Japanese Baseball League

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Further information: Nippon Professional Baseball
Japanese Baseball League
FormerlyJapan Occupational Baseball League
SportBaseball
FoundedFebruary 5, 1936 (1936-02-05)
First seasonSeptember 1936 (1936-09)
CeasedNovember 26, 1949 (1949-11-26)
(reorganized as Nippon Professional Baseball)
PresidentJiro Morioka
No. of teams11 (overall); 8 at time of reorganization as NPB
CountryJapan
Last
champion(s)		Tokyo Kyojin / Yomiuri Giants
Most titlesTokyo Kyojin / Yomiuri Giants
(9 titles)

The Japanese Baseball League (日本野球連盟, Nihon Yakyū Renmei) was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball.

The league's dominant team was

Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine league championships, including six in a row from 1938 to 1943, when many of Japan's best players were serving in the Imperial Japanese Army.[1]

Standout players from the Japanese Baseball League era included Haruyasu Nakajima, Tetsuharu Kawakami, and Kazuto Tsuruoka; pitchers Hideo Fujimoto, Eiji Sawamura, Victor Starffin, and Tadashi Wakabayashi; and two-way players Fumio Fujimura, Shosei Go, Masaru Kageura, and Jiro Noguchi.

League structure

Unlike American pro teams, Japanese Baseball League teams were usually named after their corporate owners/sponsors rather than the cities or regions in which they played. This was because Japanese franchising does not have strong territorial requirements as in the Major Leagues; as a result, the JBL teams clustered in metropolitan areas in Japan's center (Tokyo, Nagoya) and south (Osaka). As a result, teams were notorious for how often they changed their names, often because of changes in ownership/sponsorship (and also because of nationalistic regulations imposed during wartime, such as the outlawing of English team names).[citation needed] (The Yomiuri Giants, the Chunichi Dragons, and the Hanshin Tigers are the only surviving major clubs that have always been based in their respective cities. Additionally, the current Orix Buffaloes are a merger of two clubs which never left their hometown.)

Most Japanese Baseball League teams did not have an "official" home stadium; instead, teams played at any stadium in the area in which they were based.[2] All league championships went to whoever had the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played.

History

The league was established on February 5, 1936, as the Japan Occupational Baseball League, with an initial complement of seven teams. Three of the teams were based in Tokyo, two in Osaka, and two in Nagoya.

Due to a lack of position players, a number of players in the league

Balatá inside the balls.[3]
Initially, the league played split seasons, doing so from 1936 to 1938. In the debut 1936 season, it split into spring, summer, and fall seasons, only keeping track of the standings in the fall season. The league played spring and fall seasons in 1937 (c. 100-game schedule in total) and 1938 (total 75-game schedule), adding one new team each year.

The league was renamed the Japanese Baseball League in 1939, playing a 96-game schedule. Before the 1940 season, one of the founding teams,

Tokyo Senators
. The 1940 season featured a 104-game schedule.

In October 1940 (responding to rising hostility toward the West due to World War II), the league outlawed the use of English in Japanese baseball.[

Lion
became "Asahi."

In 1941, the JBL appointed its first president, Jiro Morioka (formerly VP of

Japanese Imperial Army
to keep professional baseball going through the early years of the Second World War.

The league played a 90-game schedule in 1941, a 104-game schedule in 1942, and an 84-game schedule in 1943.

Two Tokyo-based teams dissolved before the 1944 season: the

Tokyo Senators
).

Due to the

Japanese Imperial Army,[1] with 72 of them losing their lives in the war.[4]

The league restarted on November 6, 1945, and a full season of 105 games was played the next year, with two new teams (both based in Tokyo) joining the league. One of the new teams,

Gold Star, was owned by textile manufacturer Komajiro Tamura, who also owned Pacific (formerly Asahi).[citation needed
]

A rival four-team league, known as the Kokumin League (国民リーグ, Kokumin Riigu), played a 30-game summer season in 1947. Unable to compete against the more established JBL, however, the Kokumin League disbanded a few games into the 1947 fall season.

