The are a Japanese professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team based in Kitahiroshima,

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. They compete in the

Pacific League The or 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 consis ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō, including

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Meakan * Mount Akan ...

, and

Obihiro is a city in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Obihiro is the only designated city in the Tokachi area. As of February 29, 2020, the city has an estimated population of 165,851. The next most populous municipality in Tokachi is the ...

. The team's name comes from its parent organization,

Nippon Ham (English name before 2014: Nippon Meat Packers, Inc.) is a food processing conglomerate headquartered in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. History Founded in 1949, the company is commonly known as Nippon Ham. As a multinational corporation, Nipp ...

, a major Japanese food-processing company. Founded in 1946, the Fighters called

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

home for 58 years, as co-tenants of the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

Korakuen Stadium was a stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1937, it was originally used for baseball, and was home to the Yomiuri Giants for nearly 50 years. For various periods of time, it was also the home stadium of six other professional Japanese baseba ...

with the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

near the end of their tenure in the capital city. The franchise has won three

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

titles, in 1962, 2006, and, most recently, 2016.

Team history

Senators and Tokyo eras

In 1946, Saburo Yokozawa, manager of the

Tokyo Senators The Nishitetsu Baseball Club was a team in the Japanese Baseball League (JBL). Founded in 1936 as the Tokyo Senators, the team went through a number of name changes and mergers before being dissolved after the 1943 season. The team's undisputed ...

in 1936–1937 (and later a prominent umpire), looked to revive the franchise and soon founded the new Senators. He assembled a team of ready and able players like Hiroshi Oshita, Shigeya Iijima and Giichiro Shiraki, but as a newly formed team the Senators faced strict fiscal management and resorted to using hand-me-down uniforms from the Hankyu Railway's pre-war team (who would eventually become the modern-day Orix Buffaloes). Former Japanese statesman Kinkazu Saionji, grandson of the influential

Kinmochi Saionji Prince was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908 and from 1911 to 1912. He was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920. As the last surviving member of Japan's ''genrō,'' he was the most i ...

, became the team's owner, and Noboru Oride, borrowing heavily from a Ginza

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

proprietor, became the team's sponsor. Eventually, trapped by a lack of funds, Yokozawa was forced to resign as the team's manager. For a time, the team was even mockingly nicknamed "Seito" (Bluestockings) after a Japanese

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

magazine of the same name. As the

' pet name was "Kyojin", baseball personality Soutaro Suzuki thought that other teams should also have pet names like the Giants, and names such as the

Osaka Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railw ...

' alias "Mouko" (fierce tiger), the Senators' "Seito" and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

's "Taihei" (tranquility) began to be used by the

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

. However, the other teams rejected the use of these pet names, so they were not fully adopted. On January 7, 1947, the team was sold to the

Tokyu Corporation The is a Japanese multinational ''keiretsu'' ( conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area. History The oldest predecessor ...

. The Tokyu baseball club was inaugurated into the league, and the team's name became the Tokyu Flyers. At that time Tokyu dominated the Japanese transportation sector, owning several other railway companies, although it was faced with troubles and the possibility of a breakup. Tokyu purchased the team to act as a banner of solidarity for the swelling company, and managing director

Hiroshi Okawa Hiroshi Ogawa may refer to: *, former Japanese professional player *, former Japanese professional player *, Japanese baseball player and convicted criminal *, Japanese governor of Fukuoka Prefecture *, Japanese animator *, Japanese Olympic skier ...

assumed ownership of the club. The newly born Flyers, with Hiroshi Oshita becoming one of the most popular players in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, began to attract many fans, but the team's administration still went into a deficit. With the formation of the National Baseball League drawing nearer, in 1948 the not-yet-affiliated Daiei club, which had played a few exhibition games against the Otsuka Athletics, joined with Tokyu to create the Kyuei Flyers ("Kyuei" being a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsKinsei Stars, and after only one year the Flyers reverted to their former name. During the off-season of 1949, the Flyers joined the

after the former league split. In September 1953, the team completed a new ballpark—

Komazawa Stadium Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium (駒沢オリンピック公園総合運動場陸上競技場) is a multi-purpose stadium in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium is an integral feature of Komazawa Olympic Park and is currently used mostly for fo ...

