Kurihara takes home run and RBI titles as Pacific League season ends
Version 2: Later reports from Nippon TV News and NHK confirmed the previously reported individual titles, adding the shared most-hits title, the three-way saves split and NHK's confirmation of Kurihara's two batting titles; no earlier facts were disputed.
In short
The Pacific League regular season ended on Oct. 6, finalizing the season's individual titles, with SoftBank's Kurihara Yasuya winning the home run title with 40 and the RBI title with 118. Four SoftBank players, from the league's three-time champion, won titles, and pitchers Taira, Kitayama, Espinoza, Shoji, Sugiyama, Machado, Yokoyama and Suzuki plus hitters Reyes, Nishikawa, Nishikawa, Kondo and Shuto also took categories.
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The Pacific League's regular season ended on Oct. 6, finalizing the season's individual titles. Kurihara Yasuya of SoftBank won the home run title with 40 and the RBI title with 118, according to Jiji Press, Sankei Shimbun, Nikkei and NHK. Jiji reported that Kurihara is in his 12th professional season and that this was his first batting title. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]
Four SoftBank players won titles, Sankei and Nikkei reported, after the club took a third straight league championship. Nishi-Nippon Shimbun described the group as four players winning titles in five categories. Kondo won the best on-base percentage title for a fifth time at .431, and Shuto took the stolen-base title for a fourth consecutive year and fifth time with 30 steals, according to Jiji, Sankei and Nikkei, with Nippon TV also listing Shuto's stolen-base title. Sugiyama tied with Machado of Orix and Yokoyama of Lotte for the most saves at 35, taking the saves title for a second straight year, Sankei and Nikkei reported; Nippon TV also described the saves title as shared by three pitchers. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Reyes of Nippon Ham won the batting title with a .313 average. Nishikawa of Orix and Nishikawa of Lotte shared the most-hits title with 155 each, according to Jiji, Sankei and Nikkei; Nippon TV highlighted the shared most-hits title by the two Nishikawas. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Among pitchers, Kitayama of Nippon Ham and Espinoza of Orix split the most-wins title with 13 victories apiece, and Kitayama also had the best winning percentage at .813. Taira of Seibu had the best ERA at 1.36, Shoji of Rakuten led with 171 strikeouts, and Suzuki of Lotte was the top reliever with 39 hold points, the reports said. Jiji noted that the winning-percentage title requires at least 13 wins and that the top-reliever award is based on hold points, calculated as holds plus relief wins. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Nishi-Nippon Shimbun was first to report the results at 21:20 on Oct. 6, followed by Jiji Press and Sankei Shimbun at 22:12 and Nikkei after midnight on Oct. 7. Nippon TV News listed the title holders by club at 06:00, and NHK, the public broadcaster, reported Kurihara's two titles at 12:32. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
Why it matters
The titles close out the Pacific League regular season and frame the postseason picture, with SoftBank — winners of a third straight league crown — again supplying the most individual title winners. The documents present the awards as a statistical record of the season and give no indication of wider consequences.
Key facts
- Kurihara (SoftBank) won the home run title with 40 and the RBI title with 118 [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]
- The Pacific League regular season ended on Oct. 6 and the individual titles were finalized [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]
- Four SoftBank players won individual titles, according to Sankei and Nikkei, after the club won a third straight league championship [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- Reyes (Nippon Ham) won the batting title with a .313 average [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Nishikawa (Orix) and Nishikawa (Lotte) shared the most-hits title with 155 each [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- Kitayama (Nippon Ham) and Espinoza (Orix) split the most-wins title with 13 victories each, and Kitayama had the best winning percentage at .813 [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Taira (Seibu) had the best ERA at 1.36, Shoji (Rakuten) led with 171 strikeouts and Suzuki (Lotte) was the top reliever with 39 hold points [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kondo (SoftBank) won the best on-base percentage title for a fifth time at .431, and Shuto (SoftBank) took the stolen-base title for a fourth straight year and fifth time with 30 steals [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Kurihara of SoftBank won the Pacific League home run and RBI titles with 40 home runs and 118 RBIs [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]
- The Pacific League regular season ended on Oct. 6 and the individual titles were finalized [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ]
- Four SoftBank players won individual titles this season [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- Pitchers Taira (best ERA 1.36), Shoji (171 strikeouts) and Suzuki (top reliever, 39 hold points) won pitching categories [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kondo won the best on-base percentage title at .431 and Shuto won the stolen-base title with 30 steals [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Still unclear
- Jiji Press reported that Kurihara is in his 12th professional season and that this was his first batting title Only one outlet states his years of service and the first-title detail; the other documents do not mention it.
- Nishi-Nippon Shimbun reported that SoftBank players won five category titles in four cases, while Sankei and Nikkei reported four players winning titles without the same category count The documents describe the same group differently and only one outlet gives the category count.
- Nishi-Nippon Shimbun's article states that eight SoftBank players won titles last season, the most in history Stated by only one outlet, and that article text is partly truncated.
- No location is given for where the title results were announced or where any related events took place No document names a place.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Nishi-Nippon Shimbun reports that the Pacific League regular season has ended, that SoftBank players took five titles in four cases and that Kurihara won two [ 1 ]
- Nishi-Nippon Shimbun publishes a second item on Kurihara's two titles and SoftBank's four title winners [ 2 ]
- Jiji Press and Sankei Shimbun report the full list of Pacific League individual titles after the season's final day [ 3 , 4 ]
- Nikkei publishes the title list in a Kyodo-supplied report [ 5 ]
- Nippon TV News lists the title holders by club, highlighting the shared most-hits title, the fourth straight stolen-base title and the three-way saves split [ 6 ]
- NHK News reports the season's end and Kurihara's home run and RBI titles [ 7 ]