Hanshin Tigers
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The Hanshin Tigers are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hansin Tigers directly. It is the sister team of the American baseball team Detroit Tigers and in Steven King and Stewart O'Nan's 2004 book Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, the Tigers are often portrayed as the Japanese Red Sox. The team's circular logo is very similar to the classic Detroit Tigers logo, except the tiger in the Major Leagues version is orange, whereas Hanshin's is yellow.
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[edit] History of the Hanshin Tigers
The Hanshin Tigers, one of the oldest professional clubs in Japan, were founded in 1935 with the team being formed in 1936. The team was first called the Ōsaka Tigers. In 1940, amid anti-foreign sentiment, the Tigers changed the name to Hanshin and in 1947 changed the name back to Ōsaka Tigers. The current team name was assumed in 1961.
The Tigers won four titles before the establishment of the two league system in 1950. Since the league was split into the Central League and the Pacific League, the Tigers have won the Central League pennant five times (1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005) and the Japan Series once (1985).
When the 2004 Major League Baseball season opened in Japan, the Tigers played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees at the Tokyo Dome on March 29. The Tigers won 11–7.
In 2005 and 2006, over 3 million people visited to see the games hosted by the Tigers in each year. It is only the Tigers of 12 baseball teams in Japan.
On January 31, 2007, the Tigers presented uniforms for the 2007 season. For home games, one of the colors of the team, yellow, is used again.
The home field, Hanshin Kōshien Stadium, is used by high school baseball teams from all over Japan for play in the national championship tournaments in spring and summer.
Famous players in Hanshin Tigers history include Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu, Minoru Murayama, Jeff Williams, and many others.
[edit] Koshien Stadium
The home field of the Tigers, Hanshin Koshien Stadium, is one of three major natural grass baseball stadiums in Japan. The others are the Hiroshima Municipal Ballpark (Hiroshima Toyo Carp), and Skymark Stadium in Kobe (part-time home of the newly-merged Orix Buffaloes). Of the three, only Skymark (Kobe) has grass on the infield as well as in the outfield. There are numerous smaller grass field ballparks around the country; Japanese baseball teams frequently play games in small cities so that local fans can see more of their heroes.
Koshien Stadium is by far the oldest ballpark in Japan; built in 1924, the stadium was once visited by American baseball legend Babe Ruth on a tour of Major League stars in 1934. There is a monument commemorating this visit at the front gates of the park.
Koshien is revered as a "sacred" ballpark, and players traditionally bow before entering and before leaving its hallowed field. The losing team in any high school baseball game played at the ballpark is allowed to scoop up handfuls of Koshien infield dirt, stuffing holy clay clods into tiny plastic bags as hordes of Japanese papparazzi snap photos at arm's length.
[edit] Curse of the Colonel
As with many other underachieving baseball teams, a curse is believed to lurk over the Tigers. After their 1985 Japan Series win, fans celebrated by having people who looked like Tigers players jump into the Dotonbori Canal. According to legend, because none of the fans resembled first baseman Randy Bass, fans grabbed a life-sized statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot Colonel Sanders and threw it into the river (like Bass, the Colonel had a beard and was not Japanese). The statue was never recovered. Thus, the Tigers are said to be doomed never to win the season again until the Colonel is rescued from the river.
In 2003, when the Tigers returned to the Japan Series after 18 years with one of the worst records in the Central League, many KFC outlets in Kōbe and Ōsaka moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside until the series was over to protect them from Tigers fans.
[edit] Trivia
Tiger fans are known as perhaps the most fanatical and dedicated fans in all of Japanese professional baseball. They often outnumber the home team fans at Tiger "away" games. Tiger fans also have a reputation for rough behavior and a willingness to brawl with other fans or with each other, although long fights are rare. They have been known to attack the Tiger's team bus after losses.
A famous Tiger fan tradition is the release, by the fans, of hundreds of air-filled balloons immediately following the 7th inning stretch and the singing of the Tiger's fight song. This tradition is carried-out at all home and away games, except at games against the Yomiuri Giants in the Tokyo Dome due to the Giants' notoriously heavy-handed rules for behavior by visiting fans.
The Giants-Tigers rivalry is considered the national Japanese derby, on par with the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball or Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona in Spanish football.
