1
| 2007: Rakuten third baseman Jose Fernandez and DH Takeshi Yamasaki each smack grand slams to left against Orix starter Masato Yoshii in the third inning st Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. Because this was setup by a fielding error, none of the runs Yoshi surrendered were earned. It is the third time in NPB history there have been two grannies by the same team in a single inning of a game. |
| 2005: Rightfielder Koichi Isobe has the honor of connecting for the first homer in the history of the Rakuten Golden Eagles when he leads off the bottom of the first inning by crushing a delivery from Seibu Lions starter Atsushi Okamoto beyond the centerfield wall. Okamoto wouldn't get more than one out in the inning before he was removed, as the Eagles routed the Tokorozawa contingent 16-5. Five Rakuten players drove in two runs or more. |
| 2005: Chunichi Dragons centerfielder Alex Ochoa becomes just the second man in NPB history to register an Opening Day walkoff grand slam and the first in Central League annals in a 4-0 victory at Nagoya Dome. Chunichi starter Kenshin Kawakami and Yokohama starter Daisuke Miura each went eight shutout innings. Kawakami extended that to nine when he didn't allow a run in the top of the inning, but in the last of the frame, Dragons third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami ripped a leadoff triple to left and the next two men were intentionally walked. Miura then left a cookie in Ochoa's wheelhouse and that was the ballgame, the offering exiting to left. It was Kawakami's 11th career shutout. |
| 2002: Seibu first baseman Alex Cabrera clubs three homers in a game against Kintetsu. |
| 1969: Hanshin, Chunichi and Rakuten outfielder Koichi Sekikawa is born. |
| 1968: Yomiuri pitcher Masumi Kuwata is born. |
| 1961: The Osaka Tigers change their name to the Hanshin Tigers. |
| 1944: Toei, Nankai and Hiroshima infielder Yoshiyuki Sano is born. |
| 1937: Chunichi outfielder Toyohiko Aida is born. |
| 1934: Shochiku, Toei, Daiei Stars, Yomiuri, Kintetsu, Nankai and Nishitetsu pitvher Osamu Goto is born. |
| 1932: Nankai outfielder Yuki Oto is born. |
| 1915: Nagoya Golden Dragons pitcher Tsuruo Suzuki is born. |
| 1975: Yomiuri pitcher Hisanori Takahashi is born. |
| 1973: Yokohama pitcher Mark Kroon is born. |
| 1970: Hanshin and Lotte infielder Yoshifumi Ayukawa is born. |
| 1969: Lotte infielder Koichi Hori is born. |
| 1964: Lotte outfielder Pete Incaviglia is born. |
| 1963: Yakult pitcher Akimitsu Itoh is born. |
| 1962: Lotte pitcher Hiroshi Ogawa is born. |
| 1957: Hiroshima pitcher Takuya Inoue is born. |
| 1953: Kintetsu infielder Tokuichi Fukiishi is born. |
| 1953: Yomiuri outfielder Hector Cruz is born. |
| 1952: Taiyo pitcher Hidemi Kato is born. |
| 1952: Chunichi infielder Masayuki Kamigaki is born. |
| 1949: Kintetsu pitcher Mitsuo Okada is born. |
| 1945: Yomiuri outfielder Reggie Smith is born. |
| 1945: Nippon Ham pitcher Mike Kekich is born. |
| 1940: Kintetsu and Chunichi pitcher Yukihiro Kubo is born. |
| 1938: Hiroshima pitcher Takekazu Kikuchi is born. |
| 1935: Nankai and Toei pitcher Ichiro Togawa is born. |
| 1934: Takahashi catcher Shizuma Yamagishi is born. |
| 1932: Shochiku infielder Shoji Tezawa is born. |
| 1930: Toei infielder Etsuro Sasahara is born. |
| 1917: Osaka Tigers infielder Nobuo Kato is born. |
| 1907: Hanshin catcher Yoshio Tanaka is born. |
| 2006: Jeremy Powell picks up a victory against Yakult in his first start as a Yomiuri Giant, making him the first non-Japanese-American pitcher to register wins for three different ballcubs during his career in history and just the second foreigner overall. |
| 1979: Lotte infielder Masato Watanabe is born. |
| 1975: Daiei pitcher Shoji Hirota is born. |
| 1975: Yomiuri outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi is born. |
| 1975: Yomiuri pitcher Koji Uehara is born. |
| 1973: Yomiuri and Daiei outfielder Rin Ono is born. |
| 1968: Hiroshima and Hanshin outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto is born. |
| 1964: Nippon Ham catcher Hitoshi Minamide is born. |
| 1962: Nankai outfielder Tsuyoshi Tone is born. |
| 1961: Seibu outfielder Makoto Ozawa is born. |
| 1959: Hankyu infielder Osamu Yonemura is born. |
| 1954: Chunichi and Lotte infielder Toshio Tanokura is born. |
| 1949: Chunichi pitcher Minoru Hayakawa is born. |
| 1944: Nankai outfielder Yonekichi Naya dies at age 29 during combat in the Phillipines. |
| 1943: Hankyu outfielder Takeshi Omiya is born. |
| 1942: Yomiuri, Hiroshima and Nankai pitcher Yojiro Miyamoto is born. |
| 1940: Nishitetsu outfielder Jose Vidal is born. |
| 1940: Hiroshima and Hankyu pitcher Kiyoshi Oishi is born. |
| 1937: Hankyu pitcher Haruhisa Ando is born. |
| 1934: Kokutetsu pitcher Takehiko Fukazawa is born. |
| 1934: Hankyu pitcher Mitsuhito Kunito is born. |
| 1934: Nankai pitcher Masaharu Obata is born. |
| 1933: Nishitetsu catcher Tadahachi Nakashizu is born. |
| 1933: Hankyu and Toei catcher Takeyoshi Kiori is born. |
| 1922: Asahi pitcher Yasuo Hayashi is born. |
| 2004: Lotte first baseman Seung-yeop Lee unloads his first Japanese homer in a game against Daiei, yanking it an estimated 490 feet plus into the parking lot beyond the rightfield stands at Chiba Marine Stadium off of a 90mph fastball from Nagisa Arakaki. It is only the third time that a ball has been hit completely out of that park in its history. |
| 2004: Hanshin begins the season by sweeping Yomiuri in a three game set, the first time they have ever donw that to the Giants. |
| 2001: Boston pitcher Hideo Nomo throws a no hitter against Baltimore. |
| 1995: Hankyu and Nagoya outfielder Minoru Yamashita dies at age 88. |
| 1977: Rakuten outfielder Eric Valent is born. |
| 1971: Seibu pitcher Kazuhiro Shibasaki is born. |
| 1968: Orix and Yakult pitcher Hisanori Iwasaki is born. |
| 1956: Hanshin infielder Norio Nakamura is born. |
| 1955: Hiroshima and Seibu pitcher Toshiharu Takahashi is born. |
| 1945: Yomiuri pitcher Katsuya Sugawara is born. |
| 1939: Chunichi outfielder Hiroyasu Tanaka is born. |
| 1937: Hankyu outfiedler Frank Kostro is born. |
| 1936: Taiyo pinch hitter Haruo Tanaka is born. |
| 1915: Nagoya Golden Dolphins and Hankyu infielder Yukio Eguchi is born. |
5
| 2006: Yomiuri lefthander Kimiyasu Kudoh had a record day. First, by beating Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium 9-2, he sets a new record for wins by a pitcher after his 41st birthday with 20, breaking Tadashi Wakabayashi's record of 19. He also becomes the second longest lasting player ever with his 25th season of duty, second only to former Nankai hall of famer Katsuya Nomura's 26. It is his 213th lifetime victory, tying him for 17th most all time with Manabu Kitabeppu. |
| 2006: In a freak accident, Yomiuri pitcher Hisanori Takahashi's right cheek bone is broken during a game with Yakult when he is sitting in the dugout and is struck by a foul line drive boff the bat of Swallows centerfielder Norichika Aoki. He is expected to be out more than a month. |
| 2005: During a rhubarb with the plate umpire, Yomiuri outfielder Tuffy Rhodes is ejected. He would subsequently be fined 100,000 yen and given a severe written reprimand. It is also his eighth career ejection in Japan, tying a record held by hall of famer Masaichi Kaneda. |
| 1996: Yomiuri starter Masaki Saito, in a game against Hanshin, throws his third consecutive Opening Day shutout, a new pro yakyu record. |
| 1975: Yokohama, Chunichi and Rakuten pitcher Domingo Guzman is born. |
| 1973: Chunichi pitcher Masaaki Daito is born. |
| 1973: Yomiuri infielder Cho Sung-min is born. |
| 1971: Yokohama infielder Ryuji Okamoto is born. |
| 1958: Yomiuri rookie infielder Shigeo Nagashima makes his debut against the Kokutetsu Swallows. Unfortunately for him, pitching for the Swallows was eventual 400 game winner Masaichi Kaneda, who fanned Nagashima four straight times in that game. |
| 1956: Yomiuri, Hankyu and Lotte pitcher Kazuaki Fujishiro is born. |
| 1954: Nankai catcher Satoshi Iwaki is born. |
| 1953: Hanshin outfielder Kim Allen is born. |