—along one of Tokyu's train lines in Setagaya, Tokyo, moving from Bunkyo ward's

. The Flyers' wild play on the field eventually earned them the nickname, "Komazawa's hooligans."

Toei and Nittaku eras

On February 1, 1954, Tokyu entrusted the management of the Flyers to the

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

, of which Okawa had newly become president. Toei transferred control of the club to a subsidiary company, Toei Kogyo (industrial enterprise). The team's name was changed to the Toei Flyers, and its legal name consequently became the Toei Flyers Baseball Club. This name stuck for nineteen years. In 1961, when Yomiuri Giants manager

Shigeru Mizuhara is a former professional baseball infielder and manager in Japan's Japanese Baseball League (JBL) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). As a player his team won nine JBL championships; as a manager his teams won five Japan Series championship ...

resigned from his position, Okawa attempted to woo him to join his team, bringing him to a bar in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and calling famous movie producer Koji Shundo to meet with them. Shundo, an old drinking buddy of Mizuhara's, convinced the four-time

champion manager to join the Flyers, and he solidified a strong relationship with Okawa and Toei Studios. Komazawa Stadium was to be torn down to make way for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, so in 1962 the Flyers moved their base of operations to

Meiji Jingu Stadium The is a baseball stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the Meiji Shrine, it is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team. It also hosts college baseball, inc ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. (At that time, college baseball teams had priority at Meiji Jingu, so during weekends or other times when school games were being played the Flyers had to use Korakuen or another field for their games.) In the same year, two star aces, Masayuki Dobashi and

Yukio Ozaki was a Japanese people, Japanese politician of Liberalism, liberal signature, born in modern-day Sagamihara, Kanagawa. Ozaki served in the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet for 63 years (1890–1953). He is still revered in Japan as t ...

, blossomed under Mizuhara's coaching and the Flyers captured their first league championship. They would go on to defy odds in the Japan Series and defeat the Hanshin Tigers for their first Japan Series title. This championship would be their only one in the Toei era. The

Kokutetsu Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yo ...

jointly occupied Meiji Jingu with the Flyers the following season, and in 1964 the Flyers went back to their old home, Korakuen, also home of the

; both the Fighters and Giants would share a home for the next 39 years. The Flyers assembled a group of powerful sluggers over the next few years—among them:

Isao Harimoto is a Korean former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun (Hangul: 장훈, Hanja: 張勳). Harimoto has spent his life as a resi ...

, Katsuo Osugi, Inchon Bek, and Shoichi Busujima—but on top of a declining movie industry and the " Black Mist" match-fixing scandal that rocked the professional baseball world in 1970 (after which Flyers ace Toshiaki Moriyasu was banned from the game for life), in 1971 Flyers owner Okawa died suddenly. Shigeru Okada, who did not view Okawa favorably, took over Toei after his death. Together with Noboru Goto, company president of Tokyu and loyal friend of Okada (and one who also thought unfavorably of Okawa), Okada let go of the unprofitable team. The team was sold to Akitaka Nishimura of the Nittaku Home

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

enterprise, a common acquaintance of Okada and Goto, on February 7, 1973. The team's name became the Nittaku Home Flyers. Nishimura, in an attempt to inject life back into the unpopular Pacific League, developed seven different uniforms for his team and experimented in every aspect of the team's operation, but the effort failed to produce results. Believing that the Pacific League's chances of survival were grim, Nishimura was on the verge of partnering with the

Lotte Orions The 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. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

, who were eyeing a league reunification. When the deal fell through, Nishimura, tired of the baseball establishment, resigned from his leadership position and abandoned the Flyers.

