2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season

2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season
Year	2004
Champion	Seibu Lions
Runner-up	Chunichi Dragons
MVP	Kazuhiro Wada (Pacific League)
MVP link	NPB Most Valuable Player Award
Rookie	Toshiaki Imae (Pacific League)
Rookie link	NPB Rookie of the Year Award
CL champion	Chunichi Dragons
PL champion	Seibu Lions

2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 55th season of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the final one played under the two-league, 135-game regular season format. The season culminated in a dramatic Japan Series victory for the Seibu Lions over the Chunichi Dragons. The year was also notable for the retirement of legendary pitcher Hideo Nomo from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and his return to Japan to play for the Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Regular season

In the Central League, the Chunichi Dragons, managed by Hiromitsu Ochiai, captured their first pennant since 1999, finishing ahead of the Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants. The Pacific League race was dominated by the Seibu Lions, led by manager Tsutomu Ito, who won the pennant by a significant margin over the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. The season marked the final year for the Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, who announced a merger to form the Orix Buffaloes for the 2005 season, a move that sparked significant controversy and the eventual creation of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Climax Series

The 2004 season featured the inaugural Climax Series, a new two-stage playoff system introduced in the Pacific League to determine its representative in the Japan Series. As league champions, the Seibu Lions received a bye to the final stage. In the First Stage, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, managed by Sadaharu Oh, defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in a best-of-three series. The Seibu Lions then triumphed over the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the best-of-five Final Stage to advance. The Central League did not adopt the Climax Series until 2007, so the Chunichi Dragons advanced directly to the Japan Series as pennant winners.

Japan Series

The 2004 Japan Series pitted the Seibu Lions against the Chunichi Dragons, with the Seibu Lions prevailing in seven games. Seibu Lions outfielder Kazuhiro Wada was named Series MVP after a stellar performance. The series was tightly contested, with key contributions from Seibu Lions players like Alex Cabrera and Daisuke Matsuzaka, and from the Chunichi Dragons' Kosuke Fukudome and Masahiro Araki. The championship was the first for the Seibu Lions since 1998 and the 13th in the franchise's history, solidifying their status as a Pacific League powerhouse during that era.

Statistical leaders

Offensive leaders for the season included Tuffy Rhodes of the Kintetsu Buffaloes, who led both leagues with 45 home runs, and Alex Cabrera of the Seibu Lions, who topped the Pacific League with 43. The Central League batting title was won by Tyrone Woods of the Chunichi Dragons with a .350 average, while Pacific League batting champion Tsuyoshi Nishioka of the Chunichi Dragons hit .339. On the mound, Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers led the Central League with 228 strikeouts and a 2.80 earned run average, and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions led the Pacific League with 215 strikeouts. Kazumi Saito of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks recorded 16 wins to lead the Pacific League.

Awards

The NPB Most Valuable Player Award winners were Kazuhiro Wada of the Seibu Lions in the Pacific League and Tyrone Woods of the Chunichi Dragons in the Central League. The NPB Rookie of the Year Award recipients were Toshiaki Imae of the Seibu Lions in the Pacific League and Kyuji Fujikawa of the Hanshin Tigers in the Central League. The Eiji Sawamura Award, given to the top starting pitcher, was won by Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers. Pacific League Best Nine Award winners included Daisuke Matsuzaka and Alex Cabrera, while Central League honorees featured Kosuke Fukudome and Akinori Iwamura.

Notable events

A landmark event was the return of Hideo Nomo to NPB with the Kintetsu Buffaloes after his Major League Baseball career. The season was overshadowed by the announcement of the merger between the Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, which triggered the 2004 NPB strike led by the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association and ultimately led to the introduction of the Climax Series and the creation of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Sadaharu Oh managed his final season with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks before retiring. Additionally, Ichiro Suzuki departed the Orix BlueWave for the Seattle Mariners after the 2000 season, but his success in MLB continued to be a major storyline in Japanese baseball.

Category:Nippon Professional Baseball seasons Category:2004 in Japanese sport