| 1952: Chunichi Stadium reopens with a game between Chunichi and Yomiuri after being much of it had been burned up the previous August. The same two starting pitchers who were on the hill before the disaster happened started this game, Shigeru Sugishita for the Dragons and Kaoru Bessho for the Giants. Yes, that was intentional. |
| 1952: Yomiuri and Kintetsu outfielder Kenji Awaguchi is born. |
| 1951: Nankai and Hiroshima pitcher Sumiyoshi Kadota is born. |
| 1946: Hiroshima infielder Shinichi Yamamoto is born. |
| 1945: Hanshin infielder Hideki Hara is born. |
| 1943: Hanshin pitcher Yukio Nishimura dies in combat in WWII in the Phillipines. |
| 1941: Taiyo pitcher Jiro Hayama is born. |
| 1937: Daimai, Hanshin and Hiroshima pitgcher Tomoo Wako is born. |
| 1934: Hiroshima and Yomiuri outfielder Katsuya Morinaga is born. |
| 1934: Hanshin infielder Hideshi Miyake is born. |
| 1933: Kintetsu infielder Shojiro Nakata is born. |
| 1930: Kintetsu, Mainichi and Takahashi outfielder Minoru Kayahara isborn. |
| 1919: Tokyo Senators, Mainichi and Takahashi pitcher Takeshi Nomura is born. |
| 2006: Chunichi pitcher Masahiro Yamamoto beats Yokohama for the 30th time in his career, thereby becoming the seventh man in Central League history to rack up that man against all five of the other CL ballclubs during his career. |
| 2005: Yakult pitchers Shugo Fujii, Hirotoshi Ishii and Ryota Igarashi combined to strikeout 19 in a game against Chunichi at Meiji Jingu Stadium, a new Central League record. In addition, Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta gets 19 putouts, the most ever in a single game for any CL backstop. |
| 2005: Hanshin pitcher Hideki Irabu announces his retirement. |
| 2004: New York Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui becomes the only man in history to homer on the first pitch of his first MLB at bat while leading off on Opening Day by going yard 429 feet to dead center off of Russ Ortiz of the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. The only other rookie to homer in his first pro at bat while leading off on Opening Day was Heinie Mueller for Philadelphia in 1938, but it is thought that it wasn't on a first pitch. He was the 14th in MLB annals to homer on the first MLB pitch he saw. |
| 2004: Yokohama first baseman Tyrone Woods slams a 500 foot plus shot off the top of the centerfield scoreboard at Yokohama Stadium off of Hanshin pitcher Hideki Irabu. |
| 2004: Yokohama pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki makes his first Japanese regular season appearance after leaving Seattle and earns a save. |
| 1991: Yomiuri outfielder Phil Bradley homers in his first Japanese at bat against Chunichi at Tokyo Dome off of Tatsuo Komatsu. |
| 1988: Nippon Ham pitcher Mitsuo Yoshikawa is born. |
| 1980: Hiroshima pitcher Juan Feliciano is boen. |
| 1973: Hanshin and Kintetsu infielder Makoto Hagiwara is born. |
| 1971: Yokohama infielder Lou Merloni is born. |
| 1966: Daiei and Yokohama catcher Yoshiki Otsuka is born. |
| 1962: Seibu and Daiei outfielder Koji Akiyama is born. |
| 1961: Nankai infielder Akira Ishikawa is born. |
| 1950: Hankyu catcher Yasuo Kato is born. |
| 1948: Nankai and Hanshin outfielder Seizo Yamamoto is born. |
| 1944: Nankai infielder Toshihiro Hayashi is born. |
| 1942: Hiroshima outfielder Kazunari Suzuki is born. |
| 1941: Toei pitcher Takashi Fujino is born. |
| 1940: Hankyu gets 27 hits, 16 BB/HBP and two errors against Nankai and converts them into a record 32 runs. They amassed only five extra base hits during this pummeling, four of them doubles and one a homer. Game time was a mere 1:56 as well in a 32-2 final. Leadoff man Takashi Nakajima came to bat in every inning except the third. Apparently, that must have worn them out, since Hankyu only mustered two knocks against the Tokyo Senators the following day and are shutout 2-0. |
| 1935: Tokyo Orions pitcher Katsumi Nakanishi is born. |
| 1935: Yomiuri pitcher Michio Toki is born. |
| 1928: Hanshin infielder Masayoshi Sakata is born. |
| 1924: Nankai and Kokutetsu infielder Tokuji Iida is born. |
| 1915: Tokyo Senators infielder Soji Watanuki is born. |
| 2010: Former Nippon Ham, Hiroshima and Yomiuri infielder Takuya Kimura dies at age 37 of a cerebral hemorrhage. |
| 2006: Chunichi infielder Kazuyoshi Tatsunami connects for a walkoff grand slam against Yomiuri. It is the second time during his career that he has ended a game with a sayonara bases loaded blast, becoming just the third man in NPB annals to pull that off. |
| 1979: Orix infielder Keiichi Hirano is born. |
| 1978: Chunichi and Seibu pitcher Akira Miyakoshi is born. |
| 1975: Lotte pitcher Shingo Ono is born. |
| 1970: Kintetsu pitcher Motoyuki Akahori is born. |
| 1963: Yokohama and Hanshin pitcher Akimasa Yokotani is born. |
| 1962: In an Opening Day game at Osaka Stadium with Nankai, Hankyu's Motohiro Moroki clubs the first pitch he sees leading off the top of the first over the wall for a solo homer. It is the first time in Japanese history that a first pitch of an Opening Day contest was torched for a bomb. |
| 1958: Yakult infielder Kenta Aoshima is born. |
| 1956: Kintetsu and Yakult pitcher Hiroaki Tani is born. |
| 1954: Hiroshima catcher Shigemi Kimoto is born. |
| 1952: Nankai, Hanshin, Taiyo and Hankyu pitcher Yutaka Ikeuchi is born. |
| 1944: Hiroshima infielder Yukio Saiga is born. |
| 1942: Yomiuri and Nishitetsu outfielder Toshiro Saisho is born. |
| 1940: Hanshin and Nishitetsu pitcher Kazuharu Abe is born. |
| 1918: Hankyu catcher Haruo Itoh is born. |
| 1914: Dai Tokyo, Asahi, Goldstar and Chunichi outfielder Michinori Tsubouchi is born. |
| 1988: Yomiuri plays its first ever regular game at brand new Tokyo Dome. The crown prince is in attendance as are other members of the Japanese royal family. |
| 1982: Yokohama outfielder Nobuhiro Nishizaki is born. |
| 1981: Seibu pitcher Satoshi Yamazaki is born. |
| 1981: Yokohama infielder Shigenori Kuremoto is born. |
| 1969: Yokohama pitcher Pete Walker is born. |
| 1967: Orix pitcher Makoto Yamamoto is born. |
| 1967: Yakult pitcher Rich Batchelor is born. |
| 1966: Daiei, Hiroshima and Yokohama pitcher Kiyotaka Nishi is born. |
| 1959: Hanshin pitcher Yoshihiro Nakada is born. |
| 1958: Kintetsu and Hanshin pitcher Yasuo Kubo is born. |
| 1950: Higasa homers in the third inning against Shochiku at Hiroshima for the first Carp dinger at home in team history. |
| 1949: Yakult and Seibu catcher Taneo Okumiya is born. |
| 1945: Taiyo pitcher Tadakatsu Kotani is born. |
| 1942: Taiyo pitcher Isao Takayama is born. |
| 1941: Yakult infielder Shiro Takegami is born. |
| 1939: Hanshin infielder Motoo Ando is born. |
| 1937: Hiroshima infielder Yoshifumi Inao is born. |
| 1936: Takahashi and Toei pinch hitter Toshishige Minori is born. |
| 1936: Yakult pitcher Hajimu Tatsumi is born. |
| 1935: Hankyu pitcher Kansuke Yamamoto is born. |
| 1935: Hankyu pitcher Takao Kajimoto is born. |
| 1925: Yomuri infielder Takao Toyama is born. |
| 1924: Yomiuri pitcher Masami Nakamura is born. |
| 1916: Nagoya, Dai Tokyo, Lion and Toei outfielder Naoto Asahara is born. |
| 2006: Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto sets a new world record for consecutive games in which one has played in every inning with his 904th at Osaka Dome against Yokohama, eclipsing the previous high of 903 held by former Orioles infielder Cal Ripken Jr. despite playing the last two years with a broken wrist. Ripken sent over an autographed bat and recorded a video message that was played on the scoreboard. Kanemoto finished 0-3 with two walks in a 10-5 Tigers victory. As a side note, nobody from Major League Baseball showed up to commemorate the event or even sent a congratulatory message. |
| 2004: Seibu pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka becomes the first man ever to strikeout everyone in the opposing lineup at least once in a single game. The victims of this feat were the Kintetsu Buffaloes. |
| 1974: Yokohama pitcher Masao Morinaka is born. |
| 1972: Chunichi and Lotte infielder Yasushi Yamamoto is born. |
| 1972: Nishitetsu, Tokyu, Takahashi and Nankai outfielder Yasuhiro Fukami dies at age 52. |
