The International Baseball League of Australia was a baseball league which existed from 1999 to 2002.
87-575: The league was created by David Nilsson after he purchased the rights to the Australian Baseball League in 1999 when it was near financial collapse. The International Baseball League lasted for 3 seasons before Nilsson handed the rights back over to the Australian Baseball Federation in 2002. Following the collapse there was no professional baseball league until it was announced in 2009 the formation of
174-606: A posting system for players under contract. MLB teams wishing to negotiate with a player submit bids for a "posting fee", which the winning MLB team would pay the Japanese team if the player signs with the MLB team. Free agents are not subject to the posting system, however, and some teams almost never post their players. The first professional baseball team in Japan was founded by media mogul Matsutarō Shōriki in late 1934 and called
261-508: A .284 career batting average . Nilsson became a free agent in the offseason following 1999 , but opted not to sign with any MLB teams because of his desire to play for Australia in the 2000 Olympics . He was widely applauded for this move as he was turning down big money to represent his country, something very rarely seen in baseball. Before leaving the US, he had been Australia's second highest earning sportsman behind Greg Norman , according to
348-434: A best-of-six series played entirely in the pennant winner's home stadium. The higher seed always starts with a "ghost win", or a 1–0 advantage in the series before any games have been played, meaning the higher seed only has to win three games whereas the lower seed has to win four games. In the event of a tie, the higher seed would subsequently only need to win two games. The winners of each league's Final Stage then face off in
435-493: A feature of the Japanese professional leagues since 1934. Hundreds of foreigners—particularly Americans—have played NPB. Taiwanese nationals Shosei Go and Hiroshi Oshita both starred in the 1940s. American players began to steadily find spots on NPB rosters in the 1960s. American players hold several NPB records, including highest single-season batting average ( Randy Bass , .389), and the dubious record of most strikeouts in
522-541: A league-high of .920 and had an OBP of .561. Nilsson played in the Australian season for the first time in five years when he appeared in the 2004 Claxton Shield . He went 5 for 11 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI and even pitched well in one stint on the mound. He led the 2004 Shield in home runs and RBI and was named to the All-Star team at DH. Nilsson then again attempted a comeback in the major leagues. He signed with
609-406: A limited number of fans to attend games, with plans to further ease restrictions in the near future. On 19 September, attendance was expanded to a maximum of 20,000 fans per game, or 50% of stadium capacity. For most of its history, NPB regulations imposed " gaijin waku", a limit on the number of non-Japanese people per team to two or three—including the manager and/or coaching staff. Even today,
696-660: A perfect fielding percentage at catcher and threw out 5-of-8 attempted base-stealers. Nilsson's career ended when he went 0-for-5 with a strikeout for Australia in the 2006 World Baseball Classic . In 2008 Nilsson was named to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame . He entered the Hall of Fame with swimmer Ian Thorpe , Winter Olympics gold medalist Alisa Camplin , rugby league champion Allan Langer , tennis player Mark Woodforde , Australian football and media identity Lou Richards , and swimming coach John Carew . Nilsson
783-713: A player, coach and mentor". Nilsson was born in Brisbane , Queensland to Australian parents and attended Kedron State High School. Nilsson was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in January 1987 at the age of 17 as an amateur free agent . He made his professional debut that year with the Helena Brewers , batting .394. Nilsson ranked third in the Pioneer League in batting average but was left off
870-744: A season by a hitter ( Ralph Bryant , 204). Americans rank #4 ( Tuffy Rhodes , 55) and #7 ( Randy Bass , 54) on the list of most home runs in a season, and #2 in single-season RBI ( Bobby Rose , 153). Curaçaoan – Dutch outfielder Wladimir Balentien holds the NPB single-season home run record with 60 round-trippers in 2013. Koreans have had an impact in the NPB as well, including such standout players as Lee Seung-yuop , Sun Dong-yol , Baek In-chun , Lee Jong-beom , and Dae-ho Lee . Venezuelans Alex Ramírez , Alex Cabrera , Bobby Marcano , and Roberto Petagine all had long, successful NPB careers. The Dominican third baseman José Fernández played eleven years in
