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) is one of the two professional baseball leagues (that make up, or) constitute Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan.^[1] There are six teams in the league.^[2]

Map of Japan showing home towns of the Pacific League teams

History

In 1949, The league was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union. There were seven teams.

In 1980, the name was changed to Pacific League.

After the 2004 season, the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to form the Orix Buffaloes.^[3] At the same time, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were added to the league.^[4]

Current teams

Team	Japanese Name	Place	Sponsor
Chiba Lotte Marines[2]	千葉ロッテマリーンズ Chiba Rotte Marīnzu	Chiba, Chiba	Lotte
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks[2]	福岡ソフトバンクホークス Fukuoka Sofutobanku Hōkusu	Fukuoka, Fukuoka	SoftBank
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters[2]	北海道日本ハムファイターズ Hokkaidō Nippon-Hamu Faitāzu	Sapporo, Hokkaidō	Nippon Ham
Orix Buffaloes[2]	オリックス・バファローズ Orikkusu Bafarōzu	Osaka, Osaka / Kobe, Hyōgo	ORIX
Saitama Seibu Lions[2]	埼玉西武ライオンズ Saitama Seibu Raionzu	Tokorozawa, Saitama	Seibu Railway
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles[2]	東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス Tōhoku Rakuten Gōruden Īgurusu	Sendai, Miyagi	Rakuten

Championships

Nishitetsu Lions were Pacific League Champions in 1954

League champion

The team which wins the most games in each year is the league champion or "pennant winner".^[5]

1950 Mainichi Orions 1951 Nankai Hawks 1952 Nankai Hawks 1953 Nankai Hawks 1953 Nankai Hawks 1954 Nishitetsu Lions 1955 Nankai Hawks 1956 Nishitetsu Lions 1957 Nishitetsu Lions 1958 Nishitetsu Lions 1959 Nankai Hawks _____ 1960 Daimai Orions 1961 Nankai Hawks 1962 Toei Flyers 1963 Nishitetsu Lions 1964 Nankai Hawks 1965 Nankai Hawks 1966 Nankai Hawks 1967 Hankyu Braves 1968 Hankyu Braves 1969 Hankyu Braves _____ 1970 Lotte Orions 1971 Hankyu Braves 1972 Hankyu Braves 1973 Nankai Hawks 1974 Lotte Orions 1975 Hankyu Braves 1976 Hankyu Braves 1977 Hankyu Braves 1978 Hankyu Braves 1979 Kintetsu Buffaloes _____ 1980 Kintetsu Buffaloes 1981 Nippon-Ham Fighters 1982 Seibu Lions 1983 Seibu Lions 1984 Hankyu Braves 1985 Seibu Lions 1986 Seibu Lions 1987 Seibu Lions 1988 Seibu Lions 1989 Kintetsu Buffaloes

_____ 1990 Seibu Lions 1991 Seibu Lions 1992 Seibu Lions 1993 Seibu Lions 1994 Seibu Lions 1995 Orix BlueWave 1996 Orix BlueWave 1997 Seibu Lions 1998 Seibu Lions 1999 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks _____ 2000 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 2002 Seibu Lions 2003 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 2004 Seibu Lions 2005 Chiba Lotte Marines 2006 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2007 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2008 Saitama Seibu Lions 2009 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters _____ 2010 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2011 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2012 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Since 2004, there has been a three-team playoff system called the "climax series". The teams with the 2nd- and 3rd-best records play in the 3-game first stage. The winner plays in a 5-game final series against the top-ranked team.^[2]

Japan Series

Each year, the winner of the league championship competes against the Central League champion in the Japan Series (日本シリーズ, Nippon Shiriizu) or Japan Championship Series (日本選手権シリーズ, Nippon Senshuken Shiriizu).^[6]

Related pages

• Sports in Japan