| 1971: Hanshin pitcher Yasutaka Furusato is born. |
| 1960: Nippon Ham outfielder Nobutoshi Shimada is born. |
| 1949: Nippon Ham outfielder Sam Ewing is born. |
| 1948: Nippon Ham pitcher Ken Sakurai is born. |
| 1947: Kintetsu, Chunichi and Taiyo infielder Yukio Iida is born. |
| 1943: Hankyu outfielder Hirobumi Ioki is born. |
| 1941: Nishitetsu pitcher Isao Iwanaga is born. |
| 1935: Kintetsu outfielder Seisaku Ishiguro is born. |
| 1934: Kintetsu outfielder Teruo Iko is born. |
| 1932: Toei infielder Shosaku Ohata is born. |
| 1917: Hanshin and Mainichi infielder Isao Odate is born. |
| 2002: Nippon Ham pitcher Carlos Mirabal is perfect for eight innings against Lotte. However, pinch hitter Kenji Yoshitsuru singles to lead off the ninth to spoil it. Mirabal finishes with a one hit shutout. |
| 1991: In his first pro at bat, Chunichi reliever Koichi Morita slugs a go ahead solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning and became the winning pitcher. He had allowed a game tying blast in the top of the inning. |
| 1985: Hanshin catcher Yoshio Tanak dies at age 78. |
| 1984: Yomiuri pitcher Norihito Kaneto is born. |
| 1983: Yomiuri rookie Norihiro Komada comes up in the first with one out and the bases loaded for his first pro at bat and takes Taiyo pitcher Kazuhiko Migita over the rightfield wall to become the first man ever to slug a grand slam in his debut at bat. |
| 1982: Sangyo and Shochiku outfielder Kazuo Yoshida dies at age 66. |
| 1981: Hiroshima pitcher Hirofumi Ueno is born. |
| 1978: Kintetsu and Yomiuri outfielder Hiroyuki Nakahama is born. |
| 1976: Hanshin outfielder Norihiro Akahoshi is born. |
| 1974: Hiroshima infielder Koji Inoue is born. |
| 1972: Yokohama outfielder Takanori Suzuki is born. |
| 1970: Nippon Ham and Hanshin outfielder Shinichi Kawana is born. |
| 1962: Yakult, Yomiuri and Hanshin outfielder Katsumi Hirosawa is born. |
| 1960: Nippon Ham outfielder Kenji Kuzukawa is born. |
| 1959: Hanshin pitcher Masaaki Fukuya is born. |
| 1955: Kintetsu pitcher Fumio Arita is born. |
| 1950: Nankai pitcher Etsuo Murakami is born. |
| 1948: Hanshin infielder Koichi Nishimura is born. |
| 1947: Taiyo and Hiroshima infielder Hisaaki Fukushima is born. |
| 1946: Hanshin outfielder Lee Stanton is born. |
| 1938: Sankei pitcher Genichi Murata is born. |
| 1938: Taiyo pitcher Akihito Kondo is born. |
| 1933: Hanshin pitcher Masahiro Naiji is born. |
| 1930: Mainichi catcher Yoshihide Sakata is born. |
| 1920: Osaka Tigers, Kinki Nihon, Taiyo Robins and Nishitetsu Isamu Kinoshita is born. |
| 1918: Osaka Tigers, Dai Tokyo and Lion catcher Ichiro Hara is born. |
| 1918: Kinki Nihon and Hankyu infielder Kentaro Yasui is born. |
| 1917: Yomiuri and Kokutetsu infielder Mitsuo Uno is born. |
| 2006: Yomiuri shuts the Hiroshima Carp out 5-0. Hiroshima has scored two runs or less in each of their first nine games of the season, a Japan record. |
| 2005: Yakult formally announces the addition of pitcher Rick Guttormson. |
| 2004: Seibu outfielder Kazuhiro Wada drills a sayonara grand slam in the ninth off of a 91mph fastball from Kintetsu closer Hector Carrasco. It is the 500th bases loaded roundtripper in Pacific League history. |
| 1981: Nippon Ham catcher Shinya Tsuruoka is born. |
| 1973: Kintetsu and Yomiuri pitcher Shinichiro Minami is born. |
| 1970: Kintetsu pitcher Sean Bergman is born. |
| 1970: Orix infielder Joe Vitiello is born. |
| 1969: Yakult, Yokohama and Orix infielder Kiyoshi Arai is born. |
| 1968: Yakult pitchert Yoichi Okabayashi is born. |
| 1967: Kintetsu pitcher Yasuhiro Hiyama is born. |
| 1960: Yomiuri pitcher Hiroto Nakajima is born. |
| 1958: Orix pitcher Ryoji Tani is born. |
| 1958: Nippon Ham and Hanshin pitcher Noriaki Okabe is born. |
| 1956: Hankyu hurler Tetsuya Yoneda becomes the first rookie pitcher fresh out of high school since the beginning of the two league system to slug a grand slam in a game when he connected off of Yoshioka of Takahashi at Nishinomiya Stadium. Yoneda is still the only pitcher to ever do that since 1950. |
| 1955: Seibu and Daiei outfielder Yoshinori Yamamura is born. |
| 1952: Lotte outfielder Toshiaki Yoshioka is born. |
| 1950: Hiroshima catcher Kiyoharu Sakada belts and inside the park grand slam in the third inning of a game against Hanshin at Koshien Stadium for the first bases loaded roundtripper in team history. |
| 1949: Crown Lighter, Lotte, Yomiuri and Taiyo pitcher Masaaki Koga is born. |
| 1946: Kintetsu pitcher Hiroshi Mizutani is born. |
| 1945: Hanshin pitcher Takaaki Shiigi is born. |
| 1940: Hankyu and Hiroshima outfielder Masayoshi Hayase is born. |
| 1938: Daiei Stars pitcher Shoichi Fujimoto is born. |
| 1936: Nankai and Hiroshima catcher Takashi Tanaka is born. |
| 1934: Daiei Stars and Kintetsu outfielder Tadatoshi Saida is born. |
| 1933: Toei outfielder Jack Ladra is born. |
| 1933: Nishitetsu infielder Futoshi Nakanishi is born. |
| 2006: Yomiuri wins its fourth straight series to begin the season, the first time they had done that in 35 years. |
| 2004: New York Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui plays his first regular season home game at Shay Stadium and cracks a big two run double as part of a two hit night in four at bats in front of a large crowd of 53,666. It is his fourth multihit showing already just seven games into the schedule. |
| 1997: Seibu pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi strikes out four men in an inning in a game against Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium. |
| 1991: Nippon Ham is held to one hit against Orix pitcher Yukihiko Yamaoki, but the one knock is a homer by catcher Fujio Tamura and Fighters hurler Yukihiro Nishizaki shuts the Blue Wave out to win it 1-0. |
| 1984: Hiroshima infielder Takaaki Matsumoto is born. |
| 1981: Kintetsu and Rakuten pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is born. |
| 1981: Kintetsu and Rakuten catcher Ken Shinzato is born. |
| 1979: Hiroshima pitcher Koichi Amano is born. |
| 1979: Yokohama and Yomiuri catcher Masakuni Odajima is born. |
| 1977: Softbank pitcher D.J. Carrasco is born. |
| 1970: Nankai catcher Katsuya Nomura, after the previous day's scheduled Opening Day game against Lotte at Tokyo Stadium was rained out, loses in his first game at the helm 5-2. However, since this was a doubleheader, he won in the nightcap 11-4 behind three homers and eight RBIs produced by Clarence Jones. N omura went 0-3 with a walk in the first game and 2-4 in the second in starts behind the plate. By the way, Jones was also making his regular season Japan debut that day. |
| 1968: Lotte, Orix and Kintetsu infielder Akihito Igarashi is born. |
| 1966: Daiei pitcher Masakazu Watanabe is born. |
| 1964: Kintetsu, Hiroshima and Daiei pitcher Tetsuro Kato is born. |
| 1962: Yomiuri, Daiei and Taiyo Yoshinobu Nakajo is born. |
| 1960: Nippon Ham and Chunichi pitcher Tomio Tanaka is born. |
| 1953: Kintetsu and Hanshin pitcher Fumio Sato is born. |
| 1949: Yomiuri first baseman Tetsuharu Kawakami smacks the first come from behind walkoff grand slam in Japanese history when he did it in the bottom of the ninth against Nankai off of Hiroshi Nakahara at Korakuen Stadium in a 6-5 victory. |
| 1948: Nankai infielder Teruhide Sakurai is born. |
| 1948: Lotte, Chunichi, Hiroshima and Hankyu pitcher Kazuto Kawabata is born. |
| 1947: Lotte outfielder Takahiro Tokutsu is born. |
| 1941: Nankai pitcher Shozo Nishimura is born. |
| 1937: Nishitetsu infielder Yoshizo Tanabe is born. |
| 1936: Infielder Koji Shimada is born. |
| 1920: Taio and Kintetsu outfielder Shigeyoshi Morishita is born. |
| 1917: Nankai outfielder Yoshiro Tominaga is born. |
| 1916: Eagles infielder Toshio Kan is born. |
| 1915: Chunichi and Hiroshima pitcher Shigeru Morii is born. |
| 2005: Former Nankai infielder Don Blasingame dies at age 73 of heart problems. |
| 2005: Former Yomiuri, Nankai and Hiroshima pitcher Hiroaki Fukushi dies at age 54. |
| 2004: Chunichi outfielder Alex Ochoa beocmes the first man ever to have racked up cycles in both MLB and NPB when he did it against Yomiuri. He also walked twice in that game. The Cuban-born Ochoa also did it as a rookie with the New York Mets against the Phillies on July 3, 1996. |