| Hanshin Tigers no Uta (Rokko Oroshi, romaji)
Rokkō oroshi ni sassō to Tōshi hatsuratsu tatsu ya ima | The Wind of Mount Rokko (An official English version, not a direct translation) Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times |
[edit] Players of note
[edit] Current players
- Shuta Tanaka (Shuta) (田中 秀太, 秀太) - IF
- Yutaka Nakamura (中村 豊) - OF
- Takashi Toritani (鳥谷 敬) - IF
- Toshihiro Noguchi (野口 寿浩) - C
- Kentaro Sekimoto (関本 健太郎) - IF
- Andy Sheets - IF
- Osamu Hamanaka (濱中 治) - OF
- Tomoaki Kanemoto (金本 知憲) - OF
- Makoto Imaoka (今岡 誠) - IF
- Ryo Asai (浅井 良) - C
- Atsushi Fujimoto (藤本 敦士) - IF
- Hiroshi Santo (三東 洋) - P
- Yasuhiro Nakamura (中村 泰広) - P
- Atsushi Nohmi (能見 篤史) - P
- Taiyō Fujita (Taiyō) (藤田 太陽, 太陽) - P
- Yuya Ando (安藤 優也) - P
- Naohisa Sugiyama (杉山 直久) - P
- Itsuki Shoda (正田 樹) - P
- Minoru Iwata (岩田 稔) - P
- Kyuji Fujikawa (藤川 球児) - P
- Shinjiro Hiyama (桧山 進次郎) - OF
- Ryo Watanabe (渡辺 亮) - P
- Hirotaka Egusa (江草 仁貴) - P
- Shinobu Fukuhara (福原 忍) - P
- Tatsuya Kojima (小嶋 達也) - P
- Tomoyuki Kubota (久保田 智之) - P
- Lin Weizhu (林 威助) - OF
- Tadatoki Maeda (前田 忠節) - IF
- Ikuro Katsuragi (葛城 育郎) - OF
- Kentaro Hashimoto (橋本 健太郎) - P
- Katsuhiko Saka (坂 克彦) - IF
- Ryan Vogelsong - P
- Akihiro Yano (矢野 輝弘) - C, Akihiro Yano official website {{ja icon
- Masashi Sajikihara (桟原 将司) - P
- Keiji Uezono (上園 啓史) - P
- Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (下柳 剛) - P
- Taichiro Kamisaka (上坂 太一郎) - IF
- Toru Fujiwara (藤原 通) - IF
- Makoto Yoshino (吉野 誠) - P
- Mitsunobu Takahashi (高橋 光信) - IF
- Koudai Sakurai (桜井 広大) - OF
- Masato Akamatsu (赤松 真人) - OF
- Norihiro Akahoshi (赤星 憲広) - OF
- Jeff Williams - P
- Shinsuke Yamada (山田 真介) - OF
- Darwin Cubillan (Darwin) - P
- Takahiro Shoda (庄田 隆弘) - OF
- Esteban Yan - P
- Keisuke Kanoh (狩野 恵輔) - C
[edit] Former players
- George Altman - OF
- Sohachi Aniya (安仁屋 宗八) - P
- George Arias - IF
- Gene Bacque - P
- Randy Bass - IF
- Mike Blowers - IF
- Darnell Coles - IF, OF
- Doug Creek - P
- Glenn Davis (Glenn)
- Rob Deer
- Yutaka Enatsu (江夏 豊) - P
- Tom Evans
- Cecil Fielder
- Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富美男) - P, IF
- Taira Fujita (藤田 平)
- Rich Gale - P
- Mike Greenwell - OF
- Shosei Go (呉 昌征) - OF
- Dave Hansen
- Jason Hardtke - IF
- Phil Hiatt - IF
- Osamu Hoshino (星野 修, 星野 おさむ) - IF
- Nobuyuki Hoshino (星野 伸之) - P
- Kei Igawa (井川 慶) - P
- Mark Johnson - IF, OF
- Masaru Kageura (景浦 將), died in 1945
- Masayuki Kakefu (掛布 雅之) - IF
- Tsutomu Kameyama (亀山 努, 亀山 つとむ) - IF
- Atsushi Kataoka (片岡 篤史) - IF
- Kozo Kawatoh (川藤 幸三) - PH
- Matt Keough - P
- Mike Kinkade - IF
- Willie Kirkland - OF
- Masaaki Koyama (小山 正明)
- Kojiro Machida (町田 公二郎) - OF
- Darrell May - P
- Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎) - IF, died in 1986
- Susumu Mikoshiba (御子柴 進) - P
- Kurt Miller - P
- Toyozo Minamimure (南牟礼 豊蔵) - IF, OF
- Takao Misonoo (御園生 崇男) - P
- Tray Moore - P
- Romon Morel - P
- Minoru Murayama (村山 実) - P, died in 1998
- Kiyooki Nakanishi (中西 清起) - P (Present: a coach for the Tigers)
- Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布) - IF (Present: the manager of the Tigers)
- Tom O'Malley
- Chris Oxspring - P
- Eduardo Perez - IF
- Larry Parrish
- Alonzo Powell - OF
- Mike Reinbach - OF, died in 1988
- Jerrod Riggan - P
- Bienvenido Rivera - OF
- Tsuyoshi Shinjo (新庄 剛志) - OF
- Shane Spencer - OF
- Kento Sugiyama (杉山 賢人) - P
- Koichi Tabuchi (田淵 幸一)
- Tony Tarasco - OF
- Katsunori Tomari (渡真利 克則) - IF, OF, PH
- Tomochika Tsuboi (坪井 智哉) - OF
- Marc Valdes - P
- Yutaka Wada (和田 豊) - IF
- Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 正) - P
- Marvell Wynne - OF
- Keiichi Yabu (藪 恵壹) - P
- Hiroshi Yagi (八木 裕) - IF, PH
- Kazuhiro Yamauchi (山内 一弘)
- Hiroshi Yoshida (吉田 浩) - OF
- Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男) - IF
- Toshiro Yufune (湯舟 敏郎) - P
[edit] Retired numbers
- Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富実男)
- Minoru Murayama (村山 実)
- Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男)
[edit] Media relating to the Tigers
- Newspapers
- Daily Sports (デイリースポーツ)
- Nikkan Sports (日刊スポーツ, Kansai)
- Sankei Sports (サンケイスポーツ, Kansai)
- Sports Nippon (スポーツニッポン, Kansai)
- Broadcasting stations
- SUN-TV (サンテレビ)
- Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC, 朝日放送, TV, Radio)
- Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc. (MBS, 毎日放送, TV, Radio)
- Kansai Telecasting Corporation (KTV, 関西テレビ)
- Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (ytv, 読売テレビ)
- Television Osaka, Inc. (TVO, テレビ大阪)
[edit] See also
