Eastern

Nagoya Chunichi Dragons

Also known as the team Tom Selleck played for in the film Mr. Baseball, the Chunichi Dragons at first glance resemble the Los Angeles Dodgers since both clubs wear similar uniforms.

When the Dragons moved to Nagoya Dome in 1997, they celebrated the occasion by falling to last place. But two years later, after making several roster changes, the Dragons clinched their first Central League pennant in over a decade.

While the old Dragons usually won games because their hitters had just enough power to clear the short outdoor Nagoya Stadium fences, that strategy didn’t work indoors because the Nagoya Dome’s outfield dimensions matches those of any major league park. So Chunichi traded away their sluggers and concentrated on building a team that had solid pitching, good base-running and a line-up filled with contact hitters. The Dragons score just enough runs to keep their starting pitchers in the game.

Hot-headed manager Senichi Hoshino, who helped create an ugly international incident by shoving first baseman Yasuaki Taiho into American umpire Mike DiMuro, who had been invited to umpire in Japan by the Central League . Hoshino also forbade his pitchers to apologetically tip their hats after drilling a batter.

The seating at Nagoya Dome is comfortable and there’s a wide selection of food and drinks. The sightlines are not the best in Japan, but neither the high walls around the perimeter of the field nor the higher ticket prices have stopped fans from coming.

With or without the roof, Nagoya fans have always loved the Dragons. Founded in 1936, the Dragons played miserably during the war years but matured into a perennial contender after joining the Central League in 1950. In the last 48 years, Chunichi has compiled 32 winning seasons four pennants and one Japan Series championship.

Hanshin Tigers

The Hanshin Railway Company owns and operates the Hanshin Tigers. Representing Osaka in that city’s rivalry with Tokyo, the Tigers have been the Kansai region’s counterpoint to Tokyo’s Yomiuri Giants since both teams started playing in 1936.

But as with politics, economics and culture, Tokyo usually prevails at the ballpark. While Hanshin has compiled the Central League’s second-best franchise record, they are a distant second from the Giants in numbers of pennants and Japan Series championships won.

Waiting impatiently for nearly five decades, when Hanshin finally won their first Japan Series, Osaka residents went berserk. Some Tigers fans shaved the team’s logo on their scalps or dived into polluted canals while others were accused of hijacking a train.

In less successful times, Hanshin fans have been known to confront and assault opposing players outside the ballpark while hurling batteries and pachinko balls inside.

Seating 55,000 fans, Koshien Stadium is also the site of the summer high school baseball tournament every August. Built in 1924, the aging concrete and steel ballpark features natural grass, an all-dirt infield and visible bullpens. Though a must-see for its history as much as its ivy-covered exterior, Koshien’s large foul territory, high chain-link fences and scores of posts hamper visibility.

Still, no other Japanese park may offer as much old-fashioned baseball atmosphere. And no matter how destined for disappointment, few Japanese fans show as much enthusiasm as those wearing yellow and black happi coats at Koshien Stadium.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Only five years after Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb, the city got it’s own baseball team, a source of pride and a symbol of the city’s determination to rebuild.  But it took a lot longer for the Carp, who were established in 1950, to win their first pennant.

In their first 25 seasons, the Carp never finished higher than third place. But in 1975, Hiroshima turned things around.  With Koji Yamamoto (536 career home runs) and Sachio Kinugasa (2215 consecutive games) leading the team’s offense, the Carp surged to first place, capturing their first Central League title.  Though they lost the 1975 Japan Series, Hiroshima has six pennants.

Inviting immediate comparison to the Cincinnati Reds, the Carp wear crimson and white jerseys and share an identical cap with their Midwest counterpart.

Partly owned by the City of Hiroshima and Toyo, a car manufacturing company, the Carp may be one of the poorest ball clubs in Japan.  Because the team reportedly has a low salary benchmark above which it refuses to go, the Carp tend to rarely negotiate with free agents or sign high-priced foreign players. 

Unable or unwilling to purchase any high-profile players, the Carp have invested their meager funds in developing younger players and in setting up a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.  Not surprisingly, many of the team’s foreign players come from Latin America.

Bored with pitchers’ duels?  Enjoy watching a lot of action and home runs?  If so, the Hiroshima Carp are your team.  Hiroshima’s sluggers take advantage of their home ballpark’s shallow outfield walls.

Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (capacity 32,000) is located across the street from the city’s most famous landmark, the A-Bomb Dome, which is visible just beyond the park’s third base bleachers. 

The smallest ballpark in Japan, it offers seats that are close to the action, a natural grass outfield, bullpens down the foul lines and a new high-tech scoreboard.  The shallow outfield fences make this the best park for fans seeking to catch a home run ball.  This is a cozy old-fashioned ballpark for you to enjoy…but bring your own food, there’s not much to select from at the park.

Why the team picked a Philadelphia Phillie Phanatic-clone instead of a carp for a mascot remains a mystery.  But fans don’t seem to care. Filling Hiroshima Stadium, Carp fans come in one flavor: rabid. Possibly the most energetic in Japan, Hiroshima’s cheering section repeats one hypnotic cheer for all their players.  It’s fun to watch and even more fun to join.

