By winning the central league MVP award this week Yomiuri Giants third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara became the first player to win consecutive awards in different leagues, putting an exclamation point on a season that saw him hit .313 with 31 homers and 88 RBIs in 142 games.

Yu Darvish won the Pacific League MVP award, becoming the second youngest player in Japanese baseball history to do so. The sensational 21-year-old went 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA over 26 starts. Giants right-hander Eiji Sawamura and Nishitetsu Lions right-hander Kazuhisa Inao received the awards in 1937 and 1957, respectively, at the age of 20.

On the same day the NPB handed out its rookie-of-the-year awards to?Hanshin Tigers right-hander Keiji Uezono and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Uezono went 8-5 with a 2.42 ERA in 17 games. Tanaka was 11-7 with a 3.82 ERA and 196 strikeouts, the second most in the PL, in 28 starts.

Oddly, the Central League’s Best Nine was culled from only three teams: the league winning?Giants. Check. The runner-up and eventual champion Chunichi Dragons. Check. And the last place Yakult Swallows, who placed three players on the team.

Huh?

Here is the Central League’s Best Nine:

P Hisanori Takahashi, Giants
C Shinnosuke Abe, Giants
1B Tyrone Woods, Dragons
2B Hiroyasu Tanaka, Swallows
3B Michihiro Ogasawara, Giants
SS Hirokazu Ibata, Dragons
OF Norichika Aoki, Swallows
OF Alex Ramirez, Swallows
OF Yoshinobu Takahashi, Giants

On the other hand the Pacific League has representitives from each team:

P Yu Darvish, Fighters
C Tomoya Satozaki, Marines
1B Alex Cabrera, Lions
2B Kensuke Tanaka, Fighters
3B Greg LaRocca, Buffaloes
SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Marines
OF Atsunori Inaba, Fighters
OF Hichori Morimoto, Fighters
OF Naoyuki Ohmura, Hawks
DH Takeshi Yamasaki, Eagles

All awards were given at the annual season-ending baseball convention.