957-505: A separate champion being crowned for the team with the best record through the 18 games of interleague play. In general, Japanese teams play six games a week, with every Monday off (except on specific occasions, such as a game being played outside of the home team's primary stadium or if a rainout forced a game to be postponed to a Monday). Unlike in Major League Baseball , doubleheaders have not been featured in NPB since
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#17327977261791044-664: A series sweep and back to back Australian Baseball League Championships. Nilsson was the recipient of the Coca-Cola Amatil 2017 Queensland Sport Coach of the Year at the annual Q Sport awards. In 2018, following three consecutive ABL championships with the Brisbane Bandits, Nilsson was announced as manager of the Australian national baseball team . In 2021, Nilsson was named as the bench and hitting coach for
1131-655: A single season, finishing in last place, 43-1/2 games out of first. In 1958, the Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions . This enabled the Pacific League to contract from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams. After these various franchise developments, by the end of the 1950s, Nippon Professional Baseball had contracted from the initial allotment of 15 teams down to
1218-472: A team cannot have more than four foreign players on a 25-man game roster, although there is no limit on the number of foreign players that it may sign. If there are four, they cannot all be pitchers nor all be position players. This limits the cost and competition for expensive players of other nationalities, and is similar to rules in many European sports leagues' roster limits on non-European players. Nonetheless, expatriate baseball players in Japan have been
1305-447: Is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan . Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū ( プロ野球 ) , meaning simply Professional Baseball ; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation of the "Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club" ( 大日本東京野球倶楽部 , Dai-Nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu ) in 1934. The first professional circuit for
1392-525: The 1999 season . He was also fit enough to play catcher regularly for the club for the first time in five years. In the 1999 All-Star Game , he replaced Mike Lieberthal as the National League catcher, becoming the first (and until being joined by Grant Balfour in 2013, the only) Australian to play in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Nilsson signed a new contract in Japan for the 2000 season so that he would be eligible to play for Australia in
1479-547: The 2000 Summer Olympics . In doing so, the Associated Press estimated that he had given up millions of dollars in earnings. In 1999, Nilsson played in the Intercontinental Cup where he hit a .379/.457/.517 clip to win tournament MVP and help Australia win its first gold medal at an international baseball event. Nilsson was third in average behind Akinori Iwamura and Claudio Liverziani and made
1566-719: The 2003 Major League Baseball season , Nilsson signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox . He ended up retiring before ever playing for them, as according to a Red Sox representative "he lost his desire to play." Nilsson managed the Queensland Rams in the 2003 Claxton Shield , assisting them to a surprise title. He returned to playing baseball that year for Telemarket Rimini in Serie A1 in Italy, where, although only hitting .280, he ended up slugging at
1653-511: The 2004 Olympics where they won a historic silver medal, and also represented his country in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. He spent one season as manager with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season , before returning to become the incumbent manager since 2014–15 . In 2018 he succeeded Jon Deeble as the Australian national baseball team manager. Nilsson represented Australia at
1740-663: The Atlanta Braves and hit .236 in 16 games for the Richmond Braves , five years after he had last played in the Major Leagues. Nilsson was back with the Australian national baseball team for the 2004 Athens Olympics , and as captain he led the team to the Silver Medal , Australia's first Olympic medal in baseball. He again had a decent tournament performance batting .296/.441/.444 in 8 games. He had
1827-571: The Business Review Weekly . Nilsson previously played for the Brisbane Bandits and Melbourne Reds in the previous incarnation of the Australian Baseball League where he holds the record for all time batting average (.351) and all time slugging average (.661). His brothers Gary, Bob and Ron also played in the competition. He also played in the Japanese NPB and Italian Serie A . He went on to also represent Australia in