| 2004: Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe slugs two homers and drives in seven runs all together to lead his side to an 11-10 victory over the Chunichi Dragons at Tokyo Dome. His last RBI came in the bottom of the 12th on a sayonara bases loaded walk. |
| 1996: Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo strikes out 17 in a game |
| 1980: Yokohama pitcher Joselo Diaz is born. |
| 1974: Orix infielder Shogo Makita is born. |
| 1971: Nippon Ham pitcher Kevin Ohme is born. |
| 1970: Seibu infielder Tsuyoshi Furuya is born. |
| 1966: Lotte infielder Wes Chamberlain is born. |
| 1965: Nippon Ham outfielder Yasuharu Fujio is born. |
| 1964: Nippon Ham and Seibu pitcher Yukihiro Nishizaki is born. |
| 1963: Seibu pitcher Yasuo Kushihara is born. |
| 1961: Chunichi and Lotte pitcher Kazuhiko Ushijima is born. |
| 1949: Hanshin, Seibu and Taiyo pitcher Yutaka Saotome isborn. |
| 1946: Kintetsu infielder Haruo Nakazawa is born. |
| 1942: Hankyu and Chunichi infielder Kiyoshi Morimoto is born. |
| 1939: Chunichi and Taiyo catcher Toshiaki Ogawa is born. |
| 1937: Mainichi pinch hitter Yukio Kuroda is born. |
| 1934: Kintetsu outfielder Morihiko Yamana is born. |
| 1933: Mainichi pitcher Hirokazu Shimizu is born. |
| 1919: Nagoya pitcher Tomoo Kato is born. |
| 1916: Hankyu and Hiroshima pitcher Minoru Kasamatsu is born. |
| 2008: Former Nankai, Taiyo Whales and Toei pitcher Chikara Morinaka dies of pancreatic cancer at age 68. |
| 2005: Hanshin suffers its 4,000th loss as a franchise when they drop an 8-1 decision to Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium. |
| 2004: Hiroshima infielder Andy Sheets goes 5-6 (two doubles, two singles and a homer) with four RBIs against Hanshin at Koshien Stadium in a 12-10 victory. |
| 2004: Chunichi outfielder Kosuke Fukudome slugs his 100th career homer, a two run jack, against Yomiuri off of Koji Uehara at Tokyo Dome in the eighth inning on a 2-1 fastball. It was estimated at 455 feet, landing above the third deck in right. |
| 2004: Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe homers in his fifth game in a row, this one off of a fastball from Chunichi's Masahiro Yamamoto, tying a record for catchers set by Nankai's Katsuya Nomura in 1970. During that streak to date, he has gone yard seven times. |
| 2004: After being hammered the night before by Hiroshima, Hanshin Tigers pitcher Hideki Irabu asks to be sent down to the minors to get in shape. Manager Akinobu Okada accomodates the righthander's request. |
| 1981: Yomiuri infielder Manabu Iwadate is born. |
| 1977: Hanshin outfielder Taichiro Kamisaka is born. |
| 1970: Chunichi infielder Junichi Jinno is born. |
| 1969: Orix pitcher Masayoshi Yagi is born. |
| 1968: Chunichi catcher Yutaka Hasebe is born. |
| 1967: Seibu and Daiei pitcher Tetsuya Haraguchi is born. |
| 1966: Yokohama outfielder Boi Rodrigues is born. |
| 1949: Lotte, Seibu and Nippon Ham infielder Satoru Yoshioka is born. |
| 1949: Yomiuri skipper Osamu Mihara protests an interference call at second base during a game with Nankai and punches Hawks catcher Keizo Tsutsui during the confrontation with the ump. A bench clearing brawl ensues, reportedly the first time that has ever occurred. Incredibly, Mihara isn't ejected. However, he was subsequently suspended for 100 days by the league. |
| 1947: Nishitetsu infielder Akira Kurata is born. |
| 1941: Taiyo outfielder Fujio Watanabe is born. |
| 1935: Nankai infielder Marty Keough is born. |
| 1934: Nishitetsu outfielder Yoshiyuki Kandaka is born. |
| 1932: Nishitetsu infielder Haruo Tamaki is born. |
| 2006: Nippon Ham rookie pitcher Tomoya Yagi throws ten hitless innings on 150 pitches against Softbank at Fukuoka Dome and then gives the ball to relievers Hisashi Takeda and Michael Nakamura, who also hold the Hawks without as knock over the final two innings, Tanaka getting the victory and Nakamrua the save after the Fighters push across a run in the top of the 12th against closer Takahiro Mahara. It is the longest no hitter in Japanese history and the first ever no no to involve three pitchers. In addition, Yagi is only the second man ever to survive pitching a no hitter into extra innings and keep it intact and the first since Yutaka Enatsu in 1973. |
| 2006: Former Seibu outfielder Tatsuya Ozeki, who had signed with Milwaukee only to have that ballclub fumble the immigration requirements, decides to play with Yomiuri. |
| 2005: Hiroshima and Yokohama battle to a scoreless 12 inning tie at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Well, maybe battle is the wrong word, as the two sides amassed just ten hits between them and only once was either side in danger of giving up a run. |
| 1985: Seibu infielder Haruki Kurose is born. |
| 1982: Hiroshima pitcher Choji Mori is born. |
| 1974: Kintetsu and Orix catcher Mitsuhiro Kubo is born. |
| 1972: Nippon Ham, Hiroshima and Yomiuri infielder Takuya Kimura is born. |
| 1970: Hiroshima, Yomiuri and Seibu infielder Akira Etoh is born. |
| 1960: Lotte outfielder Mike Diaz is born. |
| 1958: Hiroshima outfielder Ryuzo Yamasaki is born. |
| 1951: Taiyo and Hankyu infielder Kiyoshi Tanioka is born. |
| 1947: Chunichi and Nippon Ham pitcher Yukiharu Shibuya is born. |
| 1940: Chunichi pitcher Eiji Bando is born. |
| 1940: Chunichi and Crown Lighter outfielder Willie Davis is born. |
| 1934: Nishitetsu and Hankyu catcher Makoto Kuboyama is born. |
| 1933: Taiyo outfielder Hiroshige Kuroki is born. |
| 1925: Kintetsu pitcher Kozo Goi is born. |
| 1924: Shochiku, Taiyo and Mainichi infielder Shoji Arakawa is born. |
| 1923: Asahi outfielder Shiuzka Watanabe is born. |
| 1918: Tokyo Giants, Pacific and Hiroshima infielder Katsumi Shiraishi is born. |
| 1908: Eagles outfielder Mamoru Sugitaya is born. |
| 2006: Softbank infielder Julio Zuleta believes that Nippon Ham pitcher Satoru Kanemura was throwing at hime when he hit him, so he charges the mound and tackles Kanemura and is ejected. He was subsequently suspended for ten games and fined 300,000 yen. In addition, the Hawks ballclub imposes a one million yen fine and makes Zuleta do community service. Kanemura had to go on the disabled list from the injuiries he sustained. |
| 2005: Yomiuri announces tha acquisition of former Yokohama pitcher Scott Mullen. |
| 2004: Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe homers in his sixth straight game, the longest such streak by any catcher in Japanese history. The dinger came in the second off a pitch from Hiroshima starter Hiroki Kuroda. The last time someone had homered in six straight in Central League play was by Hiroshima infielder Rick Lancelotti in 1987. |
| 2004: Yakult outfielder Tetsuya Iida fractures his wrist while striking out in the third inning against Hanshin lefty Kei Igawa at Meiji Jingu Stadium. |
| 2004: Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka tosses his second straight complete game 1-0 shutout against Daiei at Seibu Dome. |
| 1996: Chunichi outfielder Yasuaki Taiho homers in his fifth straight game. |
| 1984: Yakult infielder Heishu Ohara is born. |
| 1981: Yokohama infielder Tomohide Shichino is born. |
| 1980: Yokohama infielder Shogo Kimura is born. |
| 1969: Hiroshima pitcher Ken Takahashi is born. |
| 1969: Hiroshima and Yokoham pitcher Ken Suzuki is born. |
| 1968: Lotte outfielder Yukihiko Sato is born. |
| 1967: Hiroshima infielder Shinji Ko is born. |
| 1959: Taiyo catcher Atsushi Doi, angry at a call by the plate umpire during a game with Hiroshima, intentionally lets the next pitch sail by him and into the umpire's knee, resulting in Doi's ejection. |
| 1954: Nankai infielder Kazuo Ogawa is born. |
| 1950: Nishitetsu and Yakult pitcher Eisuke Fukunaga is born. |
| 1943: Nippon Ham and Hanshin pitcher Shoji Miyazaki is born. |
| 1942: Chunichi pitcher Toshiharu Kamai is born. |
| 1942: Lotte infielder Tsugunobu Ishida is born. |
| 1942: Nishitetsu outfielder Masahiro Saito is born. |
| 1941: Yakult pitcher Kozo Ishioka is born. |
| 1933: Hankyu, Takahashi, Daiei Stars and Kintetsu pitcher Teruo Tanaka is born. |
