The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

leagues that constitute

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...

. It currently consists of six teams from around the country. Unlike the Pacific League,

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

s are not used during Central League home games.

History

The Central League was founded in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

with eight teams: four holdovers from the previous Japanese Baseball League — 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 ...

, the Hanshin Tigers, the

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 h ...

, and the Shochiku Robins (formerly the Taiyō Robins) — and four new teams — the Hiroshima Carp, the Kokutetsu Swallows, the Nishi Nippon Pirates, and the Taiyō Whales. The Nishi Nippon Pirates existed for one season — they placed sixth in 1950, and the following season merged with the also

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

-based Nishitetsu Clippers (a member of the Pacific League) to form the

Nishitetsu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiar ...

, who joined the Pacific League. This brought the number of Central League teams down to an ungainly arrangement of seven. Ryuji Suzuki became president of the Central League in 1952."SUZUKI, Ryuji,"
The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Japan). Accessed March 27, 2015. In 1952, it was decided that any team ending the season with a winning percentage below .300 would be disbanded or merged with other teams. The Shochiku Robins fell into this category, and were merged with the Taiyō Whales to become the Taiyō Shochiku Robins in January 1953. This enabled the Central League to shrink to an even number of six teams. Ryuji Suzuki retired as CL president in 1984 after 33 years at the post. In 2007, a new Climax Series was introduced. This playoff series was inspired by the stepladder playoff used in the Pacific League introduced in 2004 for the top three teams of the league to determine which one progressed to the

. Under the previous system, there was no post-season playoff and the winner of the pennant automatically qualified for the Japan Series.

Current teams

Central League pennant winners

*2024

*2023 Hanshin Tigers *2022 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2021 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2020

*2019

*2018 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *2017 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *2016 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *2015 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2014

*2013

*2012

*2011

*2010

*2009

*2008

*2007

*2006

*2005 Hanshin Tigers *2004

*2003 Hanshin Tigers *2002

*2001 Yakult Swallows *2000

*1999

*1998 Yokohama BayStars *1997 Yakult Swallows *1996

*1995 Yakult Swallows *1994

*1993 Yakult Swallows *1992 Yakult Swallows *1991 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1990

*1989

*1988

*1987

*1986 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1985 Hanshin Tigers *1984 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1983

*1982

*1981

*1980 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1979 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1978 Yakult Swallows *1977

*1976

*1975 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1974

*1973

*1972

*1971

*1970

*1969

*1968

*1967

*1966

*1965

*1964 Hanshin Tigers *1963

*1962 Hanshin Tigers *1961

*1960 Taiyo Whales *1959

*1958

*1957

*1956

*1955

*1954

*1953

*1952

*1951

*1950 Shochiku Robins

Climax Series winners

*2024 Yokohama DeNA BayStars *2023 Hanshin Tigers *2022 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2021 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2020 Yomiuri Giants *2019 Yomiuri Giants *2018 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *2017 Yokohama DeNA BayStars *2016 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *2015 Tokyo Yakult Swallows *2014 Hanshin Tigers *2013 Yomiuri Giants *2012 Yomiuri Giants *2011 Chunichi Dragons *2010 Chunichi Dragons *2009 Yomiuri Giants *2008 Yomiuri Giants *2007 Chunichi Dragons

Central League statistics

Most Valuable Pitcher

:''See: Best Nine Award#Other notes''

Best Nine Awards

References

External links

*
Official website

List of players at ''Japanese Baseball''
{{Authority control 1 2 1949 establishments in Japan Sports leagues established in 1949 Annual events in Japan Professional sports leagues in Japan