Baseball was introduced in Japan in the 1870s by American educators who used the game as a teaching tool. In 1915, the National High School Baseball Tour was inaugurated and became a big event. The Tokyo Baseball Club came into existence in 1934. The team was renamed the Tokyo Giants a year later. In 1936, six additional teams evolved and the first professional league was founded.
The two-league system
The two-league system was created in 1950 with the Central League and the Pacific League. The Seibu Lions are considered to be the best team in the Pacific League. Daisuke Matsuzaka played for the Lions before coming to the U.S. to play for the Boston Red Sox. The ever-popular Yomiuri Giants, often compared to the New York Yankees because of their winning streaks, are part of the Central League. They won nine Japan Series game in a row between 1965 and 1973. Six teams are currently on each league.
Chunichi Dragons
The Chunichi Dragons, the 2010 Central League champions, were founded in 1936 as the third team in the newly-formed professional baseball league. Their home stadium is the Nagoya Dome in Nagoya, Aichi, in the Chubu region of Japan. The Dragons have often been considered an unorthodox team. They were the first team to hire a foreign manager, Wally Yonamine, who was an American. Their current manager, Hiromitsu Ochiai, doesn't believe in the Japanese baseball tradition of intensive practice.
Chiba Lotte Marines
The Chiba Lotte Marines are the 2010 Pacific League champions and Nippon champions, giving them their second Japan series win in less than 10 years. One of the inaugural members of the Pacific League in 1950, their original name was Mainichi Orions, named for the newspaper company that owned them. They were the winners of the 1950 Japan series. In 1969, they were purchased by Lotte, a Korean candy company. They acquired their current name in 1992 when their Marine Stadium was opened outside Tokyo.
Koshien Stadium
The 53,000-seat Koshien Stadium was built in Osaka in 1924 for high school baseball teams. Today, it's the home of the Hanshin Tigers whose diehard fans are often compared to Boston Red Sox fans. Tigers fans pound plastic thunder sticks and do organized cheers throughout the game. If their team loses, they often blame themselves for not cheering loudly enough. The stadium is still home to high school baseball team tournaments.
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