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#17327977261791914-1053: The Central League and the Pacific League , a format which it has largely kept since 1957 . It has seen several waves of expansion and contraction, sometimes at the same time, to keep it at those numbers; most recently, in 2005, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with the Orix BlueWave to form the Orix Buffaloes , while the Rakuten Golden Eagles were added as an expansion team. As is common in Asian baseball (and unlike North American leagues), teams are generally named after their corporate owners, such as Yomiuri and Softbank . NPB also oversees two affiliated minor leagues ,
2001-587: The Dai Nippon Tokyo Yakyu Kurabu ("the Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club"). After matching up with a team of visiting American All-Stars that included Babe Ruth , Jimmie Foxx , Lou Gehrig , and Charlie Gehringer , the team spent the 1935 season barnstorming in the U.S., winning 93 of 102 games against semi-pro and Pacific Coast League teams. According to historian Joseph Reaves, "The only minor drawbacks to
2088-878: The Kintetsu Buffaloes and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers . Nomo pitched over the span of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring in 2008. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1995. He twice led the league in strikeouts, and also threw two no-hitters (the only Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball until Hisashi Iwakuma achieved the feat in August 2015). Nomo's MLB success led to more NPB players moving to Major League Baseball , and eventually led to
2175-471: The Kintetsu Buffaloes , then signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers , has also added to the financial problems. Attendance suffered as teams lost their most marketable players, while TV ratings declined as viewers tuned into broadcasts of Major League games. To discourage players from leaving to play in North America, or to at least compensate teams that lose players, Japanese baseball and MLB agreed on
2262-696: The Lake Country DockHounds of the American Association of Professional Baseball . Nilsson currently lives in Brisbane and was manager of the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League for the 2010–11 season. Nilsson is currently manager of the Brisbane Bandits (2014–present) and the Australian national baseball team (2018–present). Dave Nilsson is the uncle of Brisbane Bandits standout Mitch Nilsson . Nippon Professional Baseball Nippon Professional Baseball ( NPB , 日本野球機構 , Nippon Yakyū Kikō )
2349-1032: The Nishi Nippon Pirates , and the Taiyō Whales . Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Pacific League: the Hankyu Braves , the Nankai Hawks , the Daiei Stars , and the Tokyu Flyers . To fill out the league, three new teams were formed: the Kintetsu Pearls , the Mainichi Orions , and the Nishitetsu Clippers . Matsutarō Shōriki , the Giants' owner, acted as NPB's unofficial commissioner and oversaw
2436-604: The Orix BlueWave (becoming the Orix Buffaloes) in the middle of 2004, which caused a player strike that eventually resulted in the creation of the Tōhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles being founded in Sendai to maintain the 12-team balance before the 2005 season. Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, the J.League professional association football league
2523-630: The Pacific League and the Central League winning 37 each. NPB was the only professional sports league in Japan until the foundation of the J.League in 1993. It is the eleventh-wealthiest professional sport league by revenue in the world, and the second-wealthiest baseball league, behind only Major League Baseball (MLB); it is also the wealthiest sports league in Asia. NPB has the second-highest total season attendance of any league, also behind MLB, despite playing considerably fewer games per season. Nippon Professional Baseball consists of two leagues,
2610-643: The Queensland Rams 2 games to 1 in the Championship series held at Palm Meadows . The IBLA Most Valuable Player Award for this season was awarded to Chris Snelling , playing for Country NSW . The 2000–01 season saw the National League and All-Star game canceled with the Development League being held on the Gold Coast at Palm Meadows , The development league was held between 4 teams; IBLA Internationals, IBLA Australia, MLB All-Stars and
2697-551: The Takahashi Unions , to increase the number of teams in that division 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). The Unions existed for
International Baseball League of Australia - Misplaced Pages Continue
2784-738: The Western League and the Eastern League . Since the first Japan Series in 1950 , the Yomiuri Giants have the most championships with 22, and the most appearances with 37. Following the 2024 season, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars , who defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4–2 in the 2024 Japan Series , are the reigning champions. The Japan Series has been contested 74 times as of 2023, with
