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Chiba Lotte Marines

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The Chiba Lotte Marines ( 千葉ロッテマリーンズ , Chiba Rotte Marīnzu ) are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City , Chiba Prefecture , in the Kantō region , and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific League in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions when the Japanese Baseball League reorganized into Nippon Professional Baseball , where they won the inaugural 1950 Japan Series . Since 1992, the Marines' home ballpark has been ZOZO Marine Stadium , located in the Mihama Ward of Chiba, seating 30,118 people.

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64-628: The "Marines" name originates from the name of the stadium they play in, which is officially named Chiba Marine Stadium , because the stadium is located right on the water. Through 2024, the franchise's all-time record is 4874-4844-405 (.502). The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions , an inaugural member of the Pacific League , and were owned by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. The Orions were named after

128-606: A 69-73-1 record, and Tadahito Iguchi would be let go after that season, replaced by Masato Yoshii. The Marines would edge out the Hawks and Eagles in a close playoff race in 2023, finishing 2nd with a 70-68-5 record. They would defeat the Hawks in 3 games in the first stage, but lost in 5 games to the Buffaloes in the final stage, who also had a 1 win advantage for having the best record in Pacific League. That season would be

192-600: A baseball in the background with a seagull soaring, with the club's name around the circle. The team failed to reach the Japan Series again until 2005 . The Marines started the 2005 season in first place behind American manager Bobby Valentine , who had returned after having managed the team to a 2nd place finish in 1995 behind the Orix BlueWave , but struggles between him and general manager Tatsuro Hirooka had him leave after that lone season, but fell behind

256-475: A baseball manga , and since the team in that manga is terrible, executives didn't want the team to be associated by a team that was supposed to be awful, supported by the fact that by then, the Orions had finished their 6th consecutive losing season, finishing in 6th in 3 of the last 4 seasons, alongside the fact that they were unsure if they could even use it to begin with, due to Japanese copyright laws . "Marines"

320-571: A batting average of .358; while Leon slugged 41 home runs and drove in 116 runs, with a batting average of .340. In 1978 the team returned to the Tokyo area, settling in Kawasaki 's Kawasaki Stadium, at one time home to the Taiyo Whales (today's Yokohama DeNA Baystars ). In 1992, the team moved to Chiba City 's Chiba Marine Stadium on the eastern shore of Tokyo Bay . They held a fan vote for

384-442: A bit of trouble in the 3rd. Two singles leading off the inning brought up Fujimoto, who tried to sacrifice the runners to 2nd and 3rd, but a bad bunt with one strike put the pressure on Fujimoto to swing away. He ended up fouling out to Lee at first, and Hanshin would fail to score after the next two batters failed to reach as well. The Tigers would threaten again in the top of the 6th, when Akahoshi singled and stole second to start

448-508: A complete game victory. Looking to rebound from the previous night's thumping, the Tigers sent Yuya Andoh to the mound, countering the Marines' star submarine pitcher, Shunsuke Watanabe . Again, the Marines got off to a fast start, with Nishioka doubling to right on the second pitch he saw from Andoh. With 2 down and Nishioka on 3rd, Saburo hit a ground ball to Imaoka at 3rd, but the throw

512-444: A double, and then Lee Seung-Yeop crushed his 3rd home run of the series to deep right field, putting the Marines on top, 2–0. In the home half of the 3rd, Akahoshi once again reached and was sacrificed to second, and for a moment it seemed that the Tigers would finally catch a break, but Sheets' liner was caught by a great effort from Franco to end the inning and keep the Tigers off the board. Franco and Lee teamed up again to lead off

576-507: A dramatic five-game series with the favored Hawks. Despite being one out away from sweeping the Hawks, closer Kobayashi coughed up a 4–0 lead in Game 3 of the best-of-five series. SoftBank would win Game 3 in extra innings, and then also won Game 4. However, the Marines won Game 5 on a clutch double from Tomoya Satozaki . The first game would set the tone for the rest of the series for both teams. The Marines sent 10-game winner Nao Shimizu to