| 1923: Tokyo Giants infielder Katsumi Oya is born. |
| 1893: Former Tokyo Giants, Hankyu and Sangyo/Nagoya manager Daisuke Miyake is born. |
| 2004: Lotte's losing streak reaches ten games when they go down to Nippon Ham 6-2. They also lose catcher Tomoya Satozaki for at least a month when it was discovered he will need knee surgery. |
| 2004: Seibu pitcher Takashi Ishii hits three batters in the fourth inning of a game against Daiei at Seibu Dome. It tied a record held by four others. |
| 2004: Nippon Ham outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo loses an RBI when a fan reaches out and catches a deep drive in front of the rightfield wall at Tokyo Dome in the seventh. It is called a ground rule double by the umpire. In addition, Nippon Ham starter Tsutomu Iwamoto picked up his first win in two years. |
| 2004: Hiroshima infielder Kenta Kurihara slugs a pinch hit two run homer to left in the bottom of the ninth at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium against Yomiuri off of a slider from Yuya Kubo to win it 5-4. It had been 12 years since a Carp player had beltted a pinch hit walkoff shot (Kohiro Machida on 10/1/1992 against Yakult at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium) and is the seventh time in team annals that has been done. |
| 1994: Yomiuri and Kokutetsu infielder Mitsuo Uno dies at age 77. |
| 1990: Nishi Nihon and Yomiuri outfielder Yuko Minamimura dies at age 73. |
| 1986: Yomiuri infielder Kichizo Toda dies at age 72. |
| 1976: Hiroshima pitcher Ryuji Endo is born. |
| 1973: Nippon Ham and Yakult infielder Noriyuki Shiroishi is born. |
| 1969: Chunichi and Kintetsu pitcher Masaaki Kamanaka is born. |
| 1965: Hanshin infielder Craig Worthington is born. |
| 1962: Nankai outfielder Mototomi Yoshimura is born. |
| 1959: Kintetsu and Nankai pitcher Tetsuji Yamaguchi is born. |
| 1950: Toei infielder Takao Miyamoto is born. |
| 1947: Yakult outfielder Tsutomu Wakamatsu is born. |
| 1947: Nankai, Crown Lighter and Kintetsu pitcher Tsuneo Nozaki is born. |
| 1939: Hanshin and Tokyo Orions catcher Masao Tokaji is born. |
| 1935: Daiei Stars pitcher Seiji Hara is born. |
| 1919: Hankyu and Hiroshima pitchr Takao Okamura is born. |
| 1917: Nishi Nihon and Yomiuri outfielder Yuko Minamimura is born. |
| 1912: Hankyu outfielder Koichi Yamashita is born. |
| 2006: Nippon Ham outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo announces that he will retire at the end of the season. |
| 2005: Softbank infielder Tony Batista hammers the 40,000th homer in Pacific League history during the eighth inning of a game against Orix. |
| 2004: Yakult infielder Ken Suzuki goes 5-5, including a homer, and drives in five runs, one of them the bottom of the ninth game winner, to help beat Hanshin 7-6 at Meiji Jingu Stadium. He needed a triple for the cycle, but couldn't produce it. Hanshin second baseman Makoto Imaoka went 4-5 with a homer and two RBIs. |
| 2004: Five men had two hits apiece for the Chunichi Dragons in a 6-4 win over Yokohama. |
| 2004: Lotte's ten game losing streak ends with a 13-2 wipeout of Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome. Submariner Shunsuke Watanabe went all the way while Ryan Rupe took the defeat. Seven men had two hits or more for the winners and five men had two RBIs apiece. |
| 2004: Yomiuri infielder Daisuke Motoki went on the shelf with a hamstring inflammation. |
| 2004: Daiei pitcher Kazumi Saito was demoted to the minors in hopes that he would straighten himself out after being lit up in his last three starts. It was also announced that injured pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi is better and will start in an upcoming series with Orix. However, reliever Takayuki Shinohara will have left shoulder surgery and will be out the first half of the season. |
| 2004: Orix infielder Makoto Shiozaki suffers a hamstring pull in a game with Kintetsu and will be out at least a couple of weeks. |
| 1980: Yakult pitcher Katsutoshi Ishido is born. |
| 1975: Orix, Hanshin and Rakuten infielder Hidemitsu Saito is born. |
| 1974: Yomiuri outfielder Ichiro Horita is born. |
| 1973: Yakult pitcher Tetsuya Kitagawa is born. |
| 1970: Orix and Kintetsu catcher Toru Takashima is born. |
| 1970: Yokohama infielder Takahiro Saeki is born. |
| 1965: Nippon Ham pitcher Koichi Takahashi is born. |
| 1962: 1916: Osaka Tigers, Eagles, Tokyo Senators, Tsubasa, Taiyo, Nishitetsu and Tokyo Giants catcher Takeo Sato dies at age 45. |
| 1955: Nankai and Daiei infielder Takayuki Kono is born. |
| 1955: Chunichi pitcher Bobby Castillo is born. |
| 1952: Hanshin, Hankyu and Yomiuri catcher Shinji Sasamoto is born. |
| 1949: Yakult and Kintetsu pitcher Yasujiro Suzuki is born. |
| 1944: Yakult and Kintetsu infielder Toshitaka Tameike is born. |
| 1945: Yakult and Nankai outfielder Toru Otsuka is born. |
| 1943: Taiyo and Lotte pitcher Hiroshi Kito is born. |
| 1942: Nishitetsu outfielder Shonan Hashino is born. |
| 1940: Kokutetsu pitcher Mamoru Yokoyama is born. |
| 1937: Yomiuri pitcher Hiroaki Aoki is born. |
| 1923: Mainichi infielder Sadao Inagaki is born. |
| 2005: Yomiuri releases pitcher Dan Miceli. |
| 1981: Hiroshima infielder Toshimitsu Higa is born. |
| 1976: Nippon Ham pitcher Satoru Kanemura is born. |
| 1971: Nippon Ham, Yomiuri and Softbank outfielder Tatsuya Ide is born. |
| 1971: Chunichi and Kintetsu pitcher Takuichi Koike is born. |
| 1969: Chunichi and Hanshin infielder Teruyoshi Kuji is born. |
| 1960: Taiyo and Kintetsu outfielder R.J. Reynolds is born. |
| 1955: Taiyo pitcher Kazuhiko Endo is born. |
| 1950: Hiroshima catcher Masao Ishikawa is born. |
| 1947: Nishitetsu outfielder Mitsuo Komuro is born. |
| 1940: Kintetsu pitcher Masaru Fukuhara is born. |
| 1940: Nishitetsu outfielder Yasuo Ogawa is born. |
| 1934: Daimai, Hankyu and Nankai outfielder Sukehiro Moroki is born. |
| 1921: Yomiuri and Kintetsu infielder Shigeru Sakamoto is born. |
| 1918: Asahi, Pacific, Taiyo, Hankyu and Nishitetsu infielder Junshi Nakatani is born. |
| 2005: The Yomiuri order connects for three homers in the eighth inning of a 9-0 victory over Hanshin at Tokyo Dome. Centerfielder Gabe Kapler leads it off with a drive into the leftfield seats off of Naohisa Sugiyama. Four batters later, rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi bashes a two run homer off of Sugiyama and right behind him is first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who smacks one into the bleachers in left for his 499th career bomb. This game also marked the first time in two years that Kiyohara had three hits in a contest. |
| 2004: Lotte first baseman Kazuya Fukuura goes 5-5, falling a homer short of the cycle in a game against Kintetsu at Chiba Marine Stadium. He also scored the winning run in a 4-3 sayonara victory. |
| 1980: Nippon Ham slugger Tony Solaita becomes the first foreign player ever to smack four homers in a game in Japan when he connected against Nankai. He drove in a total of ten runs as well. |
| 1978: Hanshin infielder Koji Kajiwara is born. |
| 1976: Orix infielder Yuji Goshima is born. |
| 1966: Yakult pitcher Yukihito Ranbashi is born. |
| 1965: Kintetsu, Yakult, Orix nad Lotte pitcher Masato Yoshii is born. |
| 1962: Nippon Ham infielder Hirokazu Kinjo is born. |
| 1961: Hiroshima infielder Keiji Abe is born. |
| 1948: Lotte, Seibu and Yomiuri pitcher Haruo Narishige is born. |
| 1946: Yakult and Nankai outfielder Yoshinori Yamashita is born. |
| 1943: Hiroshima pitcher Yoshiomi Harada is born. |
| 1937: Daiei Stars pitcher Hideo Hanazawa is born. |
| 1933: Daiei Stars outfielder Kazuo Sugitani is born. |
| 1931: Nankai and Chunichi infielder Haruo Handa is born. |
| 1930: Yomiuri and Taiyo infielder Takashi Iwamoto is born. |
| 2006: During a game between Hanshin and Yomiuri, plate umpire Katsunori Tomari collapses and is rushed to hospital. He would recover, The incident was thought to be due to a circulatory problem. |
| 2006: Rakuten acquires pitcher Ryan Glynn. |
| 2006: Yokohama pitcher Yuji Hata beans Yakult infielder Greg LaRocca and is ejected under the dangerous pitch rule. |