Nippon-Ham era

On November 19, 1973, meatpacking company

purchased the team. The club's name changed to the Nippon-Ham Fighters, its official name became the Nippon-Ham Baseball Corporation, Osamu Mihara became the team president and Futoshi Nakanishi its manager. After 27 years, the "Flyers" nickname was abandoned. The "Fighters" nickname was born from a public appeal by the team's management. A female high school student from

Okayama prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

submitted the winning name, giving the reasoning that "(former Fighters player) Katsuo Osugi has guts, so he's a fighter." Ironically, Osugi would be traded to the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

soon after the Fighters were rechristened. Over the four seasons between 1974 and 1977, the Fighters dwelled at the bottom of the Pacific League, but after improving to finishing in third place for three straight years between 1978 and 1980, manager Keiji Osawa finally led the Fighters to their second Pacific League pennant in 1981. With saves leader

Yutaka Enatsu is a former Japanese pitcher regarded as one of the best Japanese strikeout pitchers of all-time. In , he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record. Enatsu was a bit player in the Black Mist Scandal which embroiled Japanese baseb ...

and starter Shigekuni Mashiba (who went 15–0 over the season) forming the heart of the pitching staff, the Fighters shined with offensive sluggers

Tony Solaita Tolia "Tony" Solaita (January 15, 1947 – February 10, 1990) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos between 1968 and ...

, Junichi Kashiwabara, and

Tommy Cruz Cirilo "Tommy" Cruz Dilan (born February 15, 1951) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals () and Chicago White Sox (). Cruz batted and threw left-handed. He is the brother of Héctor and José Cru ...

. The team that year also featured various important players of smaller stature, like Makoto Shimada and Nobuhiro Takashiro. They would go on to play the Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series, where the Fighters lost in six games. At the time, the franchise shared Korakuen Stadium with the Giants, so scheduling games throughout the season for both teams posed a problem. League schedulers tried to avoid putting the Fighters and the Giants at Korakuen on the same day, but when they both had home games scheduled, league officials made the implicit decision that the Giants would play during the day and the Fighters during the night. One novel aspect of the Fighters was that they attracted armies of grade-school boys to sit in the outfield stands on weekend games under a "Young Boys’ Fan Club" promotion, starting the first organized fan club in Japanese professional baseball. During the 1980s the Fighters hosted many of the Pacific League's leading pitchers, including Isamu Kida (led the P.L. with 22 wins in his rookie year in 1980; won

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, Rookie of the Year the same year), Mikio Kudō (20 wins in 1982), Hiroshi Tsuno (recorded double-digit win totals in several years throughout the mid-eighties) and Yasumitsu Shibata (three-time All Star; recorded no-hitter in 1990). Yukihiro Nishizaki particularly stood out, recording 15 wins and an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

under three in each of his first two years (though the Rookie of the Year title eluded him), racking up seven double-digit win seasons over the course of his eleven-year stay with the Fighters and gaining a considerable following from female fans due to his easy-going demeanor. In 1986 shortstop Yukio Tanaka joined the club; he remained with the team for 22 seasons, becoming known as "Mr. Fighters." Tokyo Dome 2015

From 1988 until the move to

, the Fighters played their home games in

, the stadium that replaced their longtime home Korakuen. After the Dome was finished, the pitching dominance of Yukihiro Nishizaki and Yasumitsu Shibata began to emerge. Keiji Osawa came out of retirement to manage the team for a third time in 1993, only to see his team sink to the bottom of the standings; he gained notoriety for kneeling to the fans at the end of that season, begging for their forgiveness. With the Fighters experiencing more managerial troubles in 1996, then-manager

Toshiharu Ueda was a professional Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in ...

suddenly took a personal leave during a pennant race with the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

, eventually causing the Fighters to fade over the last month of the season. However, new life was born in Tokyo Dome in 1998. Hitters such as

Nigel Wilson Nigel Edward Wilson (born January 12, 1970) is a Canadian former Major League Baseball player from Oshawa, Ontario. He played for the Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians. He also spent six highly successful seasons in Nippo ...

, Jerry Brooks, Yukio Tanaka,

Atsushi Kataoka is a former Nippon Professional Baseball infielder. He is the current farm manager for the Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central Lea ...