640-508: A home run of his own for a 5–0 Marines lead. Andoh was visibly in tears as he pitched to Agbayani. Egusa was brought in to face the dangerous Lee, who clubbed the 3rd home run of the inning to put the game away at 7–0. In the 8th, Lotte added two more, one of the runs coming off the bat of Imae once again. Through two games, Imae was a perfect 8-for-8 with one home run. Lotte had taken an overwhelming 9–0 lead, but they weren't done yet. Platoon catcher Tasuku Hashimoto then followed Imae with

704-594: A new name for the team; the name "Dolphins" won, while another popular choice was "Pirates". However, the name "Dolphins" was thrown out because though an unrelated team named the Nagoya Golden Dolphins (later known as Nagoya Kinko ) was long defunct, the letter "D" in broadcasts was already taken by the Dragons; while "Pirates" was disregarded because the Chiba Pirates name was used by a team in

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768-477: A tie in the third game and Orix having the better record at 70-55-18, allowed the Buffaloes to advance. On April 10, 2022, Rōki Sasaki threw a perfect game , NPB's first in 28 years and the 16th in NPB history. Sasaki tied an existing NPB record by striking out 19 batters, and setting a new record by striking out 13 consecutive batters. It didn't do much to help the season, as the Marines finished in 5th place with

832-447: A triple that gave the Marines a 10–0 lead. Watanabe closed out the game with little resistance from the Tigers' batters, giving the Marines a commanding 2 games to none lead in the series. The Tigers had been in this exact situation before two years earlier, and came within one game of winning the Japan Series then. Going home to the friendly confines of Koshien Stadium , could they turn the series around? Having been outscored 20–1 in

896-419: A whitewashing. Two singles set up catcher Tomoya Satozaki for a 3-run home run. Agbayani capped the scoring in the 7th through even thicker fog with a 2-run blast of his own for the Marines' 4th home run of the day and staking the team to a 10–1 lead. After Agbayani's home run, the umpires conferred and called for a fog delay. After a wait, the umpires decided to call the game after 7 innings, giving Shimizu

960-409: Is a separateness of the team name. Originally Rine-chan wore a pink sports visor cap till the 2022 season when she wore the same baseball cap as her boyfriend while retaining the skirt, while Zu-chan wears the cap backwards and wears an apron instead of the jersey beginning 2022, before that he wore a shirt unless all three wear their team's special home uniforms. Mysterious fish (謎の魚, Nazo-no-sakana )

1024-399: Is known as M☆Splash!!. They were formed in 2004. Alongside the team's mascots Mar-kun, Rine-chan and Zu-chan, they entertain the crowd during Marines games, with 27 members. Mar-kun (マーくん, Maa-kun ) is a main mascot character of the Marines. With his girlfriend Rine-chan (リーンちゃん, Riin-chan ) and his young brother Zu-chan (ズーちゃん, Zuu-chan ), he entertains spectators at team games. Their name

1088-656: 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 circuit was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union (太平洋野球連盟, Taiheiyo Yakyu Renmei ) in 1949 (the name changing to its current form in 1980). Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata

1152-574: The Central League champion Hanshin Tigers against the Pacific League Champion, Chiba Lotte Marines . It would become the most one-sided Japan Series in history, as the Marines outscored the Tigers 33-4 throughout the series. On the other hand, the Tigers had several worst records in the Japan Series, scoring only 4 runs, an earned run average of 8.63, and getting no home runs. The Marines, led by charismatic manager Bobby Valentine , pulled off an incredible season, finishing 2nd in

1216-593: The Chunichi Dragons ), the Tigers managed to fill the gap missing by Arias by luring Hiroshima Toyo Carp shortstop Andy Sheets . The Marines finished second to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Pacific League in 2005, giving them home-field advantage in the playoffs for the first round against the defending Japan Series Champion Seibu Lions . The Marines swept the Lions and then got into

1280-421: The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as the year progressed. Under the playoff format of the time, the preliminary five-game playoff round, prior to the Japan Series, saw the teams with the best first and second half records face off. The Marines defeated the Hawks three games to two in the Pacific League championship, winning the rubber match despite entering the eighth inning trailing, 2–1. The Marines thus qualified for

