Central and Pacific League Awards 1997

November 18, 1997

  1. Sawamura Award 1997.
  2. CL and PL MVPs 1997.
  3. CL and PL Rookies of the Year 1997.
  4. CL Best Nine Voting 1997.
  5. PL Best Nine Voting 1997.
  6. CL Gold Glove Voting 1997.(Nov. 18)
  7. PL Gold Glove Voting 1997. (Nov. 18)


1. Sawamura Award 1997.

Fumiya Nishiguchi (Seibu Lions) received four out of five votes from the Sawamura Award selection comittee, beating out Chunichi Dragons' pitcher Masahiro Yamamoto. The Sawamura award is given to the outstanding pitcher of the season from either league. Nishiguchi tied for the Pacific League lead in wins with 15. He led both leagues in strikeouts with 192. He pitched 10 complete games (second most in the PL) and had a 3.12 ERA (seventh best in the PL).
Yamamoto, on the other hand, led both leagues in wins with 18, finished second in the CL in ERA (2.92), led the league in strikeouts with 159. Yamamoto was overlooked by the commmittee because he had only four complete games. Committee member Takehiko Bessho said bluntly, "Yamamoto just didn't have enough complete games, and a starting pitcher's job is to stay out there until the end."

2. CL and PL MVPs 1997.

Central League

Swallows' catcher Atsuya Furuta (31) received 133 of 177 first place votes to win his second career league MVP award. He became the first CL catcher to do so. Furuta finished well ahead of teammate and CL home run champ Dwayne Hosey in points751 to 460. Yokohama BayStars' relief ace Kazuhiro Sasaki finished third with 170 points.

Pacific League

In the Pacific League, Lions' pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi (24) edged out his batterymate, catcher Tsutomu Ito for the MVP award. Ito attracted more first place votes but was fell short of Nishiguchi's point total. Nishiguchi was named on 136 of the 142 ballots cast, while Ito's name appeared on only 105 ballots. The third best point total went to Lions' shortstop Kazuo Matsui with 139.

3. CL and PL Rookies of the Year 1997.

Central League

Carp catcher Toshikazu Sawazaki (22), Hiroshima's first-round draft pick, received 148 of 178 votes. Sawazaki, a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University, appeared in 38 games this season. He pitched 156 1/3 innings, won 12 and lost 8, with a 3.74 ERA.


Pacific League

Marines' shortstop Makoto Kosaka (23), was his team's fifth pick in the November 1996 draft. Kosaka came out of the industrial leagues where he played for JR Higashi Nihon Tohoku. He received 106 of 142 votes. Kosaka played outstanding defense at short. He appeared in every game, hit reasonably well (.261 average), drew 49 walks and stole a rookie-record 56 bases.

4. CL Best Nine Voting 1997 (169 ballots cast)

Pitcher		Team	Votes	Times				
Yamamoto	 CHU	  110	    2				
Sasaki		 YOK	   38					
Tabata		 YAK	   10					
Ono		 HIR	    5								
Ishii,K		 YAK	    4								
Yoshii		 YAK	    2							

Catcher		Team	Votes	Times				
Furuta		 YAK	  166	    5				
Tanishige	 YOK	    3					

Firstbase	Team	Votes	Times				
Lopez		 HIR	  149	    2				
Komada		 YOK	   16				
Kiyohara	 YOM	    3					
Hiratsuka	 HAN	    1					

Secondbase	Team	Votes	Times
Rose		 YOK	  160	    3				
Dobashi		 YAK	    5					
Wada		 HAN	    4					

Thirdbase	Team	Votes	Times
Gomez		 CHU	  138	    1				
Eto		 HIR	   20					
Ikeyama		 YAK	   10					
Shindo		 YOK	    1								

Shortstop	Team	Votes	Times
Ishii		 YOK	  143	    1				
Miyamoto	 YAK	   13					
Nomura		 HIR	   12					
Kawai		 YOM	    1								

Outfield	Team	Votes	Times
Matsui		 YOM	  164	    3				
Suzuki		 YOK	  160	    1				
Hosey		 YAK	  136	    1				
Kanemoto	 HIR	   20					
Iida		 YAK	   13					
Ogata		 HIR	    8					
Haru		 YOK	    3					
Maeda		 HIR	    1								
Shimizu		 YOM	    1					
Shinjo		 HAN	    1					



