The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

and

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

History

While the Best Nine Award was first presented to players following the season, it was not until (after World War II) that it became an annual award. After the

Japanese Baseball League was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball. The league's dominant team was Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine league c ...

was divided into Central and Pacific leagues in 1950, the award was presented to nine players from each league. Following the Pacific League's adoption of the DH rule in , ten players (including the best designated hitter) have been chosen for the Best Nine Award in the Pacific League alone each year.

Selection process

Journalists vote on the best

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, second baseman,

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, and three

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

s (typically chosen on merit of best offensive numbers, with the exception of pitchers) in each of the two leagues. As is the case with the

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters co ...

, said to be the Major League equivalent of the award,

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

s, and

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

s are not chosen separately. Voters for the award are chosen from journalists employed by national newspaper, broadcast, or communication outlets with five or more years of experience in covering professional baseball. Each voter selects one player at each position in each league; the player with the most votes at each position receives the Best Nine Award. Until

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, the winning players of the award were announced two days after the final game of the

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

; from

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

onwards, the winners have been announced at the Professional Baseball Convention, the NPB's annual awards ceremony. Because of the nature of the voting process, it is possible, although exceedingly rare, that two or more players may end up with the same number of votes at any given position. In 2004,

Masahiro Araki is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. He played predominantly at second base for the Chunichi Dragons. He was noted for his speed and defense. Early career Araki was a first-round draft pick by Chunichi in 1995, out of high schoo ...

of the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

and

Greg LaRocca Gregory Mark LaRocca (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman who played for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians between 2000 and 2003. He also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball le ...

, then of the

Hiroshima Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Mats ...

, were tied for most votes for the

second baseman, the first time a tie had occurred since the current two-league system was adopted. In addition, it is also possible that a players ends up with the most votes at more than one position in the same season. In , then-

Nankai Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Yasuhiro Kunisada ended up with the most votes at both second base and third base in the Pacific League. He only received the award at second base, and the award for best third baseman went to

Tony Roig Anton Ambrose Roig (December 23, 1928 – October 20, 2010) was a utility infielder who played in Major League Baseball between the and seasons. Listed at , 180 lb, he batted and threw right-handed. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Ro ...

of the

Nishitetsu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Rail ...

. In ,

Shohei Ohtani , nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional ...

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...

received the awards at pitcher and DH.

Other notes

In the Central League, the pitcher that receives the Best Nine Award is also named the league's Most Valuable Pitcher. This is not the case in the Pacific League, where the pitcher with the highest

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(among those that have thrown the required number of innings) is named the Most Valuable Pitcher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Nine Award Nippon Professional Baseball trophies and awards Awards established in 1940

History

Selection process

Other notes

See also

References