The Route Inn BCL, formerly known as the , is an independent minor baseball league in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The league's abbreviated designation is "."

League structure

The Baseball Challenge League has three divisions, East, Middle, and West, with four teams in each division. From 2008 to 2019, this League had two divisions, East and West. Not every team has a home stadium; instead, the team travels around its home

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

, playing in different stadiums, each one called "home” for that game. The 72-game season runs from April–October, split into two half-terms, with the division champion from each half-term meeting in a playoff at the end of the year to determine which two teams compete for the league championship. Each team carries 27 players. Typically, players earn 150,000 yen (c. U.S. $2,000) per month, with another 50,000 yen in potential bonuses.Patrick
"Japan’s Independent Leagues 2014,"
NPB Tracker (09 February 2014). The league imposes a 7.2 million yen (c. U.S. $60,600) salary limit for team managers.Jun Hongo
"Julio Franco, 56 Years Old, Joins a Japan Team as Player-Manager,"
'' The Wall Street Journal'', February 9, 2015. In September 2021, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui and Shiga(the West division) announced that they would leave the league in 2022 and form a new league, the Nihonkai OCEAN League.

History

The BC League began play in 2007 as the Hokushinestu Baseball Challenge League. It originally consisted of four teams based in the

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern ...

: the

Ishikawa Million Stars The are a semi-professional baseball team in the Baseball Challenge League of Japan. The team was established in 2007. Their home is Ishikawa Prefecture. Former Major League Baseball star Julio Franco was the team's player-manager.Jun Hongo"Julio ...

, the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club, the

Shinano Grandserows The are a semi-professional baseball team in the Baseball Challenge League of Japan, playing in the Advance-West Division. They are the only professional baseball team in Nagano Prefecture, with the team named after the Serow, found in the region ...

, and the

Toyama Thunderbirds The Route Inn BCL, formerly known as the , is an independent minor baseball league in Japan. The league's abbreviated designation is "." League structure The Baseball Challenge League has three divisions, East, Middle, and West, with four team ...

. In 2008 the league added two teams, Gunma Diamond Pegasus and the

Fukui Miracle Elephants The Route Inn BCL, formerly known as the , is an independent minor baseball league in Japan. The league's abbreviated designation is "." League structure The Baseball Challenge League has three divisions, East, Middle, and West, with four teams ...

, and split into two divisions, Jōshin'etsu (Gunma, Shinano, and Niigata) and Hokuriku (Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama).

Infielder

Kensuke Uchimura is a Japanese baseball infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pl ...

led the league in steals in 2007, which led to him being drafted by Nippon Professional Baseball's

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 c ...

. In 2008, he became the first player to reach NPB after playing in the BC League. In February 2014, the league agreed to a naming rights deal with Route Inn Group, becoming the Route Inn BC League.Gen
"BC League agrees to naming rights deal with Route Inn Group,"
Yakyubaka.com (Feb. 25, 2014). That same month, it was announced that a new team, the Musashi Heat Bears, based out of

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

, would join the league in time for the 2015 season. In July 2014, it was announced that a second new team, the Fukushima Hopes, would also join the league for the 2015 season.Gen
"New BC League team from Fukushima will be named the Fukushima Hopes,"
Yakyubaka.com (July 18, 2014). Late in the summer of 2014, along with the Shikoku Island League Plus, the Route Inn BCL formed the Japan Independent Baseball League Organization. With the addition of two new teams, in 2015 the league realigned and renamed its divisions, replacing the previous divisions Jōshin'etsu and Hokuriku with Future—East and Advance—West.

Teams

As a result of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the twelve teams of the league were organised into three different Divisions, as a control measure for the spread of the virus. Each division has two groups of two teams. East *Group A: Ibaraki and Tochigi *Group B: Saitama, Kanagawa Central *Group C: Fukushima and Niigata *Group D: Gunma, Shinano West *Group E: Toyama and Ishikawa *Group F: Fukui and Shiga

Franchise locations

Yearly standings

References

External links

Baseball Challenge League Official Site
(in Japanese)
2014 Final Standings, Playoff Results, Statistical Leaders
{{Professional Baseball Baseball leagues in Japan Sports leagues established in 2007 2007 establishments in Japan Professional sports leagues in Japan