| 2002: Kintetsu infielder Akihito Igarashi homers from the eight hole in a game against Daiei to become the fourth man to go yard from every spot in the order during his career. However, among those, Igarashi had the fewest career roundtrippers, 26. |
| 1995: Orix pitcher Koji Noda strikes out a record 19 against Lotte. Orix would lose that game in the tenth inning. It also made Noda the only man in Japanese history to have three career games of 16 or more strikeouts. |
| 1995: Tokyu and Toei pitcher Seiichi Tarui dies at age 65. |
| 1993: Orix pitcher Koji Noda strikes out 15 against Kintetsu. |
| 1992: Hanshin pitcher Masahiro Naiji dies at age 59. |
| 1987: Yomiuri and Taiyo outfielder Haruyasu Nakajima dies at age 76. |
| 1986: Yokohama pitcher Taro Hashimoto is born. |
| 1980: Lotte outfielder Naotaka Takehara is born. |
| 1975: Orix and Chunichi pitcher Masafumi Hirai is born. |
| 1974: Orix outfielder Cliff Brumbaugh is born. |
| 1970: Chunichi, Seibu and Yakult pitcher Hideki Sato is born. |
| 1966: Kintetsu and Orix infielder Chris Donnels is born. |
| 1964: Hankyu pitcher Kenichiro Enokida is born. |
| 1964: Yomiuri pitcher Jimmy Jones is born. |
| 1959: Daiei and Orix pitcher Minoru Yano is born. |
| 1957: Kintetsu outfielder Yasuaki Kanemitsu is born. |
| 1953: Hanshin pitcher Sadao Omachi is born. |
| 1950: Taiyo and Lotte outfielder Shunichi Yano is born. |
| 1944: Hankyu and Hanshin outfielder Takeshi Kiritoshi is born. |
| 1942: Nankai outfielder Nobuo Karasaki is born. |
| 1938: Nankai outfielder Takao Suzuki is born. |
| 1937: Chunichi outfielder Tokio Takagi is born. |
| 1937: Daimai and Yomiuri infielder Yutaka Sudo is born. |
| 1934: Kokutetsu infielder Shigenori Sasaki is born. |
| 1933: Nishitetsu pitcher Yukio Shimabara is born. |
| 1927: Chunichi infielder Teiji Kojima is born. |
| 1926: Taiyo and Chunichi outfielder Zenpei Yamazaki is born. |
| 1922: Tokyo Giants catcher Yoshiaki Shimizu is born. |
| 1922: Hankyu infielder John Britton is born. |
| 1920: Chunichi, Kintetsu and Daiei Stars catcher Iwao Yoshimura is born. |
| 1917: Pacific, Taiyo, Hiroshima and Kokutetsu outfielder Hiroshi Tsujii is born. |
| 2006: During a game between Hiroshima and Chunichi, they combine to use 16 pitchers, the sixth time in NPB history that many have been called to the mound. |
| 1998: The Yakult Swallows hammer Chunichi at Meiji Jingu Stadium for ten straight hits in the first inning to set a then pro yakyu record and score 13 runs to tie a Central League mark for a single inning. |
| 1974: Lotte, Yakult and Kintetsu pitcher Tomokazu Teramura is born. |
| 1969: Orix infielder Paul Gonzalez is born. |
| 1966: Chunichi pitcher Hiroyasu Wakabayashi is born. |
| 1959: Chunichi and Kintetsu infielder Akira Onoue is born. |
| 1957: Nankai infielder Hironori Miyazaki is born. |
| 1949: Nippon Ham infielder Kazunori Aimoto is born. |
| 1944: Asahi infielder Akio Kanemitsu becomes the first man ever to homer in his first pro plate appearance in a game against Yomiuri off of Hideo Fujimoto on an 0-1 pitch. He would finish with just two homers for his one year career. |
| 1941: Tokyo Orions outfielder Yoshihiko Kodama is born. |
| 1936: Taiyo pitcher Saburo Nakayama is born. |
| 1936: Hiroshima infielder Kotaro Egawa is born. |
| 1932: Tokyu pitcher Toji Tosen is born. |
| 1932: Hankyu infielder Yoshimi Katayama is born. |
| 1927: Hanshin pitcher Kiyoshi Uchiyama is born. |
| 1924: Hanshin and Kokutetsu infielder Hiromi Tanida is born. |
| 1920: Hankyu, Nishi Nihon and Nishitetsu catcher Takeshi Hibino is born. |
| 1920: Tsubasa and Taiyo outfielderYoshiharu Nishioka is born. |
| 2004: Yomiuri second baseman Toshihisa Nishi socks a homer off of Hanshim starter Kei Igawa in the third inning at Koshien Stadium as part of a 4-6, three RBI night. in an 11-4 kyojin victory. The dinger makes it 18 games in a row that the Giants have homered beginning with Opening Day, a record. Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto homered twice in a losing effort. However, Yomiuri starter Hisanori Takahashi hurt his ankle running to first in the fifth inning and had to be taken out. |
| 2004: Seibu catcher Toru Hosokawa is hit in the face by Kintetsu Buffaloes starter Jeremy Powell in the second inning nad has to be taken out of the game. He is ultimately diagnosed with a bruise on his jaw. Powell was not tossed. |
| 2004: Hiroshima starter Tom Davey slugs a three run homer in the sixth inning off of Yokohama starter Takashi Saito to help his team walk off with a 9-4 victory. The Carp foreign keystone combo of Andy Sheets and Greg Larocca also went yard, with Sheets' blast also being good for three runs. |
| 2003: Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu racks up his 230th save in a game against Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome for a new Japan record. |
| 2003: Orix manager Hiromichi Ishige is fired and Leon Lee is hired to replace him, thus becoming the first black man to skipper a Japanese team. |
| 1993: Yomiuri infielder Kazushige Nagashima slugs the 30,000 homer in Central League history. |
| 1985: Kintetsu outfielder Masahiro Nakane smacks the 50,000th homer in Japanese baseball history. |
| 1983: Yomiuri pitcher Takuya Fukada is born. |
| 1980: Rakuten outfielder Yosuke Hiraishi is born. |
| 1975: Hanshin pitcher Hiroyuki Yamaoka is born. |
| 1974: Seibu pitcher Nobuyuki Ishii is born. |
| 1973: Nippon Ham and Hanshin outfielder Yutaka Nakamura is born. |
| 1971: Daiei outfielder Koji Wakisaka is born. |
| 1971: Hiroshima and Yakult pitcher Takeshi Sato is born. |
| 1967: Yomiuri, Daiei and Hiroshima pitcher Masaharu Motohara is born. |
| 1965: Yamato, Yomiuri and Kokutetsu outfielder Hiroyoshi Komatsubara dies at age 40. |
| 1965: It is announced that the Kokutetsu Swallows have been sold to the Sankei media group. |
| 1961: Taiyo and Nippon Ham infielder Yasuhiro Kita is born. |
| 1956: Chunichi outfielder Seisuke Toyoda is born. |
| 1951: Hankyu outfielder Sueichi Tanaka is born. |
| 1950: Yomiuri catcher Shigeru Sugiyama is born. |
| 1949: Kintetsu outfielder Mitsuyasu Hirano is born. |
| 1949: Hanshin pitcher Suichi Kira is born. |
| 1944: Kintetsu and Chunichi pitcher Osamu Tanabe is born. |
| 1943: Yakult and Taiheiyo Club outfielder Kunio Fukutomi is born. |
| 1935: Mainichi and Daiei Stars pitcher Hiroshi Yabusaki is born. |
| 1935: Kintetsu infielder Junsuke Shimada is born. |
| 1929: Takahashi infielder Masayasu Mise is born. |
| 1925: Nankai infielder Cal Peterson is born. |
| 1924: Nankai and Kintetsu infielder Chusuke Kizuka is born. |
| 1922: Yomiuri, Nishi Nihon, Nishitetsu and Toei pitcher Toshiaki Ogata is born. |
| 2006: Orix acquires pitcher Wes Obermueller. |
| 2004: Cleveland minor league pitcher Kazuhito Tadano is called up to the Indians. |
| 1991: In his first appearance as a pro, Nippon Ham's Hiroshi Shibakusa tosses a shutout against Lotte. |
| 1975: Yomiuri infielder Kazuaki Miyazaki is born. |
| 1974: Yomiuri catcher Yoshinori Murata is born. |
| 1973: Nippon Ham pitcher Carlos Mirabal is born. |
| 1972: Orix and Yakult pitcher Nobuyuki Ebisu is born. |
| 1972: Seibu infielder Takashi Inubushi is born. |
| 1970: Yokohama outfielder Yukio Yamaguchi is born. |
| 1969: Seibu pitcher Michihisa Kaseda is born. |
| 1967: Lotte pitcher Masahiko Ishida is born. |
| 1965: Daiei, Yomiuri and Yokohama outfielder Katsuo Kishikawa is born. |
| 1965: Hanshin infielder Mike Blowers is born. |
| 1963: Yakult outfielder Takaaki Kato is born. |
| 1948: Kintetsu pitcher Eiji Kato is born. |
| 1942: Taiyo and Kintetsu pitcher Takao Osaki is born. |
| 1942: Nankai pinch hitter Osamu Inoue is born. |
| 1941: Kintetsu outfielder Yasuo Hayakawa is born. |
| 1941: Chunichi infielder Takuro Sano is born. |
| 1939: Sankei pitcher Seiji Shibutani is born. |
| 1938: Daiei Stars pitcher Isamu Hirota is born. |
| 1935: Nishitetsu and Yomiuri outfielder Kusuo Tanaka is born. |
| 1935: Nankai pitcher Sadao Kuroki is born. |
| 1929: Tokyu and Toei pitcher Seiichi Tarui is born. |
| 1926: Hanshin and Daiei Stars infielder Tokujiro Nakamura is born. |
| 1925: Hiroshima outfielder Isamu Ogimoto is born. |
| 1923: Hankyu and Kokutetsu infielder Sakae Nakamura is born. |
