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Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally,it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球),meaning simply Professional Baseball;outside of Japan,NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball".
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka,Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22,1938,as the Nankai Club,being the first Kansai team to play in Osaka proper,the team went through a few name changes before settling on Nankai Hawks in 1947,eventually changing ownership in 1988 and moving to Fukuoka in 1989. The team subsequently became known as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks until 2005,when they were purchased by SoftBank Group,becoming the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Since 1993,the Hawks have played at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka,which has gone under several name changes and seats 40,000 people.
The Pacific League,or Pa League,or the Persol Pacific League,due to sponsorship reasons,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 Japan Series,also the Nippon Series,is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball,the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits,the Central League and the Pacific League,and is played in October or November. The first team to win four games is the overall winner and is declared the Japan Series Champion each year. The Japan Series uses a 2–3–3-3 format,with the latter four games in theory if additional games are needed following tiebreakers.
The Orix Buffaloes are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe,Hyōgo Prefecture,Japan,and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka,Osaka Prefecture,Japan. The team plays in the Pacific League and is under ownership by Orix,a financial services company founded in Osaka.
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).
Arihito Muramatsu is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder,and current the first squad hitting corch for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Hiromitsu Kadota was a Japanese professional baseball player for the Hawks franchise and the Orix Braves. Celebrated for his slugging ability,he ate a lot and became a strong hitter,though was later weakened by diabetes mellitus. With 567 home runs,Kadota is number three on the NPB career list.
Takeshi Yamasaki is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. During his 24 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball,he played for the Chunichi Dragons,the Orix BlueWave,and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
JoséDaniel Ortiz Santos is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes,Chiba Lotte Marines,Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks,and Saitama Seibu Lions.
Keisuke Kaneko is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder,and current the third squad inside defense and base running coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
American expatriate baseball players in Japan have been a feature of the Japanese professional leagues since 1934. American expatriate players began to steadily find spots on Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) rosters in the 1960s. More than 600 Americans have played NPB,although very few last more than a single season in Japan.
Hiroshi Ogawa is a former Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball shortstop,and current the third squad manager for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Shozo Doi was a former Japanese baseball player. He played for the Yomiuri Giants in the Nippon Professional Baseball.
Hisao Arakane is a Japanese former professional baseball Outfielder,and current the fourth squad fielder supervisor and defense and base running coordinator for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment was a series of events that occurred during the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season that changed the landscape of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In June of that season,the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave announced that,due to financial difficulties,the two teams planned to merge into one for the start of the 2005 season. Both teams were in the Pacific League (PL),and a merger between the two would result in a team imbalance with the PL's opposing league,the Central League (CL). Soon,it was announced that a second merger was being explored between two of the remaining four PL teams. With the possibility of the PL losing a second team,discussion about possibly restructuring NPB's two-league system into one ten-team league began. PL and CL executives continued to discuss the merits of both systems until it was finally decided that the two-league system would remain intact and interleague play would be introduced in the 2005 season.
Hideaki Matsuyama is a Japanese former professional baseball infielder,and current the second squad manager for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Hiroshi Fujimoto is a Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder He played for in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Nankai/Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Orix Blue Wave.
On April 10,2022,Rōki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League threw a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba City. It was the 16th perfect game in NPB history. Sasaki tied a NPB single-game record with 19 strikeouts and set an NPB record with 13 consecutive strikeouts.
References
- ↑ Whiting, Robert (1989). You Gotta Have Wa. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 287–88. ISBN 0-679-72947-X.
- ↑ The Orix-Kintetsu Merger - The Story of the 2004 NPB Realignment , retrieved February 3, 2022
