2008 Central League Climax Series

Summary

The 2008 Central League Climax Series (CLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the 2008 Japan Series, where they competed against the 2008 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) winner. The top three regular-season finishers played in the two series. The CLCS began on with the first game of Stage 1 on October 18 and ended with the final game of Stage 2 on October 25.

2008 Central League Climax Series
First stage
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Chunichi Dragons (2) Hiromitsu Ochiai 71–68–5 (.511), 12 GB
Hanshin Tigers (1) Akinobu Okada 82–59–3 (.582), 2 GB
DatesOctober 18–20
Final stage
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Yomiuri Giants (3) Tatsunori Hara 84–57–3 (.596), 2 GA
Chunichi Dragons (1) Hiromitsu Ochiai 71–68–5 (.511), 12 GB
DatesOctober 22–25
MVPAlex Ramírez (Yomiuri)
← 2007 CLCS 2009 →

First stage edit

Summary edit

The Hanshin Tigers were awarded home-field advantage for the entirety of Stage 1; however, all three games were played in the Orix Buffaloes' Kyocera Osaka Dome, a neutral field, as renovations to Koshien Stadium prevented postseason play.[1]

Chunichi Dragons won the series, 2–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 18 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Hanshin Tigers – 0 Kyocera Dome Osaka 2:49 33,824[2] 
2 October 19 Chunichi Dragons – 3, Hanshin Tigers – 7 Kyocera Dome Osaka 3:16 33,881[3] 
3 October 20 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Hanshin Tigers – 0 Kyocera Dome Osaka 2:38 33,021[4]

Game 1 edit

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 0
Hanshin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
WP: Kenshin Kawakami (1–0)   LP: Yuya Ando (0–1)   Sv: Hitoki Iwase (1)
Home runs:
CHU: Masahiko Morino (1)
HAN: None

Game 2 edit

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 10 0
Hanshin 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 X 7 11 0
WP: Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (1–0)   LP: Chen Wei-Yin (0–1)
Home runs:
CHU: Masahiko Morino (2), Tyrone Woods (1)
HAN: Takashi Toritani (2)

Game 3 edit

Monday, October 20, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 3
Hanshin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
WP: Kazuki Yoshimi (1–0)   LP: Kyuji Fujikawa (0–1)   Sv: Hitoki Iwase (2)
Home runs:
CHU: Tyrone Woods (2)
HAN: None

Second stage edit

Summary edit

Yomiuri Giants won the series, 3–1–1*.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 22 Chunichi Dragons – 4, Yomiuri Giants – 3 Tokyo Dome 4:05 44,072[5] 
2 October 23 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 11 Tokyo Dome 2:45 43,536[6] 
3 October 24 Chunichi Dragons – 5, Yomiuri Giants – 5 (12) Tokyo Dome 4:42 45,846[7] 
4 October 25 Chunichi Dragons – 2, Yomiuri Giants – 6 Tokyo Dome 3:27 46,797[8]
* The Central League regular season champion is given a one-game advantage in the Second Stage.

Game 1 edit

Wednesday, October 22, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 9 0
Yomiuri 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 1
WP: Masato Kobayashi (1–0)   LP: Marc Kroon (0–1)   Sv: Hitoki Iwase (1)
Home runs:
CHU: Lee Byung-Kyu (1), Tyrone Woods (1)
YOM: Yoshitomo Tani (1)

Game 2 edit

Thursday, October 23, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0
Yomiuri 2 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 X 11 17 0
WP: Koji Uehara (1–0)   LP: Kenta Asakura (0–1)
Home runs:
CHU: Masahiko Morino (1), Ryosuke Hirata (1)
YOM: Michihiro Ogasawara (2), Alex Ramírez (1), Lee Seung-Yeop (1)

Game 3 edit

Friday, October 24, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Chunichi 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 8 0
Yomiuri 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0
Home runs:
CHU: Kazuhiro Wada (1), Tyrone Woods (2)
YOM: Kazunari Tsuruoka (1), Lee Seung-Yeop (2)

Game 4 edit

Saturday, October 25, 2008, 6:00 pm (JST) at Tokyo Dome in Bunkyō, Tokyo
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chunichi 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 7 0
Yomiuri 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 X 6 11 1
WP: Marc Kroon (1–1)   LP: Akifumi Takahashi (0–1)
Home runs:
CHU: Tyrone Woods (3)
YOM: Alex Ramírez (2)

References edit

  1. ^ Graczyk, Wayne (September 21, 2008). "Stairs still slugging away 15 years after Japan stint". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  2. ^ "Saturday, October 18, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  3. ^ "Sunday, October 19, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  4. ^ "Monday, October 20, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  5. ^ "Wednesday, October 22, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  6. ^ "Thursday, October 23, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  7. ^ "Friday, October 24, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  8. ^ "Saturday, October 25, 2008". Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved November 16, 2009.