Nagoya Dome | 2:53 | 38,414 |
| 3 | November 4 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Chunichi Dragons – 1 | Nagoya Dome | 3:50 | 37,599 |
| 4 | November 5 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 5 | Nagoya Dome | 3:08 | 38,342 |
| 5 | November 6 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 2 | Nagoya Dome | 2:51 | 38,252 |

**Pacific League**

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4) vs. Saitama Seibu Lions (0)

| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | November 3 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Yahoo Dome | 2:57 | 37,025 |
| 2 | November 4 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 7 | Yahoo Dome | 3:10 | 35,021 |
| 3 | November 5 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 | Yahoo Dome | 4:00 | 37,025 |

## Japan Series

PL Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4) vs. CL Chunichi Dragons (3)

| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | November 12 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:31 | 34,457 |
| 2 | November 13 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:44 | 34,758 |
| 3 | November 15 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Chunichi Dragons – 2 | Nagoya Dome | 3:22 | 38,041 |
| 4 | November 16 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2, Chunichi Dragons – 1 | Nagoya Dome | 3:40 | 38,041 |
| 5 | November 17 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Chunichi Dragons – 0 | Nagoya Dome | 3:49 | 38,051 |
| 6 | November 19 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:07 | 34,927 |
| 7 | November 20 | Chunichi Dragons – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:30 | 34,737 |

## League leaders

### Central League

Batting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Batting average | Hisayoshi Chono | Yomiuri Giants | .316 |
| Home runs | Wladimir Balentien | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 31 |
| Runs batted in | Takahiro Arai | Hanshin Tigers | 93 |
| Runs | Norichika Aoki | Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 73 |
| Hits | Matt Murton | Hanshin Tigers | 180 |
| Stolen bases | Daisuke Fujimura | Yomiuri Giants | 28 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wins | Tetsuya Utsumi Kazuki Yoshimi | Yomiuri Giants Chunichi Dragons | 18 |
| Losses | Kentaro Takasaki | Yokohama BayStars | 15 |
| Earned run average | Kazuki Yoshimi | Chunichi Dragons | 1.65 |
| Strikeouts | Kenta Maeda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 192 |
| Innings pitched | Kenta Maeda | Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 216 |
| Saves | Kyuji Fujikawa | Hanshin Tigers | 41 |

### Pacific League

Batting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Batting average | Seiichi Uchikawa | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | .338 |
| Home runs | Takeya Nakamura | Saitama Seibu Lions | 48 |
| Runs batted in | Takeya Nakamura | Saitama Seibu Lions | 116 |
| Runs | Takeya Nakamura | Saitama Seibu Lions | 97 |
| Hits | Tomotaka Sakaguchi | Orix Buffaloes | 175 |
| Stolen bases | Yuichi Honda | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 60 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wins | D. J. Houlton Masahiro Tanaka | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 19 |
| Losses | Yoshihisa Naruse Masaru Takeda Hideaki Wakui | Chiba Lotte Marines Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Saitama Seibu Lions | 12 |
| Earned run average | Masahiro Tanaka | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 1.27 |
| Strikeouts | Yu Darvish | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 276 |
| Innings pitched | Yu Darvish | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 232 |
| Saves | Hisashi Takeda | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 37 |
