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professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...
team competing in
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 ...
's
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 consi ...
. Based in Bunkyo,
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 37.46 ...
, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being 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 ...
. They have played their home games in 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 ...
since its opening in 1988. The team's owner is Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest
media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According t ...
which also owns two newspapers (including the eponymous ''
Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ...
'') and the
Nippon Television Network JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed sub ...
(which includes flagship
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed ...
). The Giants are the oldest team among the current Japanese professional teams. They are also by far the most successful, having won 22
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 and an additional nine in the era of NPB's forerunner, the Japanese Baseball League. Their main rivalry is with 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 Railway ...
, a team especially popular in the
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 ...
region. The Yomiuri Giants are regarded as "The
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
of Japan" due to their widespread popularity, past dominance of the league, and polarizing effect on fans. (Baseball fans who are indifferent about teams other than their local team often have an intense dislike for the Giants; on the other hand, the Giants have a large fan base even in cities that have a team of their own.) The English-language press occasionally calls the team the "Tokyo Giants", but that name has not been in use in Japan for decades. ( Lefty O'Doul, a former
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 (A ...
player, named the team "Tokyo Giants" in the mid-1930s.) Instead, the team is officially known by the name of its corporate owner, just like 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 Railway ...
and
Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...
. The team is often referred by fans and in news headlines and tables simply as ''Kyojin'' (巨人, the Japanese word for "giant(s)"), instead of the usual corporate owner's name or the English nickname. The Yomiuri Giants name and uniforms were based on the New York (now San Francisco) Giants. The team's colors (orange and black) are the same colors worn by the National League's Giants (both then as now in both New York and San Francisco). The stylized lettering on the team's jerseys and caps is similar to the fancy lettering used by the Giants when they played in New York in the 1930s, although during the 1970s the Yomiuri Giants modernized their lettering to follow the style worn by the San Francisco Giants.


Franchise history


Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club

The team began in 1934 as , a team of all-stars organized by media mogul Matsutarō Shōriki that toured the United States and matched up against an American all-star team that included
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
,
Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...
,
Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...
, and
Charlie Gehringer Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) fo ...
. While prior Japanese all-star contingents had disbanded, Shōriki went pro with this group, playing in an independent league. They later went to America and faced off against college and minor league teams. When they faced off against the San Francisco Seals, the manager of the Seals, Lefty O'Doul, stated the team needed a name. He said that since
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 37.46 ...
was the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
of
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 n ...
, he stated that they should emulate the name of one of the two MLB teams in New York. As "
Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
" was immediately out of the question, they chose "Giants" instead.


Tokyo Kyojin

In 1936, with the formation of the Japanese Baseball League, the team changed its name to the Tokyo Kyojin, often called the Tokyo Giants in non-Japanese sources. It won eight league championships under that name from 1936 to 1943, including six championships in a row. Pitcher
Victor Starffin Victor Starffin ( rus, Виктор Константинович Старухин, Viktor Konstantinovich Starukhin, 1 May 1916 – 12 January 1957), nicknamed , was a Japanese baseball player. While playing in Japan, he became the first professio ...
, nicknamed "the blue-eyed Japanese", starred for the team until 1944. One of the league's premier pitchers, he won two MVP awards and a Best Nine award, and won at least 26 games in six different years, winning a league-record 42 games in 1939. He followed his record-setting performance with another 38 wins in 1940. Pitcher
Eiji Sawamura Eiji Sawamura (沢村 栄治; February 1, 1917 – December 2, 1944) was a Japanese professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he played in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants. Early life On November 20, 1934, the 17-year-old Sawamura fa ...
co-starred with Starffin on the Kyojin. He pitched the first
no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...
in Japanese pro baseball, on September 25, 1936, as well as two others. In 1937, he went 33–10 with a 1.38
earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...
. From 1937 to 1943 Sawamura had a record of 63–22, 554 strikeouts, and a 1.74 ERA. Sawamura enlisted in the
Japanese Imperial Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...
in 1943. He was killed in battle when his ship was torpedoed near the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Outfielder Haruyasu Nakajima was a featured hitter during the franchise's first decade-and-a-half, and as
player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
led the Kyojin to a championship in 1941. Tetsuharu Kawakami was a team fixture from 1938 to 1958, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in a season. He was the first player in Japanese pro baseball to achieve 2,000 hits and was named the league's MVP three times. Leadoff man
Shosei Go Shosei Go (; Japanese: ''Go Shōsei''; June 28, 1916 – June 7, 1987) was a two-way baseball player from Taiwan. Go was a leadoff man who played for the Tokyo Giants (1937–1943, now the Yomiuri Giants), Hanshin Tigers (1944–1949) and Mainic ...
starred for the team from 1937 to 1943, winning league MVP in 1943. Only and , he was nicknamed "The Human Locomotive" due to his speed. Pitcher Hideo Fujimoto (also known as Hideo Nakagami) pitched for the team for 12 seasons from 1942 to 1955. He holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA (1.90) and seasonal ERA (0.73 in 1943), as well as best all-time winning percentage (.697). He threw two career no-hitters, including the first perfect game in professional baseball. In addition, he served as the Giants'
player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
in 1944 (there was no 1945 season) and part of 1946.


