Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning Professional Baseball. Outside of Japan, it is often referred to as "Japanese baseball".
The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), Korea Baseball Organization League, and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — along with the CEB European Champion Cup holder and the host city, to bring the number of teams up to six.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of the 2023 season, the CPBL consists of six organizations, all of which have teams in the main league and farm league.
The first Konami Cup Asia Series was held in November 2005 with four teams participating. The champions from the domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan along with a team of all stars from China's domestic league took part in the competition. All games were held in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The tournament was sponsored by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association and Konami. The Chiba Lotte Marines defeated the Samsung Lions in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Outfielder Benny Agbayani was named the MVP of the series.
The second annual Konami Cup Asia Series was held in November 2006 with four teams participating. The champions from the domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan along with an all-star team from China took part in the competition. All games were held in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The tournament was sponsored by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association and Konami. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the La New Bears in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Starting pitcher Yu Darvish was named the MVP of the series.
The 2006 IBAF Intercontinental Cup was held in Taichung, Taiwan from November 9 through the 19th. Eight countries contested the tournament, which was played at Taichung Baseball Field and the newly built Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. The participating countries were Cuba, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines in addition to the hosts from Chinese Taipei (Taiwan). The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation.
Professional baseball in Japan first started in the 1920s, but it was not until the Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club was established in 1934 that the modern professional game had continued success.
The Western League (ウエスタン・リーグ) is one of the two minor leagues ("ni-gun") of Japanese professional baseball. The league is owned and managed by the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The Chinese Taipei baseball team is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked fourth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The team is usually made up of professionals from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, and Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball from the United States.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all Asian countries. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the traditional South Asian sports of kabaddi and kho-kho. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
The 2011–12 Australian Baseball League season is the second Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and is being held from 4 November 2011 to 12 February 2012. The season was scheduled to start on 3 November with a single game between the Perth Heat and the Adelaide Bite at Baseball Park in Perth, but the game was postponed due to wet weather.
The 2012–13 Australian Baseball League season was the third Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 1 November 2012 to 9 February 2013. The season started with a game between the defending champions Perth Heat and the Adelaide Bite at Norwood Oval in Adelaide.
The 2012 Asia Series was the sixth time the Asia Series was held. The tournament was held in Busan, South Korea, and began on 8 November 2012 with the Final held on 12 November.
Dai-Kang Yang is a Taiwanese professional baseball outfielder for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Yomiuri Giants.
The Asia Winter Baseball League is a professional baseball league hosted in Taiwan with 2012 as its inaugural season. Making use of the warm and dry winter climate in West Taiwan, the short term league aims to offer young baseball players additional training experience and continued exposure in off-season games. It is the de facto successor to the now defunct Asia Series.
The Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) is a World Baseball Softball Confederation-sanctioned international baseball competition jointly launched with the Chinese Professional Baseball League, Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball leagues. The three-nation tournament is contested by the U-24 national teams of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
The Asia Professional Baseball Championship 2017, sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), was the first edition of APBC, and was held in Japan from November 16 to 19.
The 2020 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 71st season of professional baseball in Japan since Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) was reorganized in 1950. There were 12 NPB teams, split evenly between the Central League and Pacific League.
The 2020 Japan Series was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. The series was a best-of-seven playoff between the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Pacific League's (PL) Climax Series champion, and the defending Japan Series champions, and the Yomiuri Giants, the Central League's (CL) regular-season champion. The series was a rematch of the previous year's Japan Series.
