2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season
# 2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 59th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. The regular season started on March 20 with the Pacific League opener, and on March 28 with the Central League opener. On March 25 and 26, the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics played 2 regular season Major League Baseball games at Tokyo Dome. During their visit, they also played exhibition games against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants.

## Format

### Both League

* Season Format
   * Regular Season
   * Climax Series 1st Stage: Regular Season 2nd place vs. Regular Season 3rd place – Best of 3
   * Climax Series 2nd Stage: Regular Season 1st place vs. Climax Series 1st Stage winner – Best of 7 (regular-season 1st place take a one-win advantage)
* Regular Season 1st place is the champion

### Japan Series

* Central League Climax Series 2nd Stage winner vs. Pacific League Climax Series 2nd Stage winner – Best of 7

## Changes

The Seibu Lions added the prefecture name "Saitama" in front of the team name starting with this season.

As to reduce the interference to teams whose main players would play in the Olympic Games, this year's trade and new foreign players deadlines were pushed to the end of July, instead of the end of June. Also, teams having more than three players selected by National teams were given an extra quota of foreign player limit during the Olympic Games.

The postseason playoff ("Climax Series") regulations have changed to give more advantages to League Champions, now the second stage series will play for 6 games, while the League Champion will have a one-win advantage.

In late June, the Free Agency regulation was amended after negotiation between the players committee and owners. Players are now eligible for free agency after 8 years of service to a team (1 playing year = 145 days on the active roster), players drafted before 2007 are shortened to 7 (University/Company/Independent League) to 8 (High School) years. However, oversea FA right which allow them to play in the Major League Baseball still needs 9 playing years. This amendment is also effective on non-Japanese players. Alex Ramírez, who served 8 playing years in Japan, became a "local player" after the season.

## Standings

### Central League

**Regular season**

Central League regular season standings :

| Team | Pld | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yomiuri Giants | 144 | 84 | 57 | 3 | .594 | — |
| Hanshin Tigers | 144 | 82 | 59 | 3 | .580 | 2 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 144 | 71 | 68 | 5 | .510 | 12 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 144 | 69 | 70 | 5 | .497 | 14 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 144 | 66 | 74 | 4 | .472 | 17.5 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 144 | 48 | 94 | 2 | .340 | 36.5 |

**Climax Series 1st Stage**

Hanshin Tigers (1) vs. Chunichi Dragons (2)

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Hanshin Tigers – 0 | October 18 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 33,824 |
| 2 | Chunichi Dragons – 3, Hanshin Tigers – 7 | October 19 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 33,881 |
| 3 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Hanshin Tigers – 0 | October 20 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 33,021 |

**Climax Series 2nd Stage**

Yomiuri Giants (3) vs. Chunichi Dragons (1) The Giants have a one-game advantage.

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Chunichi Dragons – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | October 22 | Tokyo Dome | 44,072 |
| 2 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 11 | October 23 | Tokyo Dome | 43,536 |
| 3 | Chunichi Dragons – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 5 (12 innings) | October 24 | Tokyo Dome | 45,846 |
| 4 | Chunichi Dragons – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 6 | October 25 | Tokyo Dome | 46,797 |

### Pacific League

**Regular season**

Pacific League regular season standings :

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GB | PCT | Home | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 144 | 76 | 64 | 4 | — | .542 | 44–27–1 | 32–37–3 |
| 2 | Orix Buffaloes | 144 | 75 | 68 | 1 | 5.5 | .524 | 41–31–0 | 34–37–1 |
| 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 144 | 73 | 69 | 2 | 6 | .514 | 41–30–1 | 32–39–1 |
| 4 | Chiba Lotte Marines | 144 | 73 | 70 | 1 | 7.5 | .510 | 41–30–1 | 32–40–0 |
| 5 | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 144 | 65 | 76 | 3 | 12.5 | .462 | 37–34–1 | 28–42–2 |
| 6 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 144 | 64 | 77 | 3 | 13.5 | .455 | 36–33–3 | 28–44–0 |

**Climax Series 1st Stage**

Orix Buffaloes (0) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2)

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4, Orix Buffaloes – 1 | October 11 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 25,532 |
| 2 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 7, Orix Buffaloes – 2 | October 12 | Kyocera Dome Osaka | 26,703 |

**Climax Series 2nd Stage**

Saitama Seibu Lions (4) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2) The Lions have a one-game advantage.

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3, Saitama Seibu Lions – 10 | October 17 | Omiya Park Baseball Stadium | 20,500 |
| 2 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 5, Saitama Seibu Lions – 0 | October 18 | Seibu Dome | 30,918 |
| 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 7, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 | October 19 | Seibu Dome | 33,078 |
| 4 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4, Saitama Seibu Lions – 9 | October 21 | Seibu Dome | 18,704 |
| 5 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 0, Saitama Seibu Lions – 9 | October 22 | Seibu Dome | 21,731 |

### Interleague Games

| Team | Pld | HW | HL | AW | AL | GB | PCT |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks | 24 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | .625 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 24 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | — | .625 |
| Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 24 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | .583 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 24 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 1 | .583 |
| Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles | 24 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .542 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 24 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | .542 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 24 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | .500 |
| Orix Buffaloes | 24 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | .458 |
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | 24 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | .458 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 24 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | .417 |
| Saitama Seibu Lions | 24 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 | .417 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 24 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 9 | .250 |

## 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 | Yomiuri Giants | 3 | | | |
| 2 | Hanshin Tigers | 1 | 3 | Chunichi Dragons | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Chunichi Dragons | 2 | | | | CL1 | Yomiuri Giants | 3 |
| | | | | | | PL1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 4 |
| Pacific League | Pacific League | Pacific League | 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions | 4 | | | |
| 2 | Orix Buffaloes | 0 | 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 2 | | | | | | |

## Japan Series

Saitama Seibu Lions (4) vs. Yomiuri Giants (3)

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 1 | November 1 | Tokyo Dome | 44,757 |
| 2 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | November 2 | Tokyo Dome | 44,814 |
| 3 | Yomiuri Giants – 6, Saitama Seibu Lions – 4 | November 4 | Seibu Dome | 24,495 |
| 4 | Yomiuri Giants – 0, Saitama Seibu Lions – 5 | November 5 | Seibu Dome | 27,930 |
| 5 | Yomiuri Giants – 7, Saitama Seibu Lions – 3 | November 6 | Seibu Dome | 28,763 |
| 6 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 1 | November 8 | Tokyo Dome | 44,749 |
| 7 | Saitama Seibu Lions – 3, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | November 9 | Tokyo Dome | 44,737 |
