2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 72nd season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There were 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.

This article is about the 2021 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2021 in baseball.
2021 NPB season
LeagueNippon Professional Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 26 – November 21
Number of games143
Number of teams12
Central League Pennant
League championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  Runners-upHanshin Tigers
Season MVPMunetaka Murakami (Yakult)
Pacific League Pennant
League championsOrix Buffaloes
  Runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Season MVPYoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix)
Climax Series
CL championsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  CL runners-upYomiuri Giants
PL championsOrix Buffaloes
  PL runners-upChiba Lotte Marines
Japan Series
ChampionsTokyo Yakult Swallows
  Runners-upOrix Buffaloes
Finals MVPYuhei Nakamura (Yakult)

Following the All-Star Series held on 16–17 July, the regular season went on hiatus in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics baseball tournament. The season resumed on 13 August. In the postseason, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows defeated the Orix Buffaloes in the Japan Series.

Regular season standings
Central League regular season standings[1]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 143735218.584—36–29–737–23–11
2 Hanshin Tigers 143775610.579036–31–441–25–6
3 Yomiuri Giants 143616220.4961132–30–1029–32–10
4 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 143636812.4811330–34–833–34–4
5 Chunichi Dragons 143557117.43718½33–27–1122–44–6
6 Yokohama DeNA BayStars 143547316.4252027–37–727–36–9
Pacific League regular season standings[2]
Rank Team G W L T Pct. GB Home Road
1 Orix Buffaloes 143705518.560—38–22–1232–33–6
2 Chiba Lotte Marines 143675719.5402½33–32–734–25–12
3 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 143666215.5145½31–33–835–29–7
4 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 143606221.4928½31–29–1129–33–10
5 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 143556820.4471425–36–1030–32–10
6 Saitama Seibu Lions 143557018.4401530–34–725–36–11

Interleague
Regular season interleague standings[3]
Team G W L T Win% GB Home Away
Orix Buffaloes181251.706—7–1–15–4
Hanshin Tigers181170.6111½3–68–1
Yokohama DeNA BayStars18963.60026–2–13–4–2
Chunichi Dragons18972.5632½5–2–24–5
Tokyo Yakult Swallows181080.5562½5–45–4
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles18981.52933–5–16–3
Saitama Seibu Lions18774.5003½5–3–12–4–3
Chiba Lotte Marines18891.47145–43–5–1
Yomiuri Giants18783.46744–3–23–5–1
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters187110.3895½2–75–4
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks18594.3575½3–4–22–5–2
Hiroshima Toyo Carp183123.20082–6–11–6–2

Climax Series
Main articles: 2021 Pacific League Climax Series and 2021 Central League Climax Series

Central League

Yomiuri Giants won the series, 2–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1November 6Yomiuri Giants − 4, Hanshin Tigers − 0Koshien Stadium3:1121,478[4] 
2November 7Yomiuri Giants − 4, Hanshin Tigers − 2Koshien Stadium3:3321,492[5]

Pacific League

Chiba Lotte Marines won the series, 1−0−1 as a higher seed.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1November 6Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles − 4, Chiba Lotte Marines − 5Zozo Marine Stadium3:1014,904[6] 
2November 7Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles − 4, Chiba Lotte Marines − 4Zozo Marine Stadium3:0714,891[7]

Final Stage

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the first-placed team.

Central League

Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the series, 3−0−1 as a higher seed.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1November 10Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 4, Yomiuri Giants − 0Meiji Jingu Stadium2:3817,792[8] 
2November 11Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 5, Yomiuri Giants − 0Meiji Jingu Stadium3:1917,230[9] 
3November 12Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 2, Yomiuri Giants − 2Meiji Jingu Stadium3:0819,022[10]

Pacific League

Orix Buffaloes won the series, 3−0−1 as a higher seed.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1November 10Orix Buffaloes − 1, Chiba Lotte Marines − 0Kyocera Dome Osaka2:2317,915[11] 
2November 11Orix Buffaloes − 2, Chiba Lotte Marines − 0Kyocera Dome Osaka2:4217,913[12] 
3November 12Orix Buffaloes − 3, Chiba Lotte Marines − 3Kyocera Dome Osaka3:3318,006[13]

Japan Series
Main article: 2021 Japan Series

Tokyo Yakult Swallows won the series, 4–2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1November 20Orix Buffaloes – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3Kyocera Dome Osaka3:4619,297[14] 
2November 21Orix Buffaloes – 0, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2Kyocera Dome Osaka2:5617,075[15] 
3November 23Tokyo Yakult Swallows − 5, Orix Buffaloes − 4Tokyo Dome3:4524,565[16] 
4November 24Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Orix Buffaloes – 1Tokyo Dome2:5020,617[17] 
5November 25Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 5, Orix Buffaloes – 6Tokyo Dome3:1620,580[18] 
6November 27Orix Buffaloes – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2 (12)Hotto Motto Field5:0015,239[19]

League leaders

Central League

Pacific League

See also

References
  1. "2021 Central League Standings". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  2. "2021 Pacific League Standings". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  3. "2021年度 交流戦" [2021 Interleague Play] (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  4. "Saturday, November 6, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  5. "Sunday, November 7, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  6. "Saturday, November 6, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  7. "Sunday, November 7, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  8. "Wednesday, November 10, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  9. "Thursday, November 11, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  10. "Friday, November 12, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  11. "Wednesday, November 10, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  12. "Thursday, November 11, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  13. "Friday, November 12, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  14. "Saturday, November 20, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  15. "Sunday, November 21, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  16. "Tuesday, November 23, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  17. "Wednesday, November 24, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  18. "Thursday, November 25, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  19. "Saturday, November 27, 2021". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  20. "2021 Central League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
  21. "2021 Central League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.
  22. "2021 Pacific League Qualifiers for Batting Championship". npb.jp.
  23. "2021 Pacific League Qualifiers for Earned-Run Average Title & Top Relief Pitchers". npb.jp.
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