, Katsuhiro Nishiura and a young

Michihiro Ogasawara Michihiro Ogasawara (小笠原道大, born October 25, 1973 in Mihama-ku, Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He is currently the first team head coach for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He had an ...

formed what became known as the Big Bang lineup and subsequently shattered various batting records. They ran away with first place for the first half of the season, but a pitching collapse in the second half caused a fall of historical proportions. The Fighters would ultimately finish in second place to the

Seibu Lions The 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, w ...

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham era

Prior to the 2002 season, the idea of moving the Fighters to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, the capital of Hokkaidō and Japan's fifth largest city, emerged. The Seibu Lions also had preliminary plans to move to the northern metropolis. Tokyo's Fighters fans voiced their opposition to the proposed relocation (though the franchise never drew as many fans as their co-habitual counterparts, the Giants, while playing in the capital), but it was eventually announced that the team would indeed call the

Sapporo Dome is a stadium located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and is primarily used for baseball and association football. It is the home field of the association football club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and was also home to the baseball team Hokkaido Ni ...

its new home beginning in 2004. Aiming to build a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

relationship with its future fans, the team decided to change its name to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. At first, with the unhappy Seibu Lions suddenly changing their approval vote, Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe and Seibu owner

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi is a Japanese businessman. During the Japanese economic bubble, ''Forbes'' listed Tsutsumi as the wealthiest person in the world during 1987–94 due to his extensive real estate investments through the Seibu Corporation, which he controlled. ...

voiced their concerns over the move. They believed that Nippon Ham's choice to move the team would spur a decentralization in Japanese professional baseball, and they threatened that a decrease in the number of teams in the Kantō and

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

regions should merit a one-league system instead of two. As a matter of fact, the question of reorganizing baseball's league structure eventually became a bigger issue than the sale and renaming of the

Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stad ...

. The issue eventually settled down, though, and the Fighters' relocation was eventually approved by the league. The response from the people of Hokkaidō was weak, but NPB fans welcomed the move, noting that the Fighters could now be free from the Tokyo Dome's high rent and perpetual second-billing to the Giants. Out of respect for the Tokyo-based Fighters fans, the team decided to schedule a few "home" games per season at the Tokyo Dome. After the move finally was complete in 2004, the Fighters signed former-Tigers superstar

Tsuyoshi Shinjo , also known as , is a former Japanese professional baseball outfielder and current manager for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Born on January 28, 1972, Shinjo is the second Japanese-born position player ...

, who came back to NPB from MLB after playing with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

and nearly winning a World Series title with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and a revitalized

Fernando Seguignol Fernando Alfredo Seguignol Garcia (born January 19, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. Seguignol also played eight years in Nippon Professional Baseball. A switch hitter, Seguignol is regarded as the best swi ...

. American manager

Trey Hillman Thomas Brad "Trey" Hillman (born January 4, 1963) is an American professional baseball coach. He has also served as the manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League, the Kansas City Royals in the American League and the SK ...

led the team to success in his second year on the job, and at the end of the season, the Fighters were in a fierce race with the

Chiba Lotte Marines The 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. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

for the final spot in the new P.L. playoff system. With a vital win over the

on September 24, the newly moved Fighters earned a trip to the postseason, advancing to play Seibu in a three-game series. Though they put up a strong effort against Seibu ace

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice ...

, the Fighters lost the first game of the series 6–5. They took Game 2 by a score of 5–4. In the decisive third game, the Fighters fought back in the ninth inning after trailing for the whole game but ultimately fell to a Kazuhiro Wada walk-off home run, losing 6–5. The Fighters would have to wait for another chance for the P.L. pennant. During the pennant race, the Fighters began selling tickets for infield reserved seats at a low 1,500 yen price point, in an attempt to draw fans to the park. At and after 7:30 pm, usually well after the first pitch, the team began selling special child-fare tickets called "730 Tickets" (they started the same promotion at the Tokyo Dome in 2005). In addition to these, in 2005 they added extra-low priced tickets, discount parking passes and beer coupons to attract more fans. As a result of these promotions, and partially due to the rising popularity of young pitcher

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

, drafted the year before, the left field stands became constantly sold out for exhibition games, regular season games and playoff games, filled with loud and raucous

Ōendan An , literally "cheering squad" or "cheering section", is a Japanese sports rallying team similar in purpose to a cheerleading squad in the United States, but relies more on making a lot of noise with taiko drums, blowing horns and other items ...

