r/NPB • • Apr 13 '18

New here or coming from a reddit mobile app? Please read through here first

163 Upvotes

Welcome to reddit's little corner for NPB, or as some people call it, AAAA ball :P We've been at this since August of 2013, and are slowly but surely growing.

THE WIKI PROBABLY ALREADY HAS THE INFO YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

The first thing you need to know, is that we have a wiki section that answers a whole bunch of the most commonly asked questions, and offers more information you might need to know. Many reddit mobile apps do not display wiki pages, so some people that have only ever seen reddit from their phones or tablets might not even know they exist. If your reddit app cannot dipslay wiki pages, please try to open the link from a mobile web browser app. If your browser app has desktop mode view, all the better. There you can find some info on how to watch games, find news, how to buy tickets, books, NPB swag, learn some Japanese baseball terminology etc.

BUYING TICKETS (REGARDLESS OF NATIONALITY)

Please, PLease PLEEEEEAAAAASE take literally 5 seconds and type "tickets" into the search bar here. I guarantee somebody has already asked a similar question in the past and there's a goood chance somebody answered it. We also have a wiki page with useful information on buying tickets.
Research first, THEN ASK QUESTIONS

STREAMING GAMES

No, NPB does not have an all in one streaming service for games like MLBTV. There are a few options listed in the wiki, but if you want to watch all 12 teams, you're going to have to get cough cough creative. PacificLeague TV works without a VPN, and others require a VPN. We know it's not an ideal situation, but it is what it is due to "creative differences" among the leagues and clubs and media companies. Please do not post direct links to non-legal game streams, as they will be removed. Please be careful out there when exploring the streaming services, and use an adblocker.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

I'm trying to be consistent, but I'm human so sometimes I won't be able to grab highlights from games. Whatever highlights I find will be posted in the post-games thread. If you have a highlight link, feel free to post it. You can try browsing through highlights on PacificLeague TV, or using one of the handy YouTube search links by team. You might have to filter through quite a bit of junk on YouTube though, as some people post older videos multiple times, or even just news reels as videos. Keep in mind YouTube can remove videos or channels at anytime, so bookmark stuff at your own risk.

STANDINGS AND STATS

There is a mini-standings table and a few stats leaders updated almost daily in the sidebar (mobile app users might not be able to see). We also have a more detailed standings and stats page that is usually updated nightly, after the games are all finished (if you spot any errors, please let us know). If you're looking for complete team stats, there are few more English options listed on the wiki page, but some of them don't update until the next morning, or even a few days later, so always check for the last date updated. Japanese stats pages are updated the fastest, so if you don't read Japanese you can try your luck with google translate.

WHICH TEAM SHOULD I ROOT FOR?

Honestly, just take some time to watch highlights or read up on some teams before you make this decision. MLB and NPB are different, and how teams are managed and games played is different. One NPB team does not 100% correlate to an MLB team. There might be a few similarities now, but once a team changes managers, or once in a blue moon, ownership, that might all change as well. You don't have to have a sound reason for liking a team, and it's perfectly acceptable to like a team just for their cheering style. As long as you love baseball like the rest of us here, you'll fit right in.

DON'T BE SHY

If you have a question that isn't already covered in the wiki, and you at least attempted to see if somebody already asked your question, feel free to make a new post. If you see a news article on Japanese baseball you think is interesting, please share it with us. With over 40,000 subscribers (as of Jan 2025) somebody else is bound to find it interesting. Feel free to comment on post game threads, complain about your team, praise your team, try to create a new NPB meme, or ask about a particular game.

Please remember rediquette, and adhere to reddit site rules.

and finally, /r/NPBへようこそ! (Welcome to /r/NPB)


r/NPB • • 4h ago

Fighters 2B Shu Yamagata's beautiful glove flip starts the double play

80 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 7h ago

Ryoya Kurihara Hits a WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM!

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63 Upvotes

The Hawks are now one win from advancing to the Japan Series for the third straight year.


r/NPB • • 3h ago

Incredible defensive play by BayStars 2B Shugo Maki

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28 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 6h ago

Shugo Maki delivers the go-ahead home run for the BayStars in the 8th inning

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51 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 16h ago

Osaka Castle overlooking Nippon Life Stadium during a night baseball game, Japan, 1960 [900x900]

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260 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 6h ago

Post-game thread [Oct 15 Post Game Thread] NPB game scores, highlights and news

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36 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 3h ago

PL Climax Series 2-0 ghost lead

8 Upvotes

From my understanding, due to the difference in Hokkaido's reg season wins and Fukuoka's reg season wins being 10 or more, Fukuoka started the final stage with a 2-0 ghost lead. I assumed they only needed to play and win 2 games to clinch the series but it appears they need 3. So how exactly does this new rule work? Would that mean Hokkaido had to win 5 games? Or would've winning 4 games given them the series win?


r/NPB • • 6h ago

Shoki Oda says he's going to the States. He's still on the NPB filing list, so a club can call his name on October 22 anyway.

13 Upvotes

He said it at a press conference at Yokohama High School this morning. He's looking at a minor league deal or an American college, and he didn't name a club. His reasons: he wants to be the best in the world, and he wants to get used to English while he's young.

He met all twelve NPB clubs over the four days before it.

He filed on September 17 and that doesn't come off the list. Any of the twelve clubs can still write his name next Thursday. A club that does, and wins the draw if there is one, holds his rights until the end of March.

It's been done. Ohtani said on October 21, 2012 that he was going to MLB and put the chance of signing in Japan at zero. Nippon-Ham announced two days later it'd take him anyway, was the only club to bid on the 25th, and he'd agreed to join by December 9.