2871-621: The designated hitter rule. These were implemented in an attempt to draw fans back to Pacific League, as the Pacific League was hit significantly harder by the Black Mist Scandal than the Central League, with only the Hankyu Braves not having players involved in the incident. After being a second division team for much of the 1960s and 1970s, in 1983 the Seibu Lions began a period of sustained success. The team gained
2958-699: The four major professional sports leagues of North America whose leagues each operate as one singular entity. TV rights for games are always held by a game's home team. The Pacific League has used the designated hitter (DH) rule since 1975, while the Central League has not used the DH outside of interleague play where a Pacific League team is the home team and in the 1985 Japan Series . The season starts in late March or early April, and ends in October, with two or three all-star games in July. In recent decades prior to 2007,
3045-411: The 1992 American League in his first season. After performing below par in the 1992–93 ABL season , Nilsson was the most frequently used catcher for the 1993 Brewers, but due to injury problems, had rehab stints in the minors. On 11 April 1994, Nilsson hit the first home run at Rangers Ballpark in the fifth inning of the first game played there. He also grounded into the first double-play recorded at
3132-475: The 2005 season. The two leagues began interleague play in 2005, with each team playing two three-game series (one home, one away) against each of the six teams in the other league. This was reduced to two two-game series in 2007. All interleague play games are played in a seven-week span near the middle of the season. As of the end of the 2017 season, the Pacific League has won the most games in interleague play since it began in 2005 twelve times, with 2009 being
3219-521: The ABL that year. He returned to the US where he batted .278 for the season with 20 home runs playing first base, left field and DH. That off season he did not return to the ABL for the first time due to injuries. In the 1998 season he batted at a discouraging .269 mark for the Brewers. Nilsson was only 29 years old when he played his last major league season, hitting a 309/.400/.554 clip with 21 home runs for
3306-734: The Adelaide Bite to take home the Claxton Shield for the first time in the revamped Australian Baseball League . In 2017 Nilsson coached the Brisbane Bandits to a 3rd-place finish during the regular season. Brisbane went on the beat the Adelaide Bite in the preliminary final and advanced to take on the Minor Premiers the Melbourne Aces in the Championship Series. Nilsson guided the Brisbane Bandits to
3393-531: The Buffaloes were allowed to merge with the Blue Wave (forming into the Orix Buffaloes ); in addition, the Rakuten Golden Eagles were newly created (at a reduced "entry fee") to keep the former six-team league structure. Other agreements included the leagues adopting interleague play to help the Pacific League gain exposure by playing the more popular Central league teams. All these changes took place before
3480-595: The CL and PL, with the CL representative getting home-field advantage in even years and the PL representative getting home-field advantage in odd years. Since its adoption by both leagues in 2007, Climax Series does not determine who won each league's pennant , rather the team with the best regular season record in each league wins the pennant, regardless of their result in the Climax Series. This has led to four occasions where
3567-422: The Central League and the Pacific League, which each have six teams. There are also two secondary-level professional minor leagues, the Eastern League and the Western League , that play shorter schedules for developing players. NPB teams are allowed to have more than one minor league team as long as they are outside of the established minor league system, with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants being
International Baseball League of Australia - Misplaced Pages Continue
3654-428: The Central League, the Climax Series is a two-stage system; in the "First Stage", the second and third-place ranking teams face off in a best-of-three series played entirely in the second place team's home stadium. In the case of an instance where the series ends 1–1–1, the higher seed always advances to the Final Stage. In the "Final Stage", the winner of the First Stage will face off against the league's pennant winner in
3741-545: The Championship Game 6–5. Dave Nilsson David Wayne Nilsson AM (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian former professional baseball catcher and current manager of the Australia national baseball team and the Brisbane Bandits . He played for Major League Baseball 's Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1999 and was an All-Star in 1999, becoming the first Australian player to appear in an All-Star game. He ended his Major League career on 3 October 1999 with 837 games played , 789 hits , 105 home runs and
