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26-533: The Chunichi Dragons were formed in 1936 as the Nagoya Club . The franchise was acquired by the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper company in 1946. They became the "Dragons" in 1947, but experimented with a number of variations on their team name before settling on Chunichi Dragons in 1954. The Dragons' most famous player, Michio Nishizawa , played for the team from 1936 to 1958. He entered the league as

52-549: A 1.88 ERA, renewing the single-season save record previously set by Kazuhiro Sasaki . This was subsequently broken by Dennis Sarfate of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 2017. He was chosen to play on the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the 2004 Summer Olympics , and won a bronze medal. In the 2007 Japan Series, he saved a perfect game with eight innings thrown by Daisuke Yamai . In 2008, he

78-518: A 15-year-old pitcher. He developed into a 20-game winner by 1939. Nishizawa's most memorable pitching feats occurred in 1942. On May 24 of that year, Nishizawa pitched a remarkable twenty-eight complete innings, totalling 311 pitches in a 4–4 tie against the Taiyō Whales at Korakuen Stadium . Later that year, he tossed his first and only no-hitter, accomplishing the feat against the Hankyu team . Despite

104-539: A career ERA of 2.22, the heavy workload combined with injuries sustained during two years of service in World War II forced him to switch positions to first base, and later the outfield. After early struggles with the bat, Nishizawa developed into a feared hitter. He swatted a then-league record 46 home runs in 1950. His best season came in 1952, when he led the league in both batting average and runs batted in. Altogether, Nishizawa appeared in five All Star Games and won

130-870: Is also the owner of the Chunichi Dragons baseball team. The newspaper was formerly known as Nagoya Shimbun . From 1936 to 1940 it owned the Japanese Baseball League team Nagoya Kinko . The paper acquired the Chubu Nihon (now Chunichi Dragons) in 1946. The group has thirteen foreign bureaus. They are in New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Berlin , Moscow, Cairo , Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei , Seoul , Manila , and Bangkok . The Chunichi Shimbun holds progressive views, and has political tendencies towards liberalism, social democracy and socialism . It supported

156-675: The Best Nine Award three times. Forkball-specialist Shigeru Sugishita dominated the Central League for the Dragons from 1950 to 1955, winning more than 30 games twice (winning at least 23 games each season), and garnering three Eiji Sawamura Awards. Led by Sugishita and an aging Nishizawa, the Dragons won their first Japan Series championship in 1954 , defeating the Nishitetsu Lions 4-games-to-3. In 1962,

182-643: The Hanshin Tigers in a best-of-three series, then, in a huge upset, swept the heavily favoured Yomiuri Giants in a best-of-five series to advance to the Japan Series against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters . In an exact reversal of the 2006 Japan Series, Hokkaido won game 1 of the series, but the Dragons won the next four straight games, including a combined perfect game from Daisuke Yamai and star closer Hitoki Iwase in

208-844: The Japan Socialist Party in the Showa period , the Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party (Japan) in the Heisei period , and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in the Reiwa period . The two prewar newspapers (Shin-Aichi and Nagoya Shimbun) were conservative in the Chunichi Shimbun, but the founder, Kissen Kobayashi , ran for the mayor of Nagoya in 1951 at

234-650: The Tokyo Chunichi Sports newspapers. While each newspaper maintains independent leadership and is considered a "separate" paper, the group's combined circulation in 2022 was 2,321,414, ranking third in Japan behind the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun . The Chunichi Shimbun is Japan's second largest leftist newspaper. It is positioned as a representative newspaper of Nagoya. It

260-514: The Dragons became one of the first NPB teams to sign established MLB players when they brought on former stars Larry Doby and Don Newcombe . Michio Nishizawa went on to manage the team from 1964 to 1967. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 and his number 15 jersey is one of only two retired by the team. The Dragons were the first Japanese team to hire a foreigner as manager, Wally Yonamine , who led

286-735: The LDP administration in the Showa era ( 1955 system ) were treated coldly, and it was not possible to become a national newspaper and to have its own TV station in Kanto . No ( Tokyo 12 channel (currently TV Tokyo ) was acquired by the Nikkei , and currently independent stations in the Kanto region such as Tokyo Metropolitan Television and TV Kanagawa are affiliated with the Chunichi Shimbun). It

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312-651: The Marines in seven games, including a 2–2 tie in the longest Japan Series game ever, which lasted 15 innings. A year later, the Dragons were back in the 2011 Japan Series , but fell to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in seven games. In 2012, they made the Central League Climax Series, by first defeating the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 3 games in the first stage, but lost to the eventual Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants in 6 games in

