The Saitama Seibu Lions ( 埼玉西武ライオンズ , Saitama Seibu Raionzu ) are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa , Saitama Prefecture . Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka , Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu . The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway , which in turn is owned by the Seibu Holdings . The team experienced a recent period of financial difficulty, but the situation brightened when the team received a record ¥ 6 billion (about $ 51.11 million) posting fee from the Boston Red Sox for the right to negotiate a contract with Daisuke Matsuzaka . Between 1978 and 2008, the team logo and mascot were based on the adult version of Kimba the White Lion , a classic Japanese anime and manga series by Osamu Tezuka . In 2004, former Seibu Lions player Kazuo Matsui became the first Japanese infielder to play in Major League Baseball .
26-673: In 1950, the team became a founding member of the Pacific League . It was then owned by a private railroad company Nishi-Nippon Railroad , well known as "Nishitetsu", which was based in Fukuoka in Kyushu , the western area of Japan (Nishi-Nippon). The Clippers name was chosen as Nishitetsu was in charge of Pan American Airlines ' Japanese operations (back then, Pan Am's jets were known as "Clippers" due to them being aeronautical Boeing 314 Clipper ). The team finished sixth that year, and at
52-515: A 55–70–18 record. Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches Catchers Outfielders Manager Coaches Team announced Kazuhisa Inao 's No.24 was the first retired number of the Lions on May 1, 2012. Retired From MLB: The Lions farm team plays in the Eastern League . The year of the team's founding is unknown. They first played in
78-636: A golf course and resort developer in 1973. The Lions, still smarting from the after-effects of the Black Mist Scandal, finished no higher than third throughout the 1970s. At the end of the 1976 season, the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation announced that the team's new sponsor was Crown Gas Lighter . With this, the team's name for the upcoming season was changed to the Crown Lighter Lions . On October 25, 1978,
104-794: 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
130-775: Is a Japanese retired professional baseball player and manager. Hirooka played his entire career, from 1954 to 1966, for the Yomiuri Giants . He was awarded the Central League rookie of the year award in 1954. From 1961 to 1966, Hirooka was a player-coach for the Giants. As a manager for the Yakult Swallows (1976–1979) and then the Seibu Lions (1982–1985), Hirooka was known for his tough-love style. Nicknamed "The Iron Shogun", he thrice led his teams to
156-595: 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 the second-half winner in
182-552: 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
208-522: The SoftBank Group ) and moved to the Lions' former stadium, Heiwadai Stadium . The Lions finished in last place in 1979 (something the team would not do again until 2021 ), and finished in fourth place in 1980 and 1981 . However, the following seasons would mark the beginning of a period of sustained success for the team under new manager Tatsuro Hirooka and with star players such as Osamu Higashio and Kōichi Tabuchi . Tatsuro Hirooka told
234-417: 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. Tatsuro Hirooka As Coach As Manager As manager Tatsuro Hirooka (広岡 達朗, Hirooka Tatsurō born February 9, 1932)
260-657: The Kansai Farm League in 1952 and joined the Eastern League in 1979. 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, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of
286-748: The Lions made the Pacific League Climax Series 1st stage 5 times, (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017) but lost to the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2010 and 2013, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2017, and to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 2011 and 2012. They made the Final Stage twice in back to back years in 2018 and 2019, but lost to the Hawks on both occasions. In 2020, the team finished in 3rd place, but
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#1732776065144312-578: The Tigers also breaking tradition by becoming the first Central League club to use the designated hitter during the Japan Series, prior to the NPB requiring its use during the Japan Series in Pacific League stadiums in 1990 (with it eventually being also used in interleague play when it was introduced in 2005). Following the 1986 season, the club replaced Hirooka with Masaaki Mori , who was able to sustain
338-737: The end of the season, Nishitetsu was merged with another professional baseball club in Fukuoka, the Nishi-Nippon Pirates , which belonged to the Central League and managed by a local newspaper company the Nishinippon Shimbun . The new club was to form the Nishitetsu Lions . Thus the Lions name was adopted and has been retained up to today as the name of the franchise. The Nishitetsu Lions called Heiwadai Stadium home for their entire existence. They were one of
364-482: The field. In 1969 and 1970, the team was caught up in the infamous Black Mist game-fixing scandal , which resulted in four Lions pitchers being banned from NPB for life, as well as other players receiving lesser punishments. These losses decimated the team which the team would not recover from for the rest of their time in Fukuoka, which finished the 1970 season in last place. After a third straight last-place finish, and with Nishi-Nippon not wanting to do with anything to
390-529: 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 was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from
416-572: The most dominant teams in the Pacific League during the 1950s, winning four pennants, including three straight Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants behind famed manager Osamu Mihara ; their last championship in Fukuoka came in 1958; after which Mihara left for the Taiyo Whales and led them to a Japan Series championship over the Daimai Orions in 1960. The team struggled through the following decade and did not witness much success on
442-575: 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, the Unions merged with
468-539: The players that meat and other animal foods increase athletes' susceptibility to injury, and decrease their ability to perform. He required all players to take up a strictly vegetarian diet . The club won consecutive Japan Series in 1982 and 1983 , and went to the Japan Series again in 1985 , but lost to the Hanshin Tigers , who won their first Japan Series title. That Japan Series was also notable for
494-475: The prefecture name "Saitama" to their team name in 2008. They were Pacific League Champions that year and went on to win the Japan Series . The team logo and uniforms were further modified for the 2009 season , with the team trading in their traditional light-blue colour scheme for a dark blue design similar to that employed during the Nishitetsu Lions era in the 1950s and 1960s. Between 2010 and 2019,
520-860: 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 the number of teams to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from
546-411: The services of skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige , Romeo Calhoun , Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcher Tsutomu Ito . Among the pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku , Kimiyasu Kudoh , Hisanobu Watanabe , and relievers Yoshitaka Katori and Tetsuya Shiozaki . In order to reinforce the affiliation between the team and their home region, the Lions added
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#1732776065144572-732: The team due to the Black Mist Scandal, in November 1972, the franchise was sold to the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation , a shell company within Nishi-Nippon Railroad . Following the sale, the team was renamed the Taiheiyo Club Lions . Nishi-Nippon Railroad, founded by Nagayoshi Nakamura , then owner of Lotte Corporation and the Orions , sold the team's sponsorship rights to Taiheiyo Club ,
598-621: The team was sold to Kokudo Keikaku (later Kokudo), and then merged into Prince Hotels. Following the sale of the Crown Lighter Lions and their merging into Prince Hotels, the team was renamed the Seibu Lions and relocated to a new ballpark northward in Tokorozawa, Saitama , west of the Tokyo area. Fukuoka would be left without an NPB team until 1989 , when the erstwhile Nankai Hawks were bought by Daiei (they are now owned by
624-548: The team's prolonged success. Mori won eight league championships, between 1986 and 1988 and 1990–1994, and six Japan Series championships in his nine-year managing career, winning the Japan Series in 1986 , 1987 , 1988 , 1990 , 1991 , and 1992 . The team gained the moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league. 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
650-494: 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
676-525: Was unable to make the playoffs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacific League removed the First Stage of the playoffs; only the top 2 teams in Pacific League made the playoffs, while Central League removed it entirely, instead opting to send the regular season champion ( Yomiuri Giants ) straight to the Japan Series . In 2021, the Lions finished in 6th and last place for the first time since 1979 with
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