3828-549: The Japan Series champion did not win their league's pennant that year, with those being the 2007 Chunichi Dragons , 2010 Chiba Lotte Marines , and the 2018 and 2019 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks . However, from 2004 to 2006 , the winner of the Pacific League Playoffs was given the Pacific League pennant for that year. Financial problems plague many teams in the league. It is believed that all teams are operating with considerable subsidies, often as much as ¥ 6 billion (about US$ 44.9 million), from their parent companies. A raise in
3915-447: The Japan Series, a best-of-seven series mirroring the format of the World Series . In the rare instance where the series ends 3–3–1 after seven games, a Game 8 will be played with unlimited innings at the stadium with home-field advantage . Hypothetically, a Japan Series can go up to 14 games in length if each of the first seven games resulted in a 12-inning tie. Since its inception, home-field advantage alternates from year to year between
4002-421: The Japan Series. Since the Pacific League won every Japan Series after introducing this league playoff system, an identical system was introduced to the Central League in 2007, and the post-season intra-league games were renamed the " Climax Series " in both leagues. Player statistics and drafting order based on team records are not affected by these postseason games. In 2011, Miyagi Baseball Stadium , home of
4089-411: The Major Leagues. Continuing their dominance from the JBL, the Yomiuri Giants won nine consecutive Japan Series championships from 1965 to 1973. The Black Mist Scandal rocked Nippon Professional Baseball between 1969 and 1971. The fallout from a series of game-fixing scandals resulted in several star players receiving long suspensions, salary cuts, or being banned from professional play entirely;
4176-421: The Olympics in 2000 and 2004, and has been involved in the strategic direction of the sport in Australia. In 2018, he was named as one of the Queensland Greats by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a ceremony at the Queensland Art Gallery on 8 June 2018. Nilsson was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his "service to baseball as
4263-494: The Rakuten Eagles, was badly damaged by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The 2013 season featured a livelier baseball, which was secretly introduced into NPB, resulting in a marked increase in home runs league-wide. Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien broke the NPB single-season home run record of 55, previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh in 1964, Tuffy Rhodes in 2001, and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balantien finished
4350-523: The Taiwan National Team. The development league was won by IBLA Internationals who defeated IBLA Australia 2–1 in the Championship game. 2002 was the final season of the IBLA, The league reverted to the traditional Claxton Shield format and held at a single venue, the Melbourne Ballpark . It was competed between all the major mainland states of Australia and a new Australian Provincial team. The 2002 league featured no Development League and no All-Star game. The Victoria Aces defeated Western Heelers in
4437-421: The Year. He then returned to Australia after signing a five-year deal with the Waverly Reds where he played 54 games in the 1994–95 ABL season , leading in batting average (.388), on base average (.471) and slugging average (.775). Nilsson was again named as the All-Star catcher and led Waverly to their second title and Nilsson's third. Nilsson contracted Ross River Fever while playing winter ball and missed
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#17327977261794524-476: The affiliate, the Stockton Ports but struggled with the bat and failed to make an impact. In the 1990 California League season, Nilsson had a significant improvement and helped the Stockton Ports win the title and Baseball America rated him the 8th best prospect in the league. Back in the ABL, Nilsson batted at .400 with the Daikyo Dolphins , only averaging behind fellow Brewers player John Jaha . Along with brother Bob, he helped Daikyo finish 31–9, best in
4611-450: The ballpark, scored 1-6-3. On 14 April 1994, Nilsson and Graeme Lloyd formed the first all-Australian battery in an MLB game. In the 1994 off-season, Nilsson moved to the Brisbane Bandits and played very well in the regular season averaging .362 and slugging .695. Nilsson homered off his first swing of the season that year. He was named to the league All-Star team at catcher. Milwaukee had originally requested that Nilsson be returned to