1344-629: The Japan Series , the first time they had reached the tournament since 1974, a 31-year drought. In a one-sided series, the Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers in four games, scoring ten runs in each of the first three games. The apparent ease with which the Marines defeated the Tigers added fuel to the ongoing debate concerning the need for a playoff system in the Central League , which was finally added in 2007 (see Climax Series ). The Marines went on to defeat South Korea's Samsung Lions in

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1408-552: The Orix Buffaloes . A franchise was granted to internet shopping company Rakuten and the city of Sendai , forming the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to fill the void caused by the merger. Also since 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in the Pacific League (Pacific League Championship Series). The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with

1472-468: The " Climax Series " in both leagues. Player statistics and drafting order based on team records are not affected by these postseason games. *From 2004 to 2006 the winner of the play-offs was considered Pacific League Champion, afterwards the regular season champion again. 2005 Japan Series The 2005 Japan Series , the 56th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball 's championship series, began on October 22 and ended on October 26, and matched

1536-430: The 3rd inning with Franco drawing a walk and then Lee doubling, driving Franco in all the way from first. The 3–0 lead seemed safe, especially given the Tigers' late-inning collapses. In the 5th, Serafini found himself in trouble yet again, as he had runners on first and 2nd with nobody out. But once again, the Tigers could not score, as Serafini got a strikeout, then induced a 4-6-3 double play on Akahoshi. However, in

1600-443: The 4th. Hori and Kazuya Fukuura both singled to start the inning. After an out and a walk, the bases were loaded with 1 down for Satozaki, who hit a slow roller to short. It was fielded by Toritani at short who tossed it to Sekimoto at 2nd for one out, but Sekimoto's relay to Sheets at first was apparently too late to get Satozaki at 1st, allowing Hori to score and give the Marines the 2–1 lead. However, replays showed that Satozaki

1664-446: The 5th. A single and a beautifully executed push bunt by Nishioka led to an RBI single by Imae. With a run already in, normally light-hitting Saburo Ohmura doubled in both Nishioka and Imae to put Lotte ahead 4–1. In the 6th inning, Seung-Yeop Lee crushed a belt-high Igawa pitch into the right-field stands for a home run to make it 5–1. With the fog rolling into Chiba Marine Stadium, the Marines turned an already one-sided affair into

1728-410: The 6th the Tigers finally made the most of one of their chances. Serafini gave up a single to Sheets and then walked Kanemoto with one out. Valentine went to his bullpen, sending Shingo Ono to the mound to try to stem the tide. Ono gave up a bloop single to Imaoka that scored Sheets to put the Tigers on the board at 3–1. Shinjiro Hiyama then kept the rally going by singling just past second to pull

1792-444: The Marines a 5–1 lead. Nishioka then came up and singled up the middle to put Lotte ahead 6–-1. After re-loading the bases, Fukuura then put the nail in the coffin by crushing a grand slam to extend the Marines' lead to 10–1. That would be how the game would end, as Soichi Fujita worked the 8th, striking out a visibly frustrated Sheets to end the inning. Yasuhiko Yabuta then worked the 9th and struck out Kanemoto and Hiyama to end

1856-598: The Marines clinched third place to clinch a berth in the Climax Series and faced the Saitama Seibu Lions in the first stage. They defeated the Lions in 3 games to move onto the final stage. They would lose to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 5 games, who would go on and defeat the Yomiuri Giants in 7 games to win their first (and still only) Japan Series title. They would make it back in

1920-400: The Pacific League, qualifying for the newly created Pacific League Climax Series. They defeated the defending Japan Series champion Seibu Lions , then squeaked by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks , 3 games to 2, in a series where they were just one out away from sweeping the heavily favored Hawks. Naoyuki Shimizu and submariner Shunsuke Watanabe led the Marines pitching staff, one that allowed

1984-445: The Tigers ever closer at 3–2. In just one inning, the Tigers had matched their offensive output over three games. Akihiro Yano came up with a chance to keep it going, but he grounded into yet another inning-ending double play for the Tigers. From there, the last three innings were a battle of the bullpens. Both teams fired scoreless 7th innings, and with one on and one out in the 8th, Yabuta struck out both Kanemoto and Imaoka to end

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2048-581: The Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions . This enabled the Pacific League to shrink from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams. Fujio Nakazawa , a former player and television commentator, became the PL's first full-time president in 1959, serving through 1965. From 1973 to 1982, the Pacific League employed a split season , with the first-half winner playing against