Even if you can’t see a Carp game in Hiroshima, their fans almost always fill the left-field bleachers at all the Tokyo and Osaka Central League ballparks.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Founded in 1950, the Swallows have remained the Central League’s most overlooked team for nearly five decades. Because their cross-town rivals, the Yomiuri Giants, attract so many supporters, Yakult has a relatively small but loyal base of fans. Since Yakult games are seldom televised, the only way to see the team is to wait until they play against the Giants (all Yomiuri games are broadcast) or visit their home ballpark, Meiji-Jingu Stadium.

The second oldest professional ballpark still in use, Jingu’s brick walls date back to 1926. Before the Second World War, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played in Jingu during an exhibition tour of Japan. Though renovated in 1982, no other stadium in Eastern Japan retains as much history and old-ballpark style.

Filling Jingu’s 48,000 seats are some of the liveliest fans you’ll ever encounter. Though most others look pretty much the same, Swallows fans have one of the most annoying (to opponents) ways to celebrate a run. When that happens, a sea of green and blue umbrellas blossom across the right field bleachers as Yakult fans discreetly tell the opposing pitcher it’s time he head for the showers. 

Perpetual underdogs and typical of low-budget, small market team (though this market is really anything but small), the Swallows are rarely able to outbid other teams in the annual free-agent auction. Instead, cash-poor Yakult has had to develop its younger players and pick up low-price “has-beens” other teams have given up on.

No one may expect much from Yakult, but they have fun and they win games. With every season an uphill climb, there are few teams as fun to cheer for as the Swallows.

Yokohama Bay Stars

In 1998 the BayStars won their first Central League pennant in four decades and it looked as if the team might be strong for several years.  But after dropping to third place the following year and losing MVP relief pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki to the United States, the BayStars may have to wait another 40 years until their next pennant.

Often compared to the Chicago Cubs, the BayStars haven’t won a pennant or a Japan Series championship since 1960.  Founded in 1950 by the Taiyo fishing company and known as the Whales until 1993, the team has only compiled twelve winning seasons despite having good players like 193-game-winner Noboru Akiyama and slugger Makoto Matsubara, who hit 301 home runs in the 1960s and ’70s.  Pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki broke almost every Japanese record for relievers from 1990-99.

Playing in Yokohama Stadium since 1978, the BayStars ballpark lies in one of the best locations in Japan, a few blocks from Chinatown and the waterfront.  It is set in the midst of a small park just a long block from the train station.  There is plenty to see, do and eat within walking distance in almost every direction from the park. 

The ballpark has undergone a bit of a facelift with lots of bright colors and upgraded concession stands and kiosks throughout the concourse.   The high outfield walls may cut down on the number of home runs, but the steep seating puts fans right on top of the action.

Tokyo Yomiuri Giants

The oldest and most popular team in Japan, the Yomiuri Giants have won more pennants and Japan Series titles than any other team. 

While most other teams don’t have the money to negotiate with free agents, the Giants sign some of the best players in Japan.

Although the Giants spend a lot of money, they don’t always spend it wisely.  Many of their free agents have cost more than they were worth, and the team has a habit of giving large contracts to foreign players who often don’t fit the team’s needs.

The Giants usually come out on top during the annual amateur draft. Because of the “reverse designation” system, which allows college and industrial league players to designate their preference of a professional team, Yomiuri usually can sign the best amateur players. 

In addition to being the wealthiest Japanese team, the Giants also offer more prestige than other ball clubs.  Yomiuri is the only team that has all of its games televised nationally.  The Giants also receive far more press coverage than other teams, particularly in the Yomiuri Shimbun, Daily Yomiuri and Sports Hochi, three newspapers that are run by the same company that owns the Giants.

But the appeal of the Giants goes beyond the fact that they are always in the public eye.  Founded in 1936 as the Tokyo Kyojin, the Giants became Japan’s first professional baseball team.  From 1965 to 1973, the Giants won nine straight Japan Series championships at a time when the economy was booming.  Even today, the thought of a Giants victory reminds many Japanese fans of better times. In 1988, the Giants moved into Tokyo Dome, Japan’s first indoor park.

The Giants have played in Japan’s capital city since 1936, and moved into the Tokyo Dome in 1988.  Covered with a white inflatable canopy reminiscent of the Minneapolis Metrodome, the enormous gas bag earned the nickname “Big Egg.”  The seating is comfortable and the sightlines are pretty good, but because of the large crowds at Giants games, some think it a better idea to watch a Giants game on TV.

Some of the best Japanese players of all time have worn Yomiuri’s orange and black uniforms, including home run king Sadaharu Oh.

Today’s Giants are a confused team. With plenty of young talent sitting on the sidelines and bottlenecked on the team’s minor league squad, the Giants have been either unwilling or unable to develop their prospects.  Instead of giving the kids a chance, Yomiuri’s management routinely spends big bucks to fill its roster with heavy-hitting free agents whose best days are behind them.

At Yomiuri home games, you’ll likely see the team’s mascot, a half Y & G logo, half rabbit. The odd creature goes by the name “Giabbit” (Pronounced “Jabbit”).

Source: http://www.japanball.com/