4698-524: The contract. The dispute lasted six months with the Reds finally coming to the agreement he would play out the rest of the 1995–96 ABL season before returning to Brisbane. In limited appearances, Nilsson contributed a meager .250 with the bat. He returned to the MLB late again that season due to a broken foot, but had a productive year by setting his MLB career highs in average (.331) and OBP (.407) while still slugging at .525. He hit 33 doubles and 17 home runs, scored 81 runs and drove in 84 in 123 games. He
4785-399: The creation of the " posting system " in 1998. Since Nomo's exodus, more than 60 NPB players have played Major League Baseball. Some of the more notable examples include: In September 2004, the professional Japanese players went on strike for the first time in over 70 years. The strike arose from a dispute that took place between the owners of the 12 professional Japanese baseball teams and
4872-444: The current number of 12. On September 1, 1964, Nankai Hawks ' prospect Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball when he appeared on the mound for the San Francisco Giants ; he returned to Japan in 1966. Disputes over the rights to his contract eventually led to the 1967 United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement; it would be almost 30 years before another Japanese player played in
4959-650: The economies of the regions receiving the new teams. Okinawa , Shizuoka , Shikoku , and Niigata have been identified as regions that could play host to said teams. The 2020 NPB season was delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Initially preseason games were set to be played without spectators, but with opening day of March 20 remaining unchanged. With the lifting of states of emergency over major Japanese cities, NPB announced that it would begin its regular season on 19 June behind closed doors . "Warm-up" games began 26 May. The shortened 120-game regular season began on 19 June. On 10 July, NPB began allowing
5046-421: The first Japan Series , which featured the Mainichi Orions defeating the Shochiku Robins 4 games to 2. The Central League's Nishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season—they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with the Nishitetsu Clippers (also based in Fukuoka) to form the Nishitetsu Lions . This brought the number of Central League teams down to an ungainly arrangement of seven. In 1952, it
5133-399: The first president of the Pacific League.) The league now known as Nippon Pro Baseball began play in the 1950 season. Four JBL teams formed the basis of the Central League: the Chunichi Dragons , the Hanshin Tigers , the Yomiuri Giants , and the Shochiku Robins (formerly the Taiyō Robins). To fill out the league, four new teams were formed: the Hiroshima Carp , the Kokutetsu Swallows ,
5220-402: The first two months of the 1995 Major League Baseball season , but after hitting over .400 in three rehab stints, he returned to the Brewers later in the season but was used primarily as a corner outfielder rather than catcher. Despite being a part owner of the team, Nilsson came to regret his five-year deal with Waverly as he missed his hometown of Brisbane and tried to negotiate a way out of
5307-439: The late 1990s. Following the conclusion of each regular season, the top three teams from each league go on to play in the Climax Series championship play-off tournament, with the winner of each play-off tournament facing off in a best-of-seven championship series known as the Japan Series (known locally as the Nippon Series). Implemented in 2004 by the Pacific League (then known as the Pacific League Playoffs) and in 2007 by
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#17327977261795394-452: The league All-Star Team at catcher in favor of Frank Colston, who hit .397. Baseball America rated Nilsson the #2 prospect in the league. In 1988 he made his debut for the Queensland Rams in the Claxton Shield where he won MVP of the tournament. He then went on to play full season A ball for the Beloit Brewers and in the off-season played for the Gold Coast Clippers in the newly formed Australian Baseball League . In 1989 he moved to
5481-427: The league increased from four to five in 1988, when the Nankai Hawks (now Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) were sold to Daiei and moved to Fukuoka , nine years after the Nishitetsu Lions moved from Fukuoka to Tokorozawa to become the Seibu Lions , and from five to seven between 2003 and 2005, as the Nippon-Ham Fighters moved from Tokyo to Sapporo prior to the 2004 season. The Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged with
5568-424: The league's #4 prospect after Rodriguez, Royce Clayton and Raúl Mondesí . In the winter he helped Daikyo win the 1991–92 ABL season . After continuing to bat well for Denver in 1992, Nilsson was called up to the Brewers and batted in the 9 hole while playing catcher. Despite striking out in his first at bat, he redeemed himself later that game with a three-run double. Nilsson was one of the 10 youngest players in