The Japanese Baseball League played a 119-game schedule in 1947. That year, baseball personality

Tokyo Senators' "Seito" (bluestockings) and the Pacific's "Taihei" (tranquility) began to be used by the press
. However, some teams rejected the use of these pet names, so they were never fully adopted. The 1948 season had a 140-game schedule, and the 1949 season had a 134-game schedule.

After the 1949 season, the league reorganized into today's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The four earliest-established clubs formerly in the Japanese Baseball League were placed in NPB's Central League, while the four later surviving franchises went to the Pacific League.

Foreign players

Russian pitcher, was a dominant player of the era and the first professional pitcher in Japan to win 300 games.[1][5]

Nishitetsu Lions, finishing his Japanese professional career with a .303 lifetime batting average, 201 home runs, and 861 RBI.)[6]

Andrew "Bucky"

Japanese-American players Kiyomi "Slim" Hirakawa, Fumito "Jimmy" Horio, Kazuyoshi "George" Matsuura, Yoshio "Sam" Takahashi, and Tadashi "Bozo" Wakabayashi
.

Teams

Original name City Founded Subsequent names Current name/status NPB league
Dai Tokyo
 Tokyo 1936 * Lion Baseball Club (1937–1940)
* Asahi Baseball Club (1941–1944)
* Pacific Baseball Club (1946)
* Taiyō Robins (1947–1952)		 Yokohama DeNA BayStars, relocated in 1978 Central League
Nagoya Baseball Club
 Nagoya 1936 * Sangyo Baseball Club (1944)
* Chubu Nippon (1946)
* Chubu Nippon Dragons (1947–1953)		 Chunichi Dragons (1954–present) Central League
Nagoya Golden Dolphins
 Nagoya 1936 Nagoya Kinko (1937–1939) Merged with the
Tokyo Senators
(1940; dissolved 1944)		 N.A.
Osaka Tigers
 Osaka (1936–1940; 1946–1949)
Nishinomiya (1940–1944)		 1936 * Hanshin Baseball Club (September 25, 1940–1944)
* Osaka Tigers (1946–1949, nicknamed "Hanshin")		 Hanshin Tigers (1950–present) Central League
Tokyo Kyojin
 Tokyo 1936 * Yomiuri Giants (1947–present) Yomiuri Giants (1947–present) Central League
Tokyo Senators
 Tokyo 1936 * Tsubasa Baseball Club (1940)
* Taiyō Baseball Club (1941–1942)
* Nishitetsu Baseball Club (1943)		 Dissolved (1944)[8] N.A.
Hankyu Baseball Club
 Osaka 1936 * Hankyu Bears (January–April 1947)
* Hankyu Braves (April 1947 – 1988)		 Orix Buffaloes (2005–present) Pacific League
Korakuen Eagles
 Tokyo 1937 * Eagles Baseball Club (1938–1939)
* Kurowashi Black Eagles (1940–1942)
* Yamato Baseball Club (1942–1943)		 Dissolved (1944) N.A.
Nankai Baseball Club
 Osaka 1938 * Kinki Nippon (June 1–December 31, 1944)
* Great Ring (1946–May 31, 1947)
* Nankai Hawks (June 1, 1947 – 1988)		 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, relocated in 1988 Pacific League
Gold Star
 Tokyo 1946 * Kinsei Stars (1947–1948)
* Daiei Stars (1949–1957)[9]		 Chiba Lotte Marines (1992–present) relocated in 1992 Pacific League
Senators Baseball Club
 Tokyo 1946 * Tokyu Flyers (1947)
* Kyuei Flyers (1948)
* Tokyu Flyers (1949–1954)		 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (1974–present) relocated in 2004 to Sapporo Pacific League

MVPs

Season-by-season standings

Season champion in bold.[a]

Year Half-season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1936 Spring No standings
Summer No standings
Fall
Osaka Tigers
Tokyo Kyojin
Hankyu Baseball Club
Nagoya Baseball Club
Tokyo Senators
Nagoya Golden Dolphins
Dai Tokyo
 		 
