This article is about the 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season only. For information on
all of baseball, see
2011 in baseball .
Sports season
The 2011 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 62nd season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950 . The season was delayed by the Tohoku earthquake . The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles , based in northern Japan, and coached by Senichi Hoshino , were particularly affected by the quake, as the Miyagi Baseball Stadium was badly damaged. [citation needed ]
Because of energy concerns following the earthquake, NPB also imposed restrictions on games during the regular season. A three-hour-thirty-minute rule was imposed. If a game went past the 3:30 mark, regardless of inning, the inning in question would be the last inning. A game would be called should any blackout occur during the game. The 3:30 clock starts at the first pitch of the game and continues in case of any delay.
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At the season's end, the Yokohama BayStars was renamed as Yokohama DeNA BayStars as the owner changes.
Regular season standings [ edit ] Note: All of the games that are played in the first two rounds of the Climax Series are held at the higher seed's home stadium. The team with the higher regular-season standing also advances if the round ends in a tie.
First Stage Final Stage Japan Series 1 Chunichi Dragons 4 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 3 Yomiuri Giants 1 CL1 Chunichi Dragons 3 PL1 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4 1 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4 2 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 0 3 Saitama Seibu Lions 0 3 Saitama Seibu Lions 2
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Chunichi Dragons (CL), received byes to the championship round.
Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2) vs. Yomiuri Giants (1)
Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 October 29 Yomiuri Giants – 2, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:28 32,339[ 1] 2 October 30 Yomiuri Giants – 6, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2 Meiji Jingu Stadium 3:24 32,148[ 2] 3 October 31 Yomiuri Giants – 1, Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3 Meiji Jingu Stadium 2:51 31,687[ 3]
Saitama Seibu Lions (2) vs. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (0)
Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 October 29 Saitama Seibu Lions – 5, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 2 Sapporo Dome 3:55 42,063[ 4] 2 October 30 Saitama Seibu Lions – 8, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – 1 Sapporo Dome 3:15 41,926[ 5]
The regular season league champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PL) and the Chunichi Dragons (CL), received a one-game advantage.
Chunichi Dragons (4) vs. Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2)
Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 November 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 2 Nagoya Dome 3:05 34,689[ 6] 2 November 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 3, Chunichi Dragons – 1 Nagoya Dome 2:53 38,414[ 7] 3 November 4 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 2, Chunichi Dragons – 1 Nagoya Dome 3:50 37,599[ 8] 4 November 5 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 5 Nagoya Dome 3:08 38,342[ 9] 5 November 6 Tokyo Yakult Swallows – 1, Chunichi Dragons – 2 Nagoya Dome 2:51 38,252[ 10]
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4) vs. Saitama Seibu Lions (0)
Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 November 3 Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4 Yahoo Dome 2:57 37,025[ 11] 2 November 4 Saitama Seibu Lions – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 7 Yahoo Dome 3:10 35,021[ 12] 3 November 5 Saitama Seibu Lions – 1, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2 Yahoo Dome 4:00 37,025[ 13]
PL Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4) vs. CL Chunichi Dragons (3)
Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 1 November 12 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 Fukuoka Dome 3:31 34,457[ 14] 2 November 13 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 Fukuoka Dome 3:44 34,758[ 15] 3 November 15 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 4, Chunichi Dragons – 2 Nagoya Dome 3:22 38,041[ 16] 4 November 16 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 2, Chunichi Dragons – 1 Nagoya Dome 3:40 38,041[ 17] 5 November 17 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 5, Chunichi Dragons – 0 Nagoya Dome 3:49 38,051[ 18] 6 November 19 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 1 Fukuoka Dome 3:07 34,927[ 19] 7 November 20 Chunichi Dragons – 0, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks – 3 Fukuoka Dome 3:30 34,737[ 20]
^ "Saturday, October 29, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Sunday, October 30, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Monday, October 31, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Saturday, October 29, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 24, 2012 . ^ "Sunday, October 30, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 24, 2012 . ^ "Wednesday, November 2, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Thursday, November 3, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Friday, November 4, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Saturday, November 5, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Sunday, November 6, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 25, 2012 . ^ "Thursday, November 3, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 24, 2012 . ^ "Friday, November 4, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 24, 2012 . ^ "Saturday, November 5, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved October 24, 2012 . ^ "Saturday, November 12, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Sunday, November 13, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Tuesday, November 15, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Wednesday, November 16, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Thursday, November 17, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Saturday, November 19, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 . ^ "Sunday, November 20, 2011" . Nippon Professional Baseball . Retrieved November 5, 2012 .