The NPB All Star games were held last week. Tuesday's games was at the Fighters' new ballpark in Hokkaido and Wednesday's game was at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo and both games featured a lot more scoring than has been the norm this year. The Central League won 11-6 on Tuesday while the Pacific League won 16-10 the following day. There were six home runs hit in each game, including two each by Shugo Maki (both on Tuesday), Hiromi Oka (one in each game) and Munetaka Murakami (also one in each game).
It was in a losing effort, but Shogo Sakakura of the Carp made history on Wednesday by hitting just the third grand slam in All Star history. The first one was hit in 1963 by Kihachi Enomoto of the Daimai Orions. It also was in a losing effort and was one of two home runs he had in the game. The last player to hit an All Star grand slam before Sakakura was Katsuo Ohsugi of the Toei Flyers in 1967. His home run off of rookie Yutaka Enatsu in the fourth inning put the PL out to a lead they would never relinquish and he ended up the MVP of the Pacific League's 9-6 victory.
Here are cards of all three players to hit All Star grand slams:
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| 1958 JCM 68 |
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| 2007 BBM Home Run Chronicle #09 |
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| 2020 Epoch Carp Rookies & Stars #20 |
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