. Even the right field stands, usually occupied by the visiting team's fans, began to fill with Fighters supporters. In 2005, the Fighters drew over 1,000,000 fans for the first time since 1993, ranking second in the P.L. after the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

. Also in 2005, a previously unknown manager, Shigeru Takada, became the club's first general manager. On April 27, owner Yoshinori Ohkoso died. The Fighters retired the number 100 in his honor, a first in club history (also the first retired number for owners in NPB; in North American Major League Baseball, the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

(

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

, 26) and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(

August A. Busch Jr. August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch Jr. (March 28, 1899 – September 29, 1989) was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957 as company chairman from 1946 to 1975.Holian, T ...

, 85) have retired numbers, and in Minor League Baseball, the

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and play their home games at Atrium Health Ballpark. The t ...

( Dale Earnhardt Sr., 3) are the most notable team owners with retired numbers). Yukio Tanaka reached a career 1,000 RBI total, and Makoto Kaneko joined the 1,000

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

club in the same year. On September 20 the Lions smashed the Fighters at home, crushing the Fighters’ hopes of making the playoffs for the second year in a row. In the offseason, the Fighters acquired Major League veteran José Macías, and as former number one starter Yusaku Iriki tried his luck in America the club attempted to sign Kazuhisa Ishii, but failed. In the draft, the team selected pitchers

Tomoya Yagi Tomoya Yagi (八木智哉, born November 7, 1983, in Yokohama) is a Japanese people, Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He won the Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award, Pacific ...

and Masaru Takeda. And, before the 2006 season Shigeyuki Furuki and

Kazunari Sanematsu is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. Before playing for the Fighters he was a member of the Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing ...

were traded to the Giants for pitcher

Hideki Okajima is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. Okajima pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athle ...

. The 2006 season would turn out to be a monumental one for the Fighters. After defeating the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the ...

on the final day of interleague play, the Fighters went on an eleven-game winning streak, the best such streak for the franchise in over 45 years and tying the team record. After achieving the feat, the team had a six- and a seven-game winning streak, demonstrating to the rest of the P.L. that they were a dangerous club. A fierce struggle for first place developed between the Fighters, Lions and Hawks. On September 27, the Fighters emerged in first place, earning the title "Regular Season Champions." They also boasted the best team ERA (3.05) and the best team

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

total (135) in the NPB. Yu Darvish had an especially impressive year, winning 12 games and posting an ERA of 2.89, establishing himself as the ace of the Fighters’ staff. The Fighters swept the Hawks in the second stage of the P.L. playoffs to earn their third pennant. In the Japan Series, the team won their first Japanese championship in 44 years, defeating the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

in five games. Fittingly, Darvish pitched for the win in the final game of the series. The series' MVP honors went to Fighters' outfielder Atsunori Inaba, who hit for a .357

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

during the series with one home run and six RBIs. The championship win was especially fitting for OF Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who was a longtime veteran of the Hanshin Tigers (who were perennial losers), and also had played for a brief time in the United States'

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. It was Shinjo's ultimate desire to win a championship, and he did in the final year of his illustrious career in Japan with Nippon-Ham. This victory gave the Fighters a berth in the four-team

Asia Series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), ...