2112-409: The bottom of the 2nd, the Tigers again seemed to have something going as Imaoka singled and Shinjiro Hiyama drew a full count walk with nobody out. After a sacrifice bunt, Imaoka scored on a fielder's choice by Kentaro Sekimoto . This was the first time that Hanshin had scored in 11 innings, and it tied the score, 1–1. Pesky as ever, the Marines answered right back against Shimoyanagi in the top of

2176-583: The constellation of the same name . The Marines won the inaugural Japan Series in 1950 . In 1958, the team was merged with the Daiei Unions and renamed the Daimai Orions , to reflect that both Daiei and Mainichi had a 50% stake in the team, with control being given to Daiei Film president Masaichi Nagata . In 1964 they became the Tokyo Orions , and the Lotte Orions in 1969. The franchise

2240-576: The fewest runs in Nippon Professional Baseball . Masahide Kobayashi was the team's closer, although he did blow his fair share of saves over the season. The Marines offense scored the most runs in the league with a hard-hitting lineup featuring Benny Agbayani , Tsuyoshi Nishioka , Toshiaki Imae , and star Korean import Lee Seung-Yeop , who led the team in home runs. The Tigers were two years removed from their last Japan Series appearance, when they were defeated in 7 games by

2304-557: The final round of the Konami Cup Championships. In 2010 , the Marines clinched third place on the last day of the season to earn a berth into the Climax Series. They went on to become the first third place team to ever win the Climax Series, and faced off with the Chunichi Dragons in the 2010 Japan Series . The Marines defeated the Dragons in seven games, composed of four wins, two losses, and one tie, winning their second Japan Series in under ten years. In 2013 ,

2368-447: The first two games, the Tigers were not only in need of a win, but also of a way to somehow stop (or at least slow down) the dominant Lotte lineup. Things bode well for the Tigers, however, as they headed home to Koshien Stadium , where they had reeled off three straight wins in the 2003 Japan Series against the Hawks. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi took the hill for the Tigers and had a clean first inning. Big right-hander Hiroyuki Kobayashi

2432-498: The first with Akahoshi beating out a high chopper to short and Toritani laying down a bunt, then beating Serafini's throw to first. However, the Tigers once again could not capitalize and take their first lead of the series, with the next three batters in Andy Sheets , Tomoaki Kanemoto , and Makoto Imaoka all failing to drive in runs. Sugiyama could not duplicate the success of the previous inning, as Matt Franco led off with

2496-465: The game and give the Marines a commanding 3 games-to-none lead. The only close game of the series ended Hanshin's hopes of winning their first Japan Series championship since 1985. Naohisa Sugiyama took the mound for the Tigers to try to stage a miracle comeback. Considering the Tigers had been outscored 30–2 in the first three games, a miracle was what they would need. On the other side was foreign lefty Dan Serafini . Serafini got into some trouble in

2560-487: The game and the series. The final aggregate score for the series was 33–4, the most one-sided Japan Series in the event's history. With the win, the Marines won their first Japan Series Championship since 1974, when they were known as the Lotte Orions. In addition, Bobby Valentine was the first foreign manager to win a Japan Series championship. The series MVP was Toshiaki Imae , who recorded eight straight hits in

2624-481: The game open in the late innings. Young reliever Kyuji Fujikawa worked a clean 6th, but Satozaki walked and once again Imae came through with a double to right-center to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out to start the 7th. Matt Franco then drew a full-count walk to load the bases with nobody out. The walks came back to bite Fujikawa. Hashimoto rifled a single up the middle to score both Satozaki and Imae and give

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2688-421: The inning. Masahide Kobayashi came in to end the series, his first appearance in the series. It did not start well, as Kobayashi issued a four-pitch walk to Hiyama to start the inning. Yano tried to sacrifice Hiyama to 2nd, but his sacrifice bunt attempt was popped up and caught by Fukuura, and Hiyama was doubled off at 1st for the Tigers' 3rd double play of the game. Kobayashi then got Fujimoto swinging to end

