The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Japan Series opens on Saturday, 20 November, at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. Pacific League Champions Orix Buffaloes will face Central League Champions Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Japan Series the Schedule:
20 November Kyocera Dome Osaka Orix Buffaloes-Tokyo Yakult Swallows
21 November Kyocera Dome Osaka Orix Buffaloes-Tokyo Yakult Swallows
23 November Tokyo Dome Tokyo Yakult Swallows-Orix Buffaloes
24 November Tokyo Dome Tokyo Yakult Swallows-Orix Buffaloes
25 November Tokyo Dome Tokyo Yakult Swallows-Orix Buffaloes
27 November Hotto Motto Field Kobe Orix Buffaloes-Tokyo Yakult Swallows
28 November Hotto Motto Field Kobe Orix Buffaloes-Tokyo Yakult Swallows
The Orix Buffaloes will compete in the Japan Series for the first time since a merger between the historic Kobe-based franchise Orix Blue Wave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes gave life to the club in 2005.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows have won five Japan Series in their 70-year history, the last time in 2001. Future Premier12 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medal-winning manager Atsunori Inaba starred on that team, hitting 25 home runs and posting a .311 batting average. The Swallows last participated in the Japan Series in 2015, when they fell to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (4-1).
"Only two teams get the chance to become the best in Japan, so I want to seize this opportunity," Swallows manager Shingo Takatsu was quoted in the Japan Times. "You don't get a lot of chances like this."
The Swallows and the Buffaloes both finished last in their respective leagues in 2019 and 2020. They looked like unlikely Japan Series contenders at the start of the year.
Game one is expected to be a pitching duel between two of the most exciting young arms in all of Nippon Professional Baseball. Olympic gold medalist Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound for the Buffaloes. The 23-year old star won 18 games and has a 1.39 earned run average (ERA). The Swallows will hand the ball to 20-year old Yasunobu Okugawa, the MVP of the Central League Climax Series.
The Swallows won all three match-ups during interleague play, but the Buffaloes look like the favourites, thanks to a potential better pitching staff. The number two starter will be Hiroya Miyagi, who won 13 games as a rookie. During the Climax Series, they didn't receive a lot of run support.
"The pitchers did their best to persevere in situations where there were no runs scored," said Buffaloes manager Satoshi Nakajima. "The position players scored runs for us at the very end."
The Swallows rely on MVP candidate Munetaka Murakami. The 21-year-old was the starting third baseman for the Samurai Japan gold medal team in the Tokyo 2020 Games and hit 39 home runs. Tetsuto Yamada, the regular DH for Japan at the Olympics, enjoyed a 34-home-run season. Yasutaka Shiomi drove in four runs during the Climax Series.
The Buffaloes count also on some power. Yutaro Sugimoto led the Pacific League with 32 home runs and earned MVP honours during the Pacific League Climax Series, going 3-for-9 and drawing five walks.
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