, in which the team went undefeated in the round-robin and won the final 1–0 over the

La New Bears LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

. The 2006 offseason saw the departure of two of Nippon-Ham's best players, both via free agency. First baseman

was signed to a blockbuster contract with the

, and left-handed reliever

departed to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. At the start of the 2007 season, Nippon-Ham had a lot of trouble scoring runs, relying far too much on their pitching, despite the continuing maturation of Yu Darvish, who had back-to-back complete game, 14-strikeout performances early in the season. At one point, Nippon Ham was second-to-last in the

, but recently has been able to turn it around. With the start of Interleague play, Nippon-Ham began a 14-game winning streak, which ended on June 9 with a 3–2 extra inning loss to the

, with the bullpen wasting another great performance by Darvish. The Fighters went on to win the Pacific League championship and went through the Climax Series to earn a second consecutive trip to the Japan Series to once again face the Chunichi Dragons. But in a reversal of roles from last year, the Fighters took Game 1, but the Dragons took the next four games to defeat the Fighters; the last of which being a combined perfect game by Dragons pitchers Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase. In 2007, Yukio Tanaka's final season, he recorded his 2000th career hit, during a May 15 game against the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

. The Fighters would win the Pacific League championship again in 2009 and 2012, but they would lose both times in the Japan Series to the Yomiuri Giants. In 2012, the Fighters drafted

Shohei Ohtani , nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional ...

, who made his debut in 2013. Despite Ohtani wanting to play in MLB, the Fighters drafted him anyways as they would have lost him to an MLB team. Ohtani signed with the Fighters nonetheless. Ohtani, with his ability to both pitch and hit, quickly became a star for the team. He was selected as an NPB all-star five times and was named Pacific League MVP in 2016. Behind Ohtani, the Fighters returned to the Japan Series in 2016, facing the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

. After dropping the first two games on the road, the Fighters rallied to win the next four games en route to their first championship since 2006. In 2017, the Fighters drafted Kotaro Kiyomiya, a child prodigy entering the draft with high expectations and a number 1 overall pick. The Fighters got his contract negotiation rights after winning a lottery in the draft between 6 other NPB teams. As Japan would soon find out however, he became a draft bust. What made it even worse was Munetaka Murakami, also on Kiyomiya's draft class, who was drafted by the Swallows after losing out to him, was hitting more home runs than him at a rapid pace and already won a Japan Series title with the Swallows. As of 2022, Kiyomiya only had 21 home runs, while Murakami already had 104, and became the youngest NPB player to hit 100 home runs, at only 22 years old. Kiyomiya also did not play on the first squad in 2021. Kiyomiya was also being plagued by injuries, whilst Murakami managed to stay healthy and has played the full 143 game schedule with the Swallows. In 2017, Ohtani left the Fighters to sign with the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. On January 8, 2018, the Fighters signed a partnership agreement with the Texas Rangers that they will exchange scouting info with each other and the Rangers will be sharing advise to the Fighters for their plans to help the Fighters build ES-CON Field Hokkaido and it would be similar to the then-under construction

Globe Life Field Globe Life Field is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. It is located just south of Choctaw Stadium, the Rangers' former home ballpark. History Background On Ma ...

in Arlington. Both ballparks would have mixed use community districts, and similar structure, hence why both ballparks look very similar. In October 2021, the Fighters replaced longtime manager Hideki Kuriyama, who went to become manager of Samurai Japan, with former player

. He is best known for winning his first Japan Series title in his last game before retirement. On January 21, 2022, new manager

unveiled a new logo and uniform for the Fighters. The response from fans was mixed to mostly negative. Fans often compared their jerseys to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

due to the font they used. On March 24, 2022, Shinjo was approved by the NPB to be registered as "BIGBOSS" for the 2022 season. The upcoming 2022 season would be the Fighters' last season in Sapporo, as their new stadium in Kitahiroshima would be ready by opening day 2023. Their supposed first scheduled game at the new stadium would be an opening day game against the Eagles. On September 28, 2022, the Fighters played their final game at Sapporo Dome, a 11-3 loss to the Chiba Lotte Marines. After the game, it was announced that Tsuyoshi Shinjo would continue being manager for the 2023 season, but he will not wear "BIGBOSS" on his jersey.