5. PL Best Nine Voting 1997 (131 ballots cast)

Pitcher Team Votes Times Nishiguchi SEI 127 1 Koike KIN 3 Komiyama LOT 1 Catcher Team Votes Times Ito SEI 108 8 Jojima DAI 23 Firstbase Team Votes Times Clark KIN 68 1 Takagi,T SEI 45 Yoshinaga DAI 8 Kokubo DAI 5 Martinez SEI 4 Wilson NIP 1 Secondbase Team Votes Times Kokubo DAI 117 2 Kaneko NIP 7 Mizuguchi KIN 4 Hori LOT 2 Takagi,H SEI 1 Thirdbase Team Votes Times Suzuki,K SEI 127 1 Kataoka NIP 2 Kokubo DAI 2 Shortstop Team Votes Times Matsui SEI 126 1 Kosaka LOT 4 Tanaka NIP 1 Outfield Team Votes Times "Ichiro" Suzuki ORX 131 4 Rhodes KIN 104 1 Sasaki SEI 78 6 Taguchi ORX 60 Otomo SEI 10 Ueda NIP 9 Ide NIP 1 DH Team Votes Times Martinez SEI 94 1 Wilson NIP 23 Clark KIN 8 Yoshinaga DAI 6

CL Gold Glove Voting 1997 (173 ballots cast)

Pitcher		Team	Votes	Times				
Kuwata		 YOM	   89	    6
Tabata		 YAK	   37					
Yamamoto	 CHU	   14	   				
Ono		 HIR	   12	
Galvez		 YOM	    6	
Yabu		 HAN	    4	
Yoshii		 YAK	    2	
Nomura		 YOK	    2	
Sasaki		 YOK	    2					
Hirota		 YAK	    1	
Ito		 HAN	    1	

Catcher		Team	Votes	Times				
Furuta		 YAK	  172	    6				
Tanishige	 YOK	    1					

Firstbase	Team	Votes	Times				
Komada		 YOK	  139	    8
Lopez		 HIR	   15	    				
Kiyohara	 YOM	    5					
Kobayakawa       YAK	    1	
Taiho		 CHU	    1	

Secondbase	Team	Votes	Times
Tatsunami        CHU	   65	    3
Rose		 YOK	   39	  				
Dobashi		 YAK	   24					
Wada		 HAN	   20					
Tsuji		 YAK	    6	
Shoda		 HIR	    2	
Nishi		 YOM	    1	

Thirdbase	Team	Votes	Times
Shindo		 YOK	  102	    1
Ikeyama		 YAK	   38					
Gomez		 CHU	   15				
Eto		 HIR	   10					
Hoshino		 HAN	    1	

Shortstop	Team	Votes	Times
Miyamoto	 YAK	  133	    1
Ishii		 YOK	   27				
Nomura		 HIR	    6					
Kawai		 YOM	    1								

Outfield	Team	Votes	Times
Iida		 YAK	  144	    7	
Ogata		 HIR	  129	    3
Shinjo		 HAN	  129	    4
Haru		 YOK	   45					
Matsui		 YOM	   32				
Kanemoto	 HIR	   11					
Inaba		 YAK	   10								
Suzuki		 YOK	    7				
Masuda		 CHU	    4				
Hosey		 YAK	    3				
Manaka		 YAK	    2				
Saeki		 YOK	    1								
Maeda		 HIR	    1					



PL Gold Glove Voting 1997 (138 ballots cast)

Pitcher Team Votes Times Nishiguchi SEI 48 1 Kudo DAI 29 Komiyama LOT 28 Shiozaki SEI 9 Hoshino ORX 8 Koike KIN 8 Noda ORX 3 Gross NIP 2 Akahori KIN 1 Shimoyanagi NIP 1 Catcher Team Votes Times Ito SEI 135 10 Matoyama KIN 3 Firstbase Team Votes Times Takagi,T SEI 60 1 Donnels ORX 7 Clark KIN 7 Ochiai NIP 7 Thompson LOT 4 Murakami KIN 2 Secondbase Team Votes Times Oshima ORX 86 2 Kaneko NIP 35 Narahara SEI 21 Mizuguchi KIN 19 Kokubo DAI 14 Takagi,H SEI 8 Hori LOT 2 Thirdbase Team Votes Times Kataoka NIP 87 1 Suzuki,K SEI 17 Yugamidani DAI 9 Nakamura KIN 2 Satake ORX 1 Hatsushiba LOT 1 Shortstop Team Votes Times Matsui SEI 78 1 Kosaka LOT 59 Tanaka NIP 3 Ogawa ORX 1 Hamana DAI 1 Muto KIN 1 Outfield Team Votes Times "Ichiro" Suzuki ORX 135 4 Taguchi ORX 124 3 Ide NIP 44 1 Otomo SEI 39 Ueda NIP 18 Akiyama DAI 14 Rhodes KIN 13 Omura KIN 9 Muramatsu DAI 9 Sasaki SEI 5 Tani ORX 2 Brooks NIP 1 Morozumi LOT 1



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