5655-415: The league. Nilsson was named to the league All-Star team at catcher and won the MVP Award. He returned to the US at the age of 22 with the El Paso Diablos in AA batting with an average of .413 and was promoted to the AAA Denver Zephyrs before the end of the season. Nilsson was named as one of the two Texas League All-Star catchers that season alongside Iván Rodríguez . Baseball America named Nilsson
5742-483: The moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league, winning 11 league championships and eight Japan Series championships between 1982 and 1994. The Lions had a powerful lineup in this period, loaded with sluggers such as Koji Akiyama , Kazuhiro Kiyohara , and Orestes Destrade . Their defense also benefited from the services of skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige , Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcher Tsutomu Ito . Among
5829-548: The new Australian Baseball League starting in 2010. The idea behind the International Baseball League of Australia was to be a winter league from November to January as a means to help gain off-season competition for players centered in Asia and the United States. The 1999–2000 season was conducted as a National League with a team based in each of the major Australian mainland cities and a second team based in Country New South Wales. The development league and All-Star game were not held in this season. The Western Heelers defeated
5916-468: The next year. The dispute received huge press coverage (which mostly favored Furuta and the players' union) and was dubbed one of the biggest events in the history of Japanese baseball. Proposals and amendments concerning interleague games, player drafting, and management were also discussed between the players union and the owners during this period. The strike was originally planned for all Saturday and Sunday games that month, starting from September 11, but
6003-440: The only teams taking advantage of this. As of 2023, the Hawks have three minor league teams, the Giants have two, and the other ten teams only have one minor league team each. Teams below the Eastern and Western Leagues play exhibition matches against various teams of collegiate, industrial , Shikoku Island League Plus , and other NPB minor league statuses. The Central League and Pacific League operate as separate entities, unlike
6090-408: The only time that the Central League has won more games. After 2004, a three-team playoff system was introduced in the Pacific League , dubbed the "Pacific League Championship Series". The teams with the second- and third-best records play in the three-game first stage, with the winner advancing to the five-game final against the top team. The winner becomes the representative of the Pacific League to
6177-433: The owners agreed to guarantee the survival of the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks , leaving the Central League with six teams and the Pacific League with five. A battle escalated between the players union and the owners, and reached its height when Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe controversially remarked that Furuta was "a mere player", implying that players had no say in what league would look like
6264-584: The pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku , Osamu Higashio , Kimiyasu Kudoh , Hisanobu Watanabe , and relievers Yoshitaka Katori and Tetsuya Shiozaki . American expatriate players made their mark in NPB in the 1980s, with players like the Lee brothers ( Leron Lee and Leon Lee ), Greg "Boomer" Wells , Randy Bass , and Ralph Bryant playing key roles on their NPB teams. In 1995, star pitcher Hideo Nomo "retired" from
6351-512: The players' union (which was led by popular Yakult Swallows player-manager Atsuya Furuta ), concerning the merging of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave . The owners wanted to get rid of the financially defunct Buffaloes, and merge the two baseball leagues, since teams in the Central League saw much higher profits than the Pacific League , having popular teams such as the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers . After negotiations,
6438-524: The resulting abandonment of baseball by many fans in Japan also led to the sale of the Nishitetsu Lions and the Toei Flyers . From 1973 to 1982, in a forerunner to today's Climax Series playoff rounds, 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. In 1975, the Pacific League adopted
6525-441: 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. In addition, teams in the Central League historically saw much higher profits than the Pacific League , having popular teams such as the Giants and Tigers. The number of metropolitan areas represented in
6612-412: The season with 60 home runs. Three-term NPB commissioner Ryōzō Katō was forced to resign over the scandal when the changed baseball was revealed. Former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe 's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed expanding NPB to 16 total teams by adding two expansion franchises in each of the country's top-tier professional baseball leagues. The goal of such a move would be to energize