338-457: The NPB playoff rules were changed: The top team in the league would advance automatically, while the second and third teams in the league would play a best-of-three series. The winner would face the first-place team in a best-of-five series to see who would advance to the Japan Series finals. The Dragons took advantage of the new playoff system, and after finishing second in the season standings, swept

364-837: The Yomiuri Shimbun Group and the Fujisankei Communications Group have a deep relationship with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party , while the Chunichi Group is a liberal newspaper and has a deep relationship with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The Asahi Shimbun had a close relationship with the Kōchikai , a moderate faction of the Liberal Democratic Party. It opposes

390-536: The deciding Game 5, to become the 2007 Japan Series Champions, ending 53 years of frustration and the longest Japan Series drought in NPB history. The Japan Series victory allowed the Dragons to advance to the 2007 Asia Series , in which they went 2–1 in the round robin, then defeated the SK Wyverns , 6–5. Three years later, they faced the Chiba Lotte Marines in the 2010 Japan Series , but lost to

416-649: The final stage, while the Giants also had a 1-game advantage. As of 2022, this was the last time the Dragons made the playoffs; they have had only one winning season since, which came in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season. The Dragons uniforms were based on the Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers . The team's colors (blue and white) are the same colors worn by the Dodgers (both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles). From

442-405: The late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the stylized lettering on the Dragons' jerseys and caps was virtually identical to the Dodgers' uniforms during that same period. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches Catchers Outfielders Manager Coaches The following Hall of Famers played, coached and/or managed for the Dragons, and are listed with

468-710: The opening of the season. In the 2004 season the team reached the Japan Series , but lost to the Seibu Lions , the Pacific League Champions, and in 2006 they lost the Japan Series to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters . At that point the team had won the Central League pennant seven times since 1950, but their last Japan Series victory was in 1954, the longest such drought in Nippon Professional Baseball . In early 2007,

494-556: The recommendation of the Japan Socialist Party (first rejected, 1952). It was elected in the year) and changed to a left-leaning newspaper supported by the Japan Socialist Party. The Tokyo Shimbun was once a right wing, but when it was acquired by the Chunichi Shimbun in 1964, it changed to a left-leaning newspaper. Probably because of this, the mass media reforms led by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications under

520-479: The revision of the constitution and the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine . This newspaper is skeptical of the death penalty . The following broadcasting stations are jointly funded by other major newspapers. Hitoki Iwase Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬 仁紀, born November 10, 1974) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from Nishio, Aichi , Japan. He holds the NPB record for career saves and mound appearances. In 2005, he marked 46 saves with

546-544: The team from 1972 to 1977. (Yonamine spoke fluent Japanese, and was later elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame .) In 1974, the team won the Central League title for the first time in 20 years, and this victory stopped the Yomiuri Giants from winning the league for the tenth consecutive year. Another league title came in 1999, and in that year, Dragons set a record by winning 11 consecutive games at

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572-597: The third circulation after the group newspapers the Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun . Even the Chunichi Shimbun alone exceeds the number of copies of the Sankei Shimbun . The newspaper is dominant in its region, with a market penetration approaching 60 percent of the population of Aichi Prefecture . The Chunichi Shimbun group also publishes the Tokyo Shimbun , the Chunichi Sports , and

598-403: The years they were with the club. Active: Retired: The team has 3 mascots, Doala, Shaolon, and Paolon. Doala is the main mascot of the team, and he was introduced in 1994, replacing their former mascot, Gaburi. Doala is a koala because Nagoya was home to Japan's first koala due to its sister city status with Sydney . Doala is quite known for his stunts. Shaolon is the team's second mascot and

624-566: Was introduced in 1997. He is a blue dragon and he has appeared on the logo for a long while now. Paolon is the team's third mascot and she was introduced in 2000. She is a pink dragon. Chunichi Shimbun The Chunichi Shimbun ( 中日新聞 , Chūnichi Shinbun , Central Japan News) is a Japanese daily " broadsheet " newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Chunichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. Based in Nagoya , one of Japanese three major metropolitan areas, it boasts

650-564: Was selected to play on the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the 2008 Summer Olympics . In group stage against South Korean Olympic baseball team, his pitch was hit by Kim Hyunsoo, which resulted in a loss. In the semifinal round against the South Korean team, his pitch was hit by Lee Seung-Yeop , leading to a two-run homerun. This again led to another loss. His overall performance in the 2008 Summer Olympics included three defeats and an ERA of 13.75. This biographical article relating to

676-636: Was the only major newspaper against the Koizumi reforms, and the Asahi Shimbun and others agreed. Chunichi was the only one who opposed the TPP in a major newspaper. It holds a pro-labor union position. Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident , it has taken a strong anti-nuclear policy. It also has a branch office in Fukushima Prefecture (not officially issued). As a media company,

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