ES CON Field Hokkaido

On April 13, 2020, ground broke on ES CON Field Hokkaido, the team's new ballpark expected to open in 2023. The idea of a new ballpark for the Fighters began in early 2016 when Nippon-Ham wanted a new ballpark because their current stadium, the Sapporo Dome, was owned by the city of Sapporo themselves and charged the team about ¥16 million a game to play there, which is ¥1.3 billion a year. That, combined with in-stadium loss of revenue, and the inflexibility of a multi-purpose stadium would contribute to Nippon-Ham's decision to build a new stadium made for the Fighters.

would try and make bids from keeping the team leaving the capital city, but in the end, most of their proposed land was unusable due to certain and various circumstances. Also, the third and final proposal from Sapporo, which was redeveloping Makomanai Park was majorly opposed by local residents. Plus, Kitahiroshima's bid included 36 hectares of land, perfect to build the stadium and the planned entertainment district now known as Hokkaido Ballpark F Village. In January 2020, ES-CON Japan acquired the stadium's naming rights.

The Fox Dance

The Fox Dance is a tradition of the Fighters to do during the middle of innings, in which they encouraged fans, alongside cheerleaders, to dance similarly to the moves of a fox, set to the iconic

Ylvis Ylvis () are a Norwegian comedy duo consisting of brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They debuted as professional variety artists in 2000 and have since appeared in several countries in variety shows, comedy concerts, television shows, radio ...

song

The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" is an electronic dance novelty song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. The top trending video of 2013 on YouTube, "The Fox" was posted on the platform on 3 September 2013, and has received over ...

, which began in May 2022. The origins of this tradition came from Fighters staff member and former Fighters Girl member Sari Ogure, who watched the music video 2 years prior. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic disallowing any cheering or singing at games, she wanted to make a choreographed dance that would be simple for anyone to memorize, especially children. She had planned to propose this dance, but waited until it was right for her to do so, which came at the hiring of

. The dance became a major hit at Fighters games, and despite the team struggling in 2022, it became an entertaining part of games. It became so popular that on September 19, 2022, Ylvis went to Japan and performed the song live prior to a game against the

Players

Retired numbers Honoured numbers

MLB players

Active: *

(from 2012) *

(from 2018) * Kohei Arihara (from 2021) Retired: *

(1968, 1974–1979) * Tim McIntosh (1995) *

Masao Kida is a Japanese former baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from -, and -. He is currently the manager for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters farm team in Nippon Professional Baseball's Eastern League. Biography Kida was drafted in ...

(1999–2005) *

(2001–2003) *

Takahito Nomura Takahito Nomura (野村貴仁, born January 10, 1969) is a former Japanese professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Orix BlueWave, Yomiuri Giants, and Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Milwaukee Brewers of Ma ...

(2002) *

Kazuhito Tadano is a Japanese former baseball pitcher. He had previously pitched in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians. He is currently the Pitching Coach for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters farm team in Nippon Professional Baseball's Eastern Lea ...

(2004–2005) *

(2007–2011) *

Yoshinori Tateyama is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Hanshin Tigers. Career On November 30, ...

(2011–2012) *

Kensuke Tanaka Kensuke Tanaka (田中賢介, born May 20, 1981) is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He has played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball and the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Career ...

(2013–2014)

Managers

* Statistics current through the end of the season.