2752-475: The inning. Toritani then singled himself to put runners on the corners with nobody out. However, after an out, Sheets lined a Watanabe pitch up the middle which was fielded for a 4–6–3 double play, Hanshin's 2nd twin-killing of the game. With the Tigers failing to at least pull closer, the Marines then went in for the kill. With a runner on first and one out, Saburo lined a home run to left field to put Lotte ahead 4–0. Matt Franco then immediately followed with

2816-630: The last for ZOZO Marine Stadium public address announcer Emi Taniho . Originally, she was given a farewell ceremony on October 7, 2023, her supposed last home game, which included many former Marines players, but she was given extended duty, as the Marines were appearing to make a run for the Climax Series. That game was also her 2,100th game announcing. Her actual last day with the team was on December 20. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches Catchers Outfielders Manager Coaches Active: Former: Retired: The Marines' cheer dancing squad

2880-457: The mound against Tigers ace Kei Igawa, who won 13 games in 2005. The Tigers threatened in the first with two on and one out, but Shimizu managed to get Kanemoto to ground into an inning-ending double play, started by shortstop Nishioka. This would be the first of seemingly endless rally-killing double plays for the Tigers in the Series. In the bottom of the inning, Imae would set his own pace for

2944-517: The number of teams to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from the other Pacific League teams, the Unions struggled from the outset and finished in the second division every season. In 1957, the Unions were merged with the Daiei Stars to form the Daiei Unions (and again bringing the number of Pacific League teams down to seven). In their first season, the Unions finished in last place, 43 + 1 ⁄ 2 games out of first. In 1958,

3008-521: The playoffs in 2015. They defeated the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 3 games in the first round, then got swept by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks , who received a one game advantage for having the best record in the Pacific League. The following season, they returned to the playoffs. They would make a much earlier exit, as they were swept by the Hawks in 2 games in the first stage. It would not be until 2020 when they returned to

3072-465: The playoffs. The Hawks, with a 1 game advantage, would sweep them again in the first stage. They bounced back the following year by defeating the Eagles in 2 games in the first stage, including a tie in the second game which allowed them to advance as they had the better record at 67-57-19, while the Eagles had a 66-62-15 record. They got swept by the Orix Buffaloes in the final stage in 3 games, however

3136-534: The prior nine titles behind the Oh – Nagashima attack. After beating the Dragons, their owners, Lotte Holdings, decided to hold their victory parade in Tokyo, which shocked fans in Sendai. This eventually caused their attendance there to crash, from sold out games in 1973, to only about 2000-3000 for their last few years in Sendai. In 1977, the Orions signed Major League Baseball player Leron Lee , who ended up playing for

3200-661: The right time. Despite being friends with Mar-kun, they do not get along very well. In 2016, he was retired by the team. The Marines farm team plays in the Eastern League . The team was founded as the Mainichi Glitter Orions in 1950. Pacific League The Pacific League ( パシフィック・リーグ , Pashifikku Rīgu ) , or Pa League ( パ・リーグ , Pa Rīgu ) , or the Persol Pacific League ( パーソル パシフィック・リーグ ) , due to sponsorship reasons,

3264-694: The second-half winner in a mini-playoff to determine its champion. Beginning in 1975, the Pacific League began using the designated hitter (DH), as in the American League in Major League Baseball . During interleague play (adopted in 2005), the DH is used in Pacific League teams' home games. After the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season and, the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to form

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3328-403: The series with a towering home run to left field to put the Marines up 1–0. The teams matched zeroes until the 5th, when Makoto Imaoka singled and Yano doubled, sending Imaoka to 3rd. Atsushi Fujimoto then lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Imaoka on a close play. Shades of the 2003 Japan Series opener were in the public's mind, however it all started to fall apart for the Tigers in

3392-528: The team for eleven seasons, compiling a .320 career batting average and slugging 283 home runs with 912 career RBI. From his retirement to early 2018 (when surpassed by Norichika Aoki ), Lee held the Japanese record for career batting average (players with more than 4,000 at bats ). In 1978, Lee invited younger brother Leon Lee to play in Japan, and the brothers formed a feared cleanup for the Orions for five seasons — in 1980, Leron had 33 home runs, 90 RBI, and