| 2006: Former Nankai, Yomiuri and Nishitetsu pitcher Tokuji Kawasaki dies at age 84 of gall bladder cancer. |
| 2005: Former Nishitetsu ace Masaaki Ikenaga has his lifetime ban lifted by NPB after he was suspected in 1970 of participating in a game rigging scheme. Ikenaga has always maintained his innocence. |
| 2005: Rakuten announces the acquisition of infielder Andy Tracy. |
| 1989: Hanshin, Kintetsu and Taiyo catcher Yoshinori Tsuji dies at age 48. |
| 1978: Nippon Ham pitcher Satoshi Yano is born. |
| 1977: Yakult infielder Hajime Miki is born. |
| 1971: Nippon Ham and Hanshin outfielder Micah Franklin is born. |
| 1968: Hamshin edges Hiroshima 2-1 at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium for their 2,000th win since the team's inception in 1936. |
| 1959: Lotte and Yakult pitcher Yoshikatsu Umezawa is born. |
| 1954: Hankyu and Daiei infielder Greg "Boomer" Wells is born. |
| 1949: Hankyu infielder Tsutomu Watanabe is born. |
| 1948: Hiroshima pitcher Tsuyoshi Chiba is born. |
| 1947: Yakult pitcher Takeshi Yasuda is born. |
| 1941: Taiyo pitcher Takeo Kasazaki is born. |
| 1940: Chunichi, Daimai and Tokyo Orions outfielder Hideyuki Kobayashi is born. |
| 1939: Kintetsu infielder Katsuo Kimura is born. |
| 1936: Yomiuri and Kintetsu outfielder Keishi Totoki is born. |
| 1935: Daiei Stars outfielder Yoshinobu Okamoto is born. |
| 1934: Hanshin catcher Keizo Furukawa is born. |
| 1934: Mainichi catcher Akiyuki Ukai is born. |
| 1930: Nagoya pitcher Teizo Kondo is born. |
| 1927: Hankyu catcher Michio Wanaka is born. |
| 1924: Hankyu pitcher Yoshio Tempo is born. |
| 1920: Mainichi infielder Yukio Nishimoto is born. |
| 1920: Nankai and Osaka Tigers infielder Toshio Kawanishi is born. |
| 1917: Dai Tokyo, Lion and Nankai outfielder Kazuo Kito is born. |
| 1917: Eagles and Yamato infielder Fukuyoshi Okada is born. |
| 1911: Hankyu infielder Norihisa Kawamura is born. |
| 2006: Nippon Ham leftfielder Hichori Morimoto leads off the first with a homer for his second game in a row. That is the first time that had occurred in the Pacific League since Nankai outfielder Makoto Sasaki did it in 1987. |
| 2005: An NPB committee votes to outlaw so-called "two part motions" by pitchers. The ban goes into effect in 2006. |
| 1997: Yomiuri and Chunichi pitcher Hideo Fujimoto dies at age 78. |
| 1985: Chunichi infielder Hiroki Nakagawa is born. |
| 1983: Yakult outfielder Yasushi Iihara is born. |
| 1982: Lotte pitcher Tadahiro Ogino is born. |
| 1977: Chunichi infielder Kosuke Fukudome is born. |
| 1970: Daiei and Nippon Ham pitcher Mitsugu Saito is born. |
| 1968: Hiroshima and Daiei pitcher Hajime Mochizuki is born. |
| 1967: Lotte pitcher Brian Warren is born. |
| 1966: Taiyo pitcher Koji Sugiura is born. |
| 1962: Hanshin pitcher Kiyooki Nakanishi is born. |
| 1961: Yakult outfielder Hideki Kuriyama is born. |
| 1952: Nankai and Kintetsu outfielder Hiromasa Arai is born. |
| 1951: Chunichi outfielder Yukio Fujinami is born. |
| 1950: The Daiei Stars beat the Tokyu Flyers 3-0 in 68 minutes, the shortest nine inning game since the creation of the two league system. |
| 1949: Yomiuri pitcher Tokuji Kawasaki smacks three homers and drives in nine runs in a game against the Daiei Stars at Kenrokuen Stadium in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, but he is taken to the downs eight times in the same match to set a record that still stands in a 15-13 final the Giants won. Moreover, the two sides combined for 13 homers, which is also still a record. A strong breeze plus the small ballpark aided the power production. Kawasaki went all the way and garnered credit for the victory. As an interesting side note, Japan's "God of Hitting," Tetsuharu Kawakami, went hitless. |
| 1947: Nishitetsu and Yomiuri infielder Takashi Hamamura is born. |
| 1946: Hanshin pinch hitter Kazuo Imanishi is born. |
| 1944: Yomiuri and Sankei pitcher Toshiyasu Nanamori is born. |
| 1942: Taiyo and Kintetsu outfielder Katsumi Aoyama is born. |
| 1940: Hanshin and Tokyo Orions infielder Kazuo Takaira is born. |
| 1940: Taiyo outfielder Nobutsugu Takamatsu is born. |
| 1937: Nishitetsu outfielder Toru Misao is born. |
| 1935: Taiyo pitcher Kaoru Sakurai isborn. |
| 1935: Toei and Hiroshima pitcher Tadahiro Okada is born. |
| 1933: Yomiuri and Kokutetsu outfielder Toshio Miyamoto is born. |
| 1931: Taiyo Whales and Shochiku Robins pitcher Takashi Ogihara is born. |
| 1921: Asahi outfielder Sugao Togawa is born. |
| 1920: Mainichi and Takahashi infielder Takuji Kochi is born. |
| 2006: Yokohama sends pitcher Ryutaro Doi and outfielder Ryusuke Minami to Lotte in exchange for pitcher Shigetoshi Yamakita. |
| 2005: Yomiuri outfielder Tuffy Rhodes is fined two million yen (ion excess of $15,000) for criticizing team management. |
| 1991: Yomiuri lefthander Kazutomo Miyamoto gives up a single to Taiyo outfielder Futoshi Miyazato leading off the first and then no hits the Whales the rest of the way to just barely miss throwing a no hitter. |
| 1978: Yomiuri outfielder Takahiro Suzuki is born. |
| 1977: Daiei outfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi is born. |
| 1970: Chunichi infielder Shoshi Ogawa is born. |
| 1966: Lotte and Yomiuri pitcher Eric Hillman is born. |
| 1963: Yomiuri outfielder Sadaaki Yoshimura is born. |
| 1959: Chunichi and Kintetsu infielder Shizuo Yamamoto dies at age 37. |
| 1957: Daiei outfielder Willie Upshaw is born. |
| 1950: Chunichi and Lotte pitcher Norihiro Mizutani is born. |
| 1949: Nankai, Chunichi and Yakult pitcher Sanshiro Nishioka is born. |
| 1948: Taiheiyo Club and Hiroshima infielder Tetsuo Yoneyama is born. |
| 1946: The first postwar regular season opens. |
| 1936: Hiroshima outfielder Ryozo Kadota is born. |
| 1935: Taiyo pitcher Sakan Morita is born. |
| 1916: Nishitetsu infielder Kaname Miyazaki is born. |
| 2006: Yokohama announces that will send pitcher Daisuke Mori to the Tientsin Lions of the Chinese pro league on May 3rd and he will be scheduled to return on August 31st. |
| 2005: After a horrific start to their inaugural season, Rakuten demotes GM Marty Kuehner to an advisory role with the ballclub. |
| 2004: Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe homers three times against Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium and drives in six. He now has 14 homers on the season, seven of them in their four total games to date against Yakult. His first blast came in the second inning with a man on off of Swallows starter Katsutoshi Ishido. The second one was leading off the fourth off of Ishido. The third roundtripper was a three run belt off of rookie hurler Yoshikawa. All three went out to right and is the third catcher in team annals to go yard thrice in a single game and the fourth time overall. With the heroics, Yomiuri extends its record consecutive games streak with at least one homer since Opening Day to 21. It also eclipses the previous longest team homer streak at anytime in the schedule of 20 and is the fifth longest such spree in history. Giants first baseman Roberto Petagine also knockedone into the seats, his 199th career goner in Japan. |
| 2004: Lotte leftfielder Benny Agbayani and Daiei catcher Kenji Johjima wach homer twice in a 12-11 Lotte victory at Fukuoka Dome. It is Lotte's fifth straight win against the Hawks since Opening Day and the 15th in a row with Bobby Valentine running the show. Each man slugged a three run jack and a solo jack for four RBs apiece. Four other Lotte hitters chipped in two RBIs each. |
| 2004: Yokohama outfielder Takahiro Saeki drilled a critical two run homer in the top of the ninth at Koshien Stadium against Hanshin as part of a 4-5 four RBI night to lend his side some breathing room in a 9-4 victory. |
| 2004: Nippon Ham DH Fernando Seguignol connected for a three run and a two run homer as part of a 3-4, seven RBI effort to lead Nippon Ham over Kintetsu 15-8 at Sapporo Dome. He also walked. |
| 2004: Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui leads off a game with L.A. with a homer off of Odalis Perez. It is his second bomb doing that in MLB and his second homer of the year. |
