2019 Japan Series | ||||||||||
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Dates | October 19–23 | |||||||||
MVP | Yurisbel Gracial (SoftBank) | |||||||||
FSA | Yoshiyuki Kamei (Yomiuri) | |||||||||
Broadcast | ||||||||||
Television | Fuji TV (Game 1) NHK-BS1 (Games 1–3) TBS (Game 2) NTV (Games 3–4) | |||||||||
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The 2019 Japan Series (known as the SMBC Nippon Series 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2019 season. The 70th edition of the Japan Series, it was played from 19-23 October. The series was a best-of-seven playoff between the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Pacific League's (PL) Climax Series champion and defending Japan Series champions, and the Yomiuri Giants, the Central League's (CL) Climax Series champion. The Hawks defeated the Giants in a four game sweep to win their third consecutive Japan Series championship, their fifth title in six years; they are also the first team to win three straight Japan Series titles since the Seibu Lions did it from 1990 to 1992.
The Hawks finished the 2019 regular season in second place in the Pacific League. They advanced to the Japan Series after defeating the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the Saitama Seibu Lions in the PL Climax Series. The Giants finished in first place in the Central League, earning a bye in the first stage of the CL Climax Series, followed by a victory over the Hanshin Tigers to reach the Japan Series.
Mirroring the 1959 Japan Series in which the Nankai Hawks beat Yomiuri in four games to capture their first Japan Series championship, SoftBank beat Yomiuri in four games to capture the franchise's tenth Japan Series championship. This marked the sixth time the Japan Series ended in a sweep, with the most recent being in 2005. The first two games were played at the Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome and the other two at the Tokyo Dome. Yurisbel Gracial was given the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award and Yoshiyuki Kamei was awarded with the Fighting Spirit Award.