Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series

The Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series is a set of games between All-Star teams from North America's Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. The series takes place every even numbered year in the Tokyo Dome and other NPB home stadiums. There have been many great players to step on the field in the series including Norichika Aoki, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr., Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, David Ortiz, Sammy Sosa, David Wright, Jose Reyes and Manny Ramírez. The American, Canadian and Japanese national anthems are all played before all games.

Results

Year	Winner	Loser
1986 Details	MLB 6	NPB 1
1988	MLB 3	NPB 2
1990	NPB 4	MLB 3
1992	MLB 5	NPB 1
1996	MLB 3	NPB 2
1998	MLB 5	NPB 2
2000	MLB 5	NPB 2
2002	MLB 4	NPB 3
2004 Details	MLB 5	NPB 3
2006 Details	MLB 5	NPB 0
Overall	MLB 45	NPB 19

Ties

In the MLB Japan All-Star Series there have been a number of ties between MLB and NPB. There were two ties in both 1988 and 1996. In 1990, 1992 and 2000 there was one tie. Overall there have been 7 ties overall between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball.

MLB Games Against Other Teams

• 1992 - MLB 11-0 Yomiuri Giants
• 1996 - MLB 4-2 Central League All-Stars
• 1998 - MLB 4-1 Yomiuri Giants
• 2002 - MLB 8-1 Yomiuri Giants
• 2006 - MLB 7-7 Yomiuri Giants

Most Valuable Players

• The MVP of the All-Star Series has only been handed out to Major League players.
• 1986 - Tony Peña, Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1988 - Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds
• 1990 - Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle Mariners
• 1992 - Mark Grace, Chicago Cubs
• 1996 - Steve Finley, San Diego Padres
• 1998 - Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs
• 2000 - Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants
• 2002 - Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins
• 2004 - Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays
• 2006 - Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

Cancellations

The 1994 series was cancelled due to the MLB players strike, and the 2008 series was cancelled because of the World Baseball Classic. The 2010 series was unplanned since no announcements have been made.