3456-512: The then-Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 2003. The team from that year was largely the same, but also featured some new faces. One of which was a managerial change, as after then-manager Senichi Hoshino stepped down due to health problems, former Tiger and 1985 Japan Series champion Akinobu Okada was called to fill his spot as manager. The Tigers' pitching staff was headlined by the trio called JFK , short for setup men Jeff Williams , Kyuji Fujikawa , and closer Tomoyuki Kubota . The team's #1 starter

3520-494: The winner advancing to a best-of-six final against the top team (the Pacific League pennant winner is granted a 1 game advantage in the Final Stage). The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to the Japan Series . Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this system, an identical system was introduced to the Central League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed

3584-474: Was Yuya Andoh, who had a fine season himself in 2005. The Tigers' offense was buoyed by league MVP Tomoaki Kanemoto , who hit four home runs in the 2003 Series. Catcher Akihiro Yano was also an integral part of the team's power. The Tigers also had speed to burn in shortstop Takashi Toritani and center fielder Norihiro Akahoshi . After losing George Arias in an attempt to get then Yokohama BayStars star foreigner Tyrone Woods (only for Woods to sign with

3648-421: Was a character known simply as Bubble-Boy (バブル坊や, Bable-Boya ) who only appeared as a logo. In 2005, the Marines introduced a mascot named Cool-kun ( かっこいいくん, Kakkoi-kun ), a penguin who was known for his acrobatic stunts and would often challenge mascots like Doala and B.B to acrobatic stunt contests at rival games. He also would be stuck up and rude at times, but he would burst to tears or show great emotion at

3712-460: Was a mascot character that was introduced in May 2017. He is a weird fish with legs. He has collaborated with Hawaiian Airlines that former Marines' player Benny Agbayani works for, since 2018. However, the person playing the mascot announced after the 2021 season that he would retire, which also meant the mascot was officially retired. Back when the team were known as the "Lotte Orions", their mascot

3776-399: Was called on to start for the Marines, and he found trouble with one out in the first as Toritani doubled off the wall in left. However, neither Sheets or Kanemoto could send Toritani home, and the first inning ended scoreless. Saburo led off the second with a double off Shimoyanagi. After reaching 3rd, Agbayani hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Saburo and give the Marines a 1–0 lead. In

3840-472: Was one-hopped to the first baseman Andy Sheets and got away from him. Saburo reached and Nishioka scored to put the Marines on top, 1–0. In the 2nd inning, Lee drew a walk, setting up Imae, who hit a double and advanced the Korean slugger to 3rd. A double play followed, but the Tigers were willing to trade a run for 2 outs, as Lee scored. Watanabe had little resistance in the first two innings, but ran into

3904-448: Was out by the smallest of margins. With runners on the corners and 2 out, Imae came up and again knocked in a run, this time on a swinging bunt which was fielded, but too late to get Imae at first, which allowed Fukuura to score from 3rd, giving the Marines a 3–1 lead. Keeping with the theme of the past two games, the Tigers kept it close, but failed to score to tie the game up. In the 7th, the Marines kept their own theme going by breaking

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3968-406: Was slow to replicate its initial success: the Orions made the Japan Series in 1960 and 1970 , only to lose both years. The team played in central Tokyo until 1972. From 1973 to 1977 the Lotte Orions played in the northern Japanese city of Sendai . In 1974 , they beat the Chunichi Dragons , becoming the first Pacific League team to win the Series in ten years, as the Yomiuri Giants had claimed

4032-887: Was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from the previous iteration, the Japanese Baseball League —the Hankyu Braves , the Nankai Hawks , the Daiei Stars , and the Tokyu Flyers —and three new teams—the Kintetsu Pearls , the Mainichi Orions , and the Nishitetsu Clippers . In 1954, an eighth Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions , to increase

4096-539: Was ultimately chosen because the team believed it meant "heroes of the sea" (and because the letter "M" was available), yielding the club name Chiba Lotte Marines . Originally, the club used pink, blue, and white on their logo, which included a pirate ship, with a seagull below it, and a wave pattern to reflect the ocean currents off Chiba's coast. In 1995, this was changed to the logo's current design, while dropping pink and blue in favor of red, black and white (with red being dropped in 2019). The current logo's design features

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