2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season
- This article is about the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2015 in baseball.
The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.
Incidents
A gambling scandal involving members of the Yomiuri Giants was reported in October. Pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara, and Ryuya Matsumoto were found to have bet on both NBP games and Major League Baseball games, as well as high school baseball.[1][2]
Regular season standings
Climax Series
Note: In each league's stepladder playoff system (Climax Series), all games in that series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advanced if the round ended in a tie.
First stage
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received byes to the championship round.
Central League
Yomiuri Giants (2) vs. Hanshin Tigers (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 10 | Hanshin Tigers – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 3:40 | 45,298 |
| 2 | October 11 | Hanshin Tigers – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 2 | Tokyo Dome | 3:48 | 46,698 |
| 3 | October 12 | Hanshin Tigers – 1, Yomiuri Giants – 3 | Tokyo Dome | 2:48 | 46,067 |
Pacific League
Chiba Lotte Marines (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 10 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 9, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 3 | Sapporo Dome | 3:28 | 41,138 |
| 2 | October 11 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 4 | Sapporo Dome | 3:06 | 41,138 |
| 3 | October 12 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1 | Sapporo Dome | 3:42 | 32,201 |
Final stage
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (CL), received a one-game advantage.
Central League
Yomiuri Giants (1) vs. Tokyo Yakult Swallows (4)
Pacific League
Chiba Lotte Marines (0) vs. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 14 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 (10 innings) | Fukuoka Dome | 3:43 | 37,360 |
| 2 | October 15 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6 | Fukuoka Dome | 2:59 | 37,603 |
| 3 | October 16 | Chiba Lotte Marines – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 | Fukuoka Dome | 2:53 | 37,235 |
Japan Series
CL Tokyo Yakult Swallows (1) vs. PL Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 24 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:04 | 35,732 |
| 2 | October 25 | Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 | Fukuoka Dome | 3:35 | 35,764 |
| 3 | October 27 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 8 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:38 | 31,037 |
| 4 | October 28 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 4 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 4:06 | 31,288 |
| 5 | October 29 | Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 0 | Meiji Jingu Stadium | 3:36 | 31,239 |
League leaders [3]
Central League
Pacific League
References
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| 1930s–1940s
(Japanese Baseball League) |
- 1936
- 1937
- 1938
- 1939
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944
- (1945)
- 1946
- 1947
- 1948
- 1949
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| | 1950s–1960s | |
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| | 1970s–1980s |
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
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| | 1990s–2000s | |
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| | 2010s–2020s | |
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