Yomiuri Giants

In 1947 the team became the Yomiuri Giants, winning the final JBL championship in 1949 (again under
player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...
Haruyasu Nakajima). From 1938 to 1987 the Giants played at
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 baseb ...
, moving to their current home 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 ...
in 1988. In 1950 the Giants were one of the founding members of
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 ...
, joining 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 consi ...
. Slugger Noboru Aota starred for the Giants from 1948 to 1952, winning the home run championship twice, and hitting a home run in the 1951
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 ...
, when the Giants defeated the
Nankai 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. ...
4 games to 2 for their first NPB championship. Hawaiian
Wally Yonamine , was a Japanese American multi-sport athlete who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Early life Kaname Yonamine, a Nisei Japanese American, was born in Olowalu, Maui, Hawaii to parent ...
was the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II when he joined the Giants in 1951. A multi-skilled
outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
, as a Giant Yonamine was a member of four Japan Series Championship teams, 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 consi ...
Most Valuable Player 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 partic ...
in 1957, a consecutive seven-time Best Nine Award winner (1952–58), an eleven-time All-Star, and a three-time batting champion. The team was the Central League champion every year from 1955 to 1959, winning the
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 ...
championship in 1955, but losing four consecutive Japan Series thereafter. World career
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 ...
record holder
Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh ( Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...
starred for the Giants from 1959 to 1980, and fellow Hall of Famer
Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...
played for the team from 1958 to 1974. The Giants lineup, consisting of Oh batting third and Nagashima batting fourth, was nicknamed the ''ON Hou'', ("Oh-Nagashima Cannon") as the two players emerged as the best hitters in the league. Now the team's manager, Tetsuharu Kawakami led the Giants to nine consecutive
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 ...
championships from 1965 to 1973, and Oh and Nagashima dominated the batting titles during this period. During his career, Oh was a five-time batting champion and fifteen-time home-run champion, and won 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 consi ...
most valuable player award nine times. Nagashima won the season MVP award five times, and the Best Nine Award every single year of his career (a total 17 times). Future Hall of Famer Tsuneo Horiuchi pitched for the team during its heyday, from 1966 to 1983. The renowned left-hander Masaichi Kaneda pitched for the team from 1965 to 1969, later having his number retired by the Giants.
Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...
was appointed manager of the Giants almost immediately after his retirement in 1974, staying in that position until 1980. After a couple of down years the Giants re-assumed their dominant position in the Central League, winning league championships in 1976 and 1977. Sadaharu Oh rejoined the team as manager from 1984 to 1988. Nagashima returned as Giants manager from 1993 to 2001, winning Japan Series championships in 1994, 1996, and 2000. Outfielder
Hideki Matsui , nicknamed " Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Mats ...
starred for the Giants for ten seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s before migrating to
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 (A ...
. He was a three-time NPB
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 ...
, leading his team to four
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 ...
, winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002), and earning the popular nickname "
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
". He also made nine consecutive All-Star Games and led the league in
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 ...
s and RBIs three times. File:Kawakami Tetsuharu 1946.JPG, Tetsuharu Kawakami in 1946 File:Yomiuri Giants4.jpg, Three Giants stars of the 1950s, Tetsuharu Kawakami,
Shigeru Chiba , known by the stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, talent and sound director from Kikuchi, Kumamoto. He is affiliated with the talent management firm 81 Produce. He is most known for the roles of Yoshihiro Kira from '' JoJo's Bizarre ...
, and Noboru Aota (left to right) File:Egawa.jpg,
Suguru Egawa is a Japanese former pitcher and current baseball analyst. Despite being one of the best pitchers of his generation, Egawa's perceived arrogance and non-conformist ways earned him the media nicknames "Dirty Egawa," "The Giant Devil," and "The Ene ...
, after 1981 File:Giants hara 88.jpg, Tatsunori Hara in 2012 File:銀座ー2.JPG, A celebrate with Giants supporters for NPB championship parade in November 2009 File:国民栄誉賞おめでとうございます (8756593450).jpg, A celebration for awarding the National Honor Award served to
Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...
, former stars and manager for long period, in
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 ...
, May 2013. File:Giants sugano 19.jpg, A main Giants pitcher, Tomoyuki Sugano File