1937 Spring
Tokyo Kyojin
Osaka Tigers
Tokyo Senators
Hankyu
 		Nagoya Kinko
Dai Tokyo
Nagoya
Korakuen Eagles
 		 
Fall
Osaka Tigers
Tokyo Kyojin
Korakuen Eagles
 		Nagoya Kinko
Tokyo Senators
 		Lion Baseball Club
Hankyu
Nagoya
 		 
1938 Spring
Osaka Tigers
Tokyo Kyojin
Hankyu
Korakuen Eagles
Tokyo Senators
 		Nagoya Kinko
Nagoya
 		Lion  
Fall
Tokyo Kyojin
Osaka Tigers
Hankyu
Nagoya
 		Lion
Tokyo Senators
Korakuen Eagles
Nankai Baseball Club
 		Nagoya Kinko
1939
Tokyo Kyojin
Osaka Tigers
Hankyu
Tokyo Senators
Nankai
Nagoya
 		Nagoya Kinko Lion
Korakuen Eagles
1940
Tokyo Kyojin
 		Hanshin Tigers
Hankyu
Tsubasa Baseball Club
Nagoya
 		Kurowashi Nagoya Kinko
Nankai
 		Lion
1941
Tokyo Kyojin
Hankyu
Taiyō Baseball Club
Nankai
 		Hanshin Tigers
Nagoya
 		Kurowashi
Asahi Baseball Club
 		 
1942
Tokyo Kyojin
Taiyō
 		Hanshin Tigers
Asahi
Hankyu
Nankai
Nagoya
 		Yamato Baseball Club  
1943
Tokyo Kyojin
Nagoya
Asahi
 		Hanshin Tigers Nishitetsu Baseball Club Yamato
Hankyu
Nankai
 		 
1944 Hanshin Tigers
Tokyo Kyojin
Hankyu
 		Sangyo Baseball Club
Asahi
Kinki Nippon
 		 
1945 No league play because of World War II
1946
Kinki Great Ring
Tokyo Kyojin
Osaka Tigers
Hankyu
Senators Baseball Club
Gold Star
 		Chubu Nippon
Pacific Baseball Club
 		 
1947
Osaka Tigers
 		Chunichi Dragons
Nankai Hawks
Hankyu Braves
 		Yomiuri Giants
Tokyu Flyers
 		Taiyō Robins
Kinsei Stars
 		 
1948
Nankai Hawks
 		Yomiuri Giants
Osaka Tigers
Hankyu Braves
Kyuei Flyers
 		Taiyō Robins
Kinsei Stars
 		Chunichi Dragons  
1949 Yomiuri Giants
Hankyu Braves
 		Daiei Stars
Nankai Hawks
 		Chunichi Dragons
Osaka Tigers
Tokyu Flyers
 		Taiyō Robins  

Notes

  1. Tokyo Kyojin
    . The Kyojin won the series two games-to-one to be declared champions.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-8032-3943-2
    .
  2. ^ Latham, Dan. Baseball Magazine Quarterly vol. 25, #3 (Summer 2001)
  3. ^ Warnock, Eleanor. "In Japan, Change-Up Sent Balls Flying, but Now Fans Cry Foul: Baseball Commissioner Says Nobody Told Him; Home-Run Rally Will Last a While," Wall Street Journal (June 13, 2013).
  4. Whiting, Robert
    . You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage Departures, 1989), p. 46.
  5. ^ "Victor Starffin". Japan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  6. ^ Albright, Jim. "Hiroshi Oshita," BaseballGuru.com. Accessed March 12, 2015.
  7. ^ Thomas, Dexter. "Japan's First Black Baseball Player: Eleven years before Jackie Robinson, Tokyo signed a black ace pitcher," Medium "Culture Club" (Oct. 7, 2014).
  8. Seibu Lions
    .
  9. Daimai Orions
    .

External links

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