There were few surprises as Japanese pro baseball’s final award announcements dropped on Friday, as Yakult Swallows third baseman Munetaka Murakami and Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined some elite company by repeating as their leagues’ MVPs.
Yamamoto became the first back-to-back winner in the Pacific League since Ichiro Suzuki won from 1994 to 1996 for the Orix BlueWave. Three Hall of Famers round out the field of back-to-back PL winners, Nishitetsu Lions ace Kazuhisa Ino, Nankai Hawks catcher Katsuya Nomura and Hankyu Braves side-armer Hisashi Yamada.
In addition to becoming the fifth Central League player to win back-to-back MVPs and the first since Yoshihiro Maru won in 2017 and 2018 for the Hiroshima Carp, Murakami became the Japan’s first unanimous MVP since Masahiro Tanaka in 2013.
Pandering media rant alert
Although it’s only been nine years since Tanaka grabbed every first-place MVP vote, all the headlines in Japan’s media ignore him and instead say Murakami’s unanimous vote was the first since Sadaharu Oh in 1977 (among CL winners), because editors believe that headlines that can in any way be related to the Giants or a player of Oh’s stature, create clicks and generate revenue.
Continue reading NPB news: Nov. 25, 2022