Mascots

*Bear mascot (official name unknown): Only appeared on uniforms from 1949–1950. *Boy wearing a hat (official name unknown): Only appeared on printed materials from 1972–1973. *Hercules shooting a bow (official name unknown): Appeared in the logo until 1981. *Boy wearing a uniform (official name unknown): Appeared in the logo from 1982–1987. *Görotan (ギョロタン) (retired): a large red fuzzy creature with long feathered hair that served as mascot from 1980 to 1987. He is based on the sun. He often rode on a bicycle, but in later years he rode on a scooter. He was the first costumed mascot in the Pacific League. In 2014, he returned in the Legend Series along with Fighty, and they have appeared at every Legend Series since. *Fight-kun (ファイトくん) (retired): a winged warrior with a bat and a helmet who first appeared in 1988 as a replacement for Görotan. Appeared as a logo and as a costume. *Armored warrior (official name unknown): Appeared in the logo from 1993–2003. *Fighty (ファイティー) (retired): a bright pink pterodactyl whose head resembled a giant leg of ham and who sometimes rode a bicycle around the field. He appeared from 1993–2005. On August 17, 2005, Fighty was retired, despite the (unsuccessful) "Save Fighty" campaign, when the Fighters moved to Hokkaidō. In 2014, he returned in the Legend Series along with Görotan, and they have appeared at every Legend Series since. *B·B (Brisky the Bear) (ブリスキー・ザ・ベアー): a black bear with a black mohawk on his head. Although his full name is Brisky, he prefers to be called B·B. On Sundays, the mohawk is orange, and sometimes the mohawk is white. In 212 Story locations, his mohawk is pink. He first appeared in 2004, as the successor to Fighty. When B·B was first introduced, his appearance was criticized by some of the Fighters' supporters for being too Americanized. On the Fighters official website, B·B has his own photo gallery and column. The costume was updated in 2005 because the original costume was becoming damaged and it was difficult to perform in. On April 5, 2006, B·B injured his left foot during a match at the

and was diagnosed with a serious injury of 3 months. He appeared with a crutch the next day, and returned on July 4, 2006. B·B was also the mascot of Nippon Ham from 2004–2017. He has his own section on the website called B·B Diary. In 2019, he launched a blog, which was called B·B The Home. As of 2022, he has barely appeared in any more games, and is primarily now going around different communities in Hokkaido. *baby・B (ベビー・ビー) (retired): a young version of B·B who is an elementary school student. He first appeared in 2010. He resembles his father. In his first appearance, he appeared on the monitor and watered the crowd with a hose. Since then, he has calmed down by receiving direct guidance from B·B. He does not exist as a mascot costume. As of 2022, no media has surfaced to prove he was a real mascot of the Fighters at all. *Cubby (Cubby the Bear) (カビー・ザ・ベアー): a brown bear and younger brother of B·B. Although it shows the text "C·B" on the back of his uniform, it is pronounced "Cubby" and not "Sea B". He loves to eat strange foods, but because of this he has a weak stomach and becomes embarrassed when this is brought up. He appeared in 2006 as the mascot of the Fighters' minor league team, based in

Kamagaya is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 109,941 living in 50,485 households and a population density of 5200 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kamagaya is located in th ...

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

. He also has a Twitter account. Cubby and B·B performed for each team, but also sometimes perform together when the Fighters' professional team plays in Tokyo. He sometimes goes to kindergartens and nursery schools, and in 2010 he was appointed as a one-day Chief of the Kamagaya Police Station and participated in the crime prevention campaign. *Polly Polaris (ポリーポラリス): a brown squirrel who appeared late 2012, at the same time when the Fighters announced their 10th season. She's the first female mascot that was introduced to the team. Her current look now has her fur be a lighter shade of brown compared to her introduction. According to her backstory, she was childhood friends with Brisky. * Frep the Fox (フレップ・ザ・フォックス): An Ezo red fox, who debuted in March 2016. He is gray with red markings, and he is considered an "apprentice." In 2018, he graduated from apprentice status and he replaced B·B as the main mascot, although B·B still performs at almost all games. He also has an

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account, and B·B and Polly also post on there. On May 6, 2019, Frep injured his left leg during a performance at the

Zozo Marine Stadium (official name: ) is a stadium in Chiba City, Chiba, Japan. It opened in 1990 and holds approximately 30,000 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Chiba Lotte Marines. It is also used for Rugby union. The stad ...

. He planned to return on June 1, 2019. However, he did not return until June 28, 2019, when he appeared with a cast. On June 13, 2018, in a game against the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

, he was involved in a wrestling match against

Jushin Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

after a ceremonial first pitch and lost the match.

References

External links

Official website

at the official website of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization {{Authority control Nippon Professional Baseball teams Baseball teams established in 1946 Sports teams in Sapporo 1946 establishments in Japan