| 2004: Yakult pitcher Shugo Fujii gets into a fender bender in Kanagawa Prefecture and sustains minor injuries. He admits responsibility for the collision. |
| 2002: Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu becomes just the second man in history to reach 200 career saves in a game against Hanshin. |
| 2001: Tokyu pitcher Fumiya Tsuta dies at age 77. |
| 1998: Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo slugs the first homer ever by a Japanese in MLB in a game against Milwaukee in his 245th MLB at bat. He also throws a complete game and it is his 100th MLB appearance. |
| 1982: Yakult catcher Ryohei Kawamoto is born. |
| 1980: Kintetsu and Orix outfielder Hiroaki Onishi is born. |
| 1980: Hanshin pitcher Kentaro Hashimoto is born. |
| 1979: Hiroshima pitcher Sean Douglass is born. |
| 1977: Kintetsu and Orix pitcher Katsunari Yoshikawa is born. |
| 1975: Lotte outfielder Akira Otsuka is born. |
| 1973: Nippon Ham pitcher Rafael Orellano is born. |
| 1971: Seibu infielder Hideki Saeki is born. |
| 1967: Chunichi outfielder Mark Ryal is born. |
| 1962: Nippon Ham, Yomiuri and Lotte pitcher Hirofumi Kono is born. |
| 1949: Nippon Ham infielder Hiroshige Saruwatari is born. |
| 1948: Hankyu and Yomiuri pitcher Takashi Mizutani is born. |
| 1947: Yakult outfielder Shuhei Uehara is born. |
| 1937: Toei and Hiroshima pitcher Kenichi Ryu is born. |
| 1936: Chunichi outfielder Toshio Naka is born. |
| 1933: Daiei Stars and Daimai pitcher Hiroharu Aoyama is born. |
| 1932: Takahashi, Toei, Daimai and Hankyu outfielder Susumu Ishikawa is born. |
| 1921: Hiroshima catcher Akio Yamasaki is born. |
| 1918: Kurowashi pitcher Juichi Hasegawa is born. |
| 1914: Eagles and Pacific infielder Kiyoshi Takasu is born. |
| 2006: Lotte submariner Shunsuke Watanabe is ejected in the seventh inning of a no hitter against Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium when he hits Teppei Tsuchiya in the head with a sinker after Tsuchiya had squared around to bunt. Two relievers would allow two hits apiece to finish is a 6-0 Lotte victory. This is the first time in history this has happened and it was the first time Watanabe had ever been given the gate on any level of baseball. Watanabe had plunked Tsuchiya earlier in the game, but neither instance was thought to be intentional, though that first incident may have made the plate umpire suspicious and so he ran Watanabe after the beaning. Watamabe went to check on Tsuchiya after he beaned him and then apologized to him after the game during the hero interview. |
| 2006: Orix pitcher Yoshihisa Hirano throws a six hit shutout at Seibu Kobe Green Stadium, thereby becoming the first rookie to toss two shutouts in April since Seiji Shibutani of Kokutetsu in 1962. But he also becomes the first rookie pitcher to do it since the introduction of the draft. |
| 2005: Yomiuri first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara slugs his 500th career homer, only the eighth man in history to attain that plateau. |
| 2004: Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe tied a record held by two others for homers in a month with his 15th and 16th of the year (the first to leftcenter off of Jason Beverlin in the fifth on a fastball on the outer half of the plate and the second to left in the ninth off of rookie hurler Yoshikawa on a sinker down and away) as part of 5-5, five RBI night where he also scored four runs in Yomiuri's 17-4 clocking of Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium. It is a new April record. In addition, centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes clubbed two homers and drove in six runs. Yomiuri has now totaled up 50 homers for the month, a new Central League record and three off of Seibu's August 1986 standard. Abe has nine homers against Yakult to date this season. He overall has four multi-homer games to date. |
| 2004: Seibu Lions ace Daisuke Matsuzaka is hammered for ten runs, all earned, on 12 hits in 4.2 innings in a 14-7 loss to Orix. |
| 2004: Kintetsu starter Shinichi Kato starts against Nippon Ham at
Sapporo Dome, making it 34 ballparks in which he has pitched as a pro
during his two decades long career. |
| 2002: Daiei closer Rodney Pedraza racks up his 100th career save against Lotte, becoming the first foreign pitcher to do that. |
| 1982: Yomiuri pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi is born. |
| 1990: Kintetsu pitcher Hideo Nomo strikes out 17 to tie a record for his first pro win in a game against Orix at Nishinomiya Stadium. |
| 1976: Yomiuri infielder Tomohiro Nioka is born. |
| 1972: Hiroshima pitcher Yoshiro Sotokoba throws the third no hitter of his career against Yomiuri at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium in a 3-0 victory. He ties the late Eiji Sawamura for the most hitless performances in Japanese history. |
| 1972: Kintetsu and Hiroshima pitcher Masaki Yachi is born. |
| 1970: Chunichi outfielder Koji Yamaguchi is born. |
| 1969: Yakult and Kintetsu pitcher Hiroto Kato is born. |
| 1968: Taiyo pitcher Kenichi Shiozaki is born. |
| 1965: Yakult and Seibu infielder Shinichi Sakurai is born. |
| 1963: Seibu and Taiyo infielder Seigo Fujino is born. |
| 1963: Central League umpire Koichi Uemoto is born. |
| 1955: Chunichi infielder Hideyuki Akita is born. |
| 1949: Yakult pitcher Toyo Mitsuhashi is born. |
| 1946: Tokyo Senators pitcher Taju Hitokoto walks or hits 13 Chunichi batters at Korakuen Stadium, but nonetheless gets a complete game 6-1 win anyway. |
| 1945: Taiyo and Toei infielder Tsutomu Imai is born. |
| 1942: Chunichi and Yomiuri infielder Shozo Etoh is born. |
| 1936: In the second game of the new Japan pro league, the Osaka Tigers Fumio Fujimura throws a two hitter against the Nagoya Golden Dolphins and cracks three knocks in a shutout victory. |
| 1936: The very first Japanese official pro league game occurs at Koshien Stadium in a faceoff between Nagoya and Dai Tokyo. Nagoya won it 8-5. |
| 1935: Nishitetsu infielder Akira Ogi is born. |
| 1932: Taiyo catcher Tadanao Ichiyanagi is born. |
| 1928: Osaka Tigers and Daiei Stars pitcher Eiichi Shiomi is born. |
| 1927: Hankyu infielder Kozo Kawai is born. |
| 1924: Goldstar Kinichi Osaki is born. |
| 1917: Eagles pitcher Fumisaburo Fujino is born. |
| 1917: Hanshin and Daiei Stars infielder Jungo Igaue is born. |
| 1914: Tokyo Senators, Tsubasa and Taiyo infielder Teruhiko Takahashi is born. |
| 2006: Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka sets a record when he slugs a grand slam in both the fourth and fifth innings of a game against Chunichi at Tokyo Dome. He also connected for a two run homer earlier in the night for a total of ten RBIs, setting a new Giants team record and tying Akira Etoh's Central League mark. It is the first time in 55 years that a player had pounded a pair of slams in one game, but the first time ever it was done in consecutive at bats. The final score was 15-4, as third baseman Hiroki Kokubo also went yard twice. Furthermore, the victory gave the Giants 17 wins in April, the first time they have pulled that off since 1952. |
| 1999: Kintetsu catcher Rikuo Nemoto dies at age 72. |
| 1992: Nippon Ham and Yakult infielder Katsuo Osugi dies at age 47. |
| 1983: Softbank outfielder Yusuke Kozai is born. |
| 1978: Yokohama pitcher Daisuke Kanda is born. |
| 1977: Nippon Ham pitcher Shintaro Ejiri is born. |
| 1975: Orix outfielder Koji Takamizawa is born. |
| 1972: Daiei catcher Takashi Uchinokura is born. |
| 1972: Yokohama pitcher Takeo Kawamura is born. |
| 1971: Seibu and Yakult pitcher Taiji Kitahara is born. |
| 1969: Yakult and Hanshin outfielder Tomohiro Jo is born. |
| 1969: Orix and Rakuten pitcher Masahiko Kaneda is born. |
| 1968: Yomiuri and Nippon Ham pitcher Tadayoshi Kawabe is born. |
| 1968: Kintetsu, Chunichi and Orix pitcher Shigeki Sano is born. |
| 1954: Yakult outfielder Hajime Kugitani is born. |
| 1952: Hanshin and Yakult outfielder Osamu Katayama is born. |
| 1944: Hiroshima pitcher Takeshi Tsuboi is born. |
| 1942: Kokutetsu pitcher Iwao Arakawa is born. |
| 1941: Hanshin outfielder Mitsumasa Oda is born. |
| 1931: Kokutetsu catcher Masahiro Kinoshita is born. |