Japanese baseball

Part of the History of baseball series.

Professional Baseball

Japanese professional baseball consists of two leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League, that play shorter schedules.

Related Topics:
Central League - Pacific League - Eastern League - Western League

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The professional season starts in late March or early April and ends in October with two or three all star games in July. In recent decades, the two leagues each scheduled 130, 135 or 140 regular season games with the best teams from each league going on to play in the "Nihon Series" or Japan Series. Prior to 1950 there was just one league, called the Japanese Baseball League. From 1973 to 1982, the Pacific League employed a split season with the first half winner playing against the second half winner in a mini-playoff to determine its champion. Then in 2004, the Pacific League played five fewer games than the Central League teams during the regular season and used a new playoff format to determine its champion. The teams in third and second place played in a best two of three series (all at the second place team's home ground) with the winner of that series going on to play the first place team in a best 3 of 5 format at its home ground. In the end, the Seibu Lions finished in second place, defeated Nippon Ham 2 games to 1, went on to take 3 of 5 games in Fukuoka against the Daiei Hawks and then defeated the Chunichi Dragons in the Japan Series, 4 games to 3, capping off their grueling playoff drive with a well-earned championship.

Related Topics:
Japan Series - Japanese Baseball League

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Beginning in 2005, the two leagues will have interleague play with each team playing two 3-game series (one home, one away) against each of the six teams in the other league. All interleague play games will be completed in a 7-week span.

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Play in the Pacific League is similar to that of American League baseball, with the use of designated hitters, unlike the Central League. Unlike North American baseball, however, Japanese baseball games may end in a tie. If the score is tied after 9 innings of play, up to 3 additional innings will be played. If there is no leader after 12 innings, the game is declared a draw. Other differences from its American counterpart is that the general play is less aggressive, there are fewer home runs, the strike zone is larger near the batter but smaller away from the batter, and the ball is slightly smaller and wound tighter.

Related Topics:
Pacific League - American League - Designated hitter - Central League - Inning - Strike zone

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Unlike American pro teams, Japanese professional baseball teams are usually named after their corporate owners/sponsors rather than the cities that they play in.

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Problems of Professional Baseball

There are several underlying problems with the league as a whole that led to its current state (as of September 2004).

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The financial reason is the biggest but the problem is not a simple one to solve. It is believed that except for the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers, all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as ¥6 billion or about US$50 million, from their parent companies. A rise in the salaries of players is often blamed, but, from the start of the professional league, parent companies paid the difference as an advertisement. Most teams have never tried to improve their finances through constructive marketing. Until Nippon Ham Fighters moved to Hokkaidō, there were six teams in Tokyo and its surrounding area and three teams in the Ōsaka–Kōbe region. The market was flooded, but this was considered all right, as there was no competitor that tried to challenge baseball's popularity.

Related Topics:
Yomiuri Giants - Hanshin Tigers - ¥ - US$ - Nippon Ham Fighters - Hokkaidō - Tokyo - Ōsaka - Kōbe

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Eventually, however, J. League professional football league challenged that, winning over many people who used to spend their money and time on baseball. Instead of teams clustered in metropolitan areas, J. League aimed to create teams in the major city of every prefecture, much like professional football leagues in Europe.

Related Topics:
J. League - Football

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On September 18, 2004, professional baseball players went on a two-day strike, the first strike in the history of the league, to protest the proposed merger between the Orix BlueWave and the Ōsaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the failure of the owners to agree to create a new team to fill the void resulting from the merger. The strike was settled on September 23, 2004, when the owners agreed to grant a new franchise in the Pacific League and to continue the two-league, 12-team system.

Related Topics:
September 18 - 2004 - Strike - Orix BlueWave - Kintetsu Buffaloes - September 23

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