1950 Japan Series

The 1950 Japan Series was the inaugural championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the season. The first edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the Pacific League champion Mainichi Orions against the Central League champion Shochiku Robins. In a series that saw six different stadiums host a game, the Orions defeated the Robins in six games.

Highlights of the series included the first game of the series going to extra innings that saw Mainichi pull out the victory on the road in 12 innings, while Shosei Go of the Orions became the first player to hit a home run in the Japan Series in Game 2. In the deciding Game 6, Yoshiyuki Iwamoto hit two home runs for the Robins as the Orions saw a 7-3 lead turn into a tie game by the end of nine innings. The Orions went to extras and got the game-winning hit on an error in the 11th to end the series. Takeshi Nomura won three games for the Orions while Kaoru Betto had a .500 batting average with twelve hits and 3 RBIs to win the very first Japan Series MVP Award. The series ended on November 28, which as of is the latest a Japan Series has ever ended.