July 23, Chiba Marine Stadium
People were concerned about the weather, because rain was forcast, but it didn't interfere with the game.
Only after the game ended did it start to pour. In the 3rd inning, the Fighters' Tsutomu Iwamoto pitched.
Giants' Hideki Matsui blasted off him a 2 run homer. It's actually the 3rd consecutive ALL Star game homerun for Matsui,
counting from last year's.
Naoyuki Omura of the Buffloes singled a homer in the bottom of that inning.
The Pacific League side reversed the game in the 6th inning, but the Central League caught up in the 9th,
and the game ended a 3 to 3 draw.
MVP went, this time, to Hideki Matsui.
July 22, Nagoya Dome
Starting for the Central League was Dragons' rookie Kenshin Kawakami.
He pitched 3 innings and did not lose a run. Meanwhile, the Central League players batted well.
In the 1st inning, Hideki Matsui blasted a super homerun which attacked the 5th floor seats of the Nagoya Dome.
The 34,736 fans went frenzy over the event.
Giants' super rookie Yoshinobu Takahashi hit 2 singles and proved that he's as good as Kawakami.
Kazuhiro Sasaki, the magician from the Bay Stars closed the game. The Central League side won 4 to 1.
Kawakami was selected MVP and was awarded 2 million yen.
| Central League | Pacific League | |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Kenshin Kawakami (Dragons) | Akinori Ohtsuka (Buffaloes) |
| Catcher | Atsuya Furuta (Swallows) | Kenji Johjima (Hawks) |
| First baseman | Kazuhiro Kiyohara (Giants) | Taisei Takagi (Lions) |
| 2nd baseman | Toshihisa Nishi (Giants) | Julio Franco (Marines) |
| 3rd baseman | Shinkichi Etoh (Carp | Hiroki Kokubo (Hawks) |
| Shortstop | Daisuke Motoki (Giants) | Kazuo Matsui (Lions) |
| Outfielder | Hideki Matsui (Giants) Yoshinobu Takahashi (Giants) Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (Dragons) | Ichiro Suzuki (Orix) Koji Akiyama (Hawks) Tuffy Rhodes (Buffaloes) |
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