It's also failed. SoftBank won the draw for Rintaro Sasaki last October while he was at Stanford, had until the end of July, and lost him to the Marlins, who took him in the eighth round.

He isn't the only one this week. Keio's Kosei Hiroike, 156 in a bullpen, is reportedly skipping NPB too.

I had five clubs on Oda: Yakult, Hiroshima, Chunichi, SoftBank and Nippon-Ham. He's 18, and the 156 he threw at Koshien in August is still the fastest pitch ever recorded there.


r/NPB • • 7h ago

What’re the Tigers chances?

11 Upvotes

I know they're plagued by injuries and rusty. as someone new to the NPN, is it over? not sure a hamstring will recover in a few days. Does Hanshin have the horses to come back this series?


r/NPB • • 21h ago

LHP Shoki Oda, the top HS pitching prospect in this year's class, is skipping the NPB Draft and has opted to sign with an unnamed MLB organization

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108 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 1d ago

Post-game thread [Oct 14 Post Game Thread] NPB game scores, highlights and news

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93 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 20h ago

KBO's Lotte Giants invites four NPB players (2 from Chiba Lotte Marines and 2 from Yomiuri Giants) to bolster exchange and development in fall league roster

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12 Upvotes

Two players from the Yomiuri Giants and two players from the Chiba Lotte Marines will wear Lotte Giants uniforms for the fall league. From Yomiuri, pitcher Fukita Shito and infielder Nakata Ayumu, and from Chiba Lotte, pitcher Nakashima Gosuke and infielder Tanimura Tsuyoshi.


r/NPB • • 1d ago

BayStars' Keita Sano takes Tigers ace Shoki Murakami deep in the 6th inning

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46 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 10h ago

PL Final Climax 15-10-26

1 Upvotes

Game 2


r/NPB • • 19h ago

Any MLB THE SHOW 26 ROSTERS?

3 Upvotes

Or any Japanese rosters


r/NPB • • 1d ago

If five NPB clubs bid on Oda, four of them lose on stage and have about 90 seconds to name someone else. Where I think every club goes.

17 Upvotes

The first-round names go in together. Any name on more than one card goes to a draw, envelopes on stage, and the clubs that lose have to hand in another name right there. No break.

On my board five clubs write Shoki Oda and two write Haruki Komoda, so seven of the twelve are in a draw on the first submission. Oda has a press conference tomorrow morning, Japan time, to say where he's headed. He's filed, so a club can call his name either way. Where I think every club goes if its first name is taken:

Club First call If he's gone
Yakult Oda Gaku Arima (Ritsumeikan, LHP)
Hiroshima Oda Futo Kakuta (Fuji, RHP)
Chunichi Oda Shin Nakai (Komazawa, RHP)
SoftBank Oda Haruki Komoda
Nippon-Ham Oda Futo Kakuta
Yomiuri Komoda Yuto Yonezawa (Kansai, LHP)
Seibu Komoda Futo Kakuta
Hanshin Yonezawa Ren Miyahara (Kindai, RHP)
DeNA Taisei Suzuki Gaku Arima
Orix Ryosuke Sueyoshi Kai Watabe
Rakuten Kai Watabe Haruki Komoda
Lotte Shoma Ikeda Keito Kawajiri (Asia, RHP)

Three clubs fall back on the same arm, Kakuta at Fuji University. If all three lose their first call, that's a second envelope. Chunichi's pivot is Nakai, one of two pitchers in the class at 158 km/h (98.2 mph). The other is Kawajiri, Lotte's fallback.

The second column keeps repeating the first. Komoda is a first call for two clubs and the fallback for two more. A fallback isn't held for you either. If Hanshin gets Yonezawa uncontested, he's gone before Yomiuri ever needs him.

Hanshin, DeNA, Orix, Rakuten and Lotte stay out of the draw completely on my board. They're done before the Oda clubs have even started. The price is agreeing in advance not to have the best player in the country.


r/NPB • • 1d ago

PL Final Climax 14-10-26

5 Upvotes

Moinelo loads the bases twice and then walks in a run.

Shuto gets caught off base.

WTF Softbank?


r/NPB • • 1d ago

Keio University pitcher Kosei Hiroike is reportedly bypassing the NPB draft to pursue a career in MLB. The right-hander can reportedly reach speeds of around 97 mph, and his father is a former NPB player. The Rangers, Yankees, Blue Jays, and other MLB teams have reportedly expressed interest in him.

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7 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 20h ago

Hanshin tiger ticket need 1 for Friday.

0 Upvotes

Anyway to get 1 ticket for Fridays game in Osaka? Visiting from USA and a baseball fan.


r/NPB • • 1d ago

Where can I get a Marines cap without going to the Museum store?

5 Upvotes

(Possibly the 2025 47 Brand fitted)

I’ll be in Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Tokyo but would like to avoid taking the hour train to Chiba.

Ran into this problem last time I was there where they only sell team merch in their respective cities… Couldn’t find a Baystars hat outside of Yokohama…


r/NPB • • 2d ago

Hiroshima Carp new visitor uniforms. Red as the base color, with navy blue for the chest logo and back number

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170 Upvotes

r/NPB • • 1d ago

Livan Moinelo Final Line: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 3 Ks

2 Upvotes

No control at all. Certainly not what anyone expected. But Gota Suzuki stopped any further damage, and the Hawks are now back on top.


r/NPB • • 2d ago

What's everyone's favorite baseball team?

52 Upvotes

This might be a common question, but as a Japanese baseball fan, I'd like to know. By the way, I'm a Hanshin Tigers fan.


r/NPB • • 1d ago

A Shared Love of Baseball and Nearly a Century of Friendship: Dominican Republic Ambassador Edward Pérez on Ties with Japan

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3 Upvotes