6699-581: The sport in Japan, the Japanese Baseball League (JBL), was founded two years later and continued to play even through the final years of World War II . The organization that is today's NPB was formed when the JBL reorganized in 1950, dividing its 15 teams into two leagues, which would meet in the annual season-ending Japan Series championship play-off series of games starting that year. NPB comprises twelve teams divided equally in two leagues,
6786-470: The team in time for spring training but they later decided to let him stay for the playoffs. He helped Brisbane to an upset win over the Sydney Blues for the championship; he formed a battery with his brother Gary for the final inning of the last round. Later that year Nilsson had his first full major league season, producing a .275 batting average and .451 slugging average and won Brewers Player of
6873-589: The team's popularity in the States were their kanji characters and their cumbersome Japanese name. They rectified both by renaming themselves the Tokyo Kyojin ['Tokyo Giants'] and adopting a uniform identical to the New York Giants ..." From 1936 to 1950, professional baseball in Japan was played under the banner of the Japanese Baseball League (JBL). The league's dominant team during this period
6960-670: The tournament All-Star team at catcher. Later in 1999 he bought the Australian Baseball League and renamed it the International Baseball League of Australia . In the 2000 Sydney Olympics had his best-ever international tournament averaging .565 and slugging .957 as a DH/1B. He led the Olympics in average that year, 151 points ahead of runner-up Doug Mientkiewicz as well as also leading in both slugging and OBP. Despite his excellent performance, Australia finished just 2–5, ahead of only South Africa . Ahead of
7047-426: The two leagues each scheduled between 130 and 140 regular season games, with the 146 games played by the Central League in 2005 and 2006 being the only exception. Both leagues have since adopted 143-game seasons, 71 or 72 each at home and on road, facing their five respective intra-league opponents 25 times each and facing their six interleague opponents three times each in late May to early June in interleague play, with
7134-446: Was 6th in the 1996 AL in batting average. On 17 May 1996, Nilsson became the first Milwaukee Brewer to hit two home runs in the same inning (the 6th, vs. Minnesota Twins , in a 12–1 victory). Nilsson became a player-manager for the Brisbane Bandits for the 1996–97 ABL season . Although knee surgery cut his season short, he guided the team to the finals with a batting average of .420 which, had he played enough games, would have led
7221-472: Was decided that any Central League team ending the season with a winning percentage below .300 would be disbanded or merged with other teams. The Shochiku Robins fell into this category, and were merged with the Taiyō Whales to become the Taiyō Shochiku Robins in January 1953. This enabled the Central League to shrink to an even number of six teams. In 1954 a new Pacific League team was founded,
7308-408: Was founded. The new league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors, despite many clubs in the J.League still being owned and subsidized by corporate entities. The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with Hideo Nomo "retiring" from
7395-427: Was invited by Brisbane Bandits CEO Mark Ready to manage the team for the 2014 Australian Baseball League season. Nilsson made numerous team and coaching staff changes which saw the team improve in their previous season standings. Nilsson continued to work on improving the culture and teamwork within the Brisbane Bandits throughout the 2015–2016 season, which saw Nilsson take the team to the 2016 post season and swept
7482-399: Was pushed back due to the agreement of another meeting between the union and the owners on September 10. The players decided to strike on September 18–19, 2004, when no progress was made in the negotiations, as there was insufficient time left in the season to hold discussions. The dispute officially ended after the two groups reached consensus on September 23, 2004. As part of the agreement,
7569-504: Was the Tokyo Kyojin , which won nine league championships, including six in a row from 1938 to 1943. (The team was officially renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947.) After the 1949 season, the JBL team owners reorganized into the NPB; Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata promoted a two-league system, which became the Pacific League (initially called the Taiheiyo Baseball Union ) and the Central League . (Nagata became
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