Sorry for the two-day delay in putting out the newsletter! I wanted to wait until NPB announced its awards for the 2021 season, which it did today. Here are the winners:
Central League
Most Valuable Player
Munetaka Murakami, 3B, Yakult Swallows: .278/.408/.566, 39 HR, 112 RBI, 12 SB
Rookie of the Year
Ryoji Kuribayashi, RHP, Hiroshima Carp: 52.1 IP, 0 W, 1 L, 81 K, 37 SV, 0.86 ERA
Best Nine
P: Yuya Yanagi, Dragons (first)*
C: Yuhei Nakamura, Swallows (second)*
1B: Jefry Marte, Tigers (first)
2B: Tetsuto Yamada, Swallows (sixth)
3B: Munetaka Murakami, Swallows (first at 3B, won 1B in 2020)
SS: Hayato Sakamoto, Giants (seventh)*
OF: Seiya Suzuki, Carp (sixth)*
OF: Koji Chikamoto, Tigers (first)*
OF: Yasutaka Shiomi, Swallows (first)
* = Also won Golden Glove (outstanding defense)
Other Golden Glove Winners
1B: Dayan Viciedo, Dragons
2B: Ryosuke Kikuchi, Carp
3B: Kazuma Okamoto, Giants
OF: Yohei Ohshima, Dragons
Pacific League
Most Valuable Player
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP, Orix Buffaloes: 193.2 IP, 18 W, 5 L, 206 K, 1.39 ERA, Eiji Sawamura Award Winner
Rookie of the Year
Hiroya Miyagi, LHP, Orix Buffaloes: 147 IP, 13 W, 4 L, 131 K, 2.51 ERA
Best Nine
P: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Buffaloes (first)*
C: Tomoya Mori, Lions (third)
1B: Brandon Laird, Marines (first at 1B, won 3B in 2016 w/Fighters)
2B: Shogo Nakamura, Marines (first)*
3B: Yuma Mune, Buffaloes (first)*
SS: Sosuke Genda, Lions (fourth)*
OF: Masataka Yoshida, Buffaloes (fourth)
OF: Yutaro Sugimoto, Buffaloes (first)
OF: Yuki Yanagita, Hawks (sixth)*
DH: Kensuke Kondoh, Fighters (second at DH, won OF in 2020)
* = Also won Golden Glove (outstanding defense)
Other Golden Glove Winners
C: Takuya Kai, Hawks
1B: Akira Nakamura, Hawks
OF: Takashi Ogino, Marines
OF: Ryosuke Tatsumi, Eagles
That is a whole lot of excellence. We will be back one last time closer to the end of 2021, but we’ll still wish you a happy holidays now!
