The Tokyo Yakult Swallows are a professional baseball team in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.
The Pacific League or Pa League is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around Japan.
The Orix Buffaloes are a Nippon Professional Baseball team that was formed following the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The team plays in the Pacific League and is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo.
Roberto "Bobby" Marcano Cherubini was a Venezuelan professional baseball player who made a name for himself playing in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Atsuya Furuta is a Japanese former baseball player and player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball club in the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Drafted in the 2nd round in 1990, Furuta became a leader for the Swallows as a catcher and became the first player-manager in Japanese baseball in 29 years, since Katsuya Nomura in 1977. In addition to his skills on the field, he is also known for leading a successful two-day strike in 2004 as the head of the Japanese baseball players union.
Tokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area. Before the 1936 establishment of the Japanese Baseball League and subsequent growth of Nippon Professional Baseball, the Big6 League was widely considered the highest level of baseball in Japan.
Masao Kida is a former Japanese baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1999-2000, and 2003-2005.
Tohto University Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features 21 prominent universities in the Tokyo area.
The 1997 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1997 season. It was the 48th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Seibu Lions, against the Central League champions, the Yakult Swallows. The series is the third time the two teams played each other for the championship, the last two contests being in 1992 and 1993. Played at Seibu Dome and Meiji Jingu Stadium, the Swallows defeated the Lions four games to one in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 4th Japan Series title. The Swallows' star catcher Atsuya Furuta was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 18 and October 23, 1997, with home field advantage going to the Pacific League.
The 1996 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1996 season. It was the 47th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Orix BlueWave, against the Central League champions, the Yomiuri Giants. The series was the eighth time the two franchises played each other for the championship; however, the last time the two teams played, Orix was known as the Hankyu Braves. Played at Tokyo Dome and Green Stadium Kobe, the BlueWave defeated the Giants four games to one in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 4th Japan Series title. BlueWave slugger and 1996 PL home run leader Troy Neel was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 19 and October 24, 1996, with home field advantage going to the Central League.
The 1993 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1993 season. It was the 44th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yakult Swallows. This was the fourth consecutive Japan Series appearance for Seibu and the second consecutive championship contested between the two clubs, with Seibu taking the crown the year before. Played at Seibu Lions Stadium and Meiji Jingu Stadium, the Swallows defeated the Lions four games to three in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 2nd Japan Series title. Yakult pitcher Kenjiro Kawasaki was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 23 and November 1 with home field advantage going to the Pacific League.
The 1992 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1992 season. It was the 43rd Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yakult Swallows. Seibu won their third consecutive PL pennant in convincing fashion to reach the series, and Yakult finished the season atop the competitive CL for the first time since 1978. Played at Meiji Jingu Stadium and Seibu Lions Stadium, the Lions defeated the Swallows four games to three in the best-of-seven series to win the franchise's 11th Japan Series title. Seibu's Sawamura Award winner Takehiro Ishii was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 17 and October 26 with home field advantage going to the Central League.
The 1989 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1989 season. It was the 40th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Kintetsu Buffaloes against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. Kintetsu barely scraped into the series with a winning percentage only .001 higher than the second place Orix Braves, and Yomiuri won the CL pennant by 8 games to return to the series for the 25th time in franchise history. Played at Fujiidera Stadium and Tokyo Dome, the Giants won the series after losing the first three games to the underdog Buffaloes and staging a miraculous comeback, winning four games in a row with the final two wins coming on the road. Yomiuri slugger Norihiro Komada was named Most Valuable Player of the series. The series was played between October 21 and October 29 with home field advantage going to the Pacific League.
Takahiro Ikeyama is a former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder. A slugging shortstop, Ikeyama played for the Yakult Swallows his entire career, from 1984–2002.
The 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 66th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950. In the Central League, the Yakult Swallows claimed the pennant and defeated the Yomiuri Giants in the final stage of the Climax Series. In the Pacific League, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won the penant and defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series.
The 2015 Japan Series was the 66th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, champions of the Pacific League, played the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, champions of the Central League. The Hawks were the defending Japan Series champions, having beaten the Hanshin Tigers in 2014. The series was sponsored by the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and was officially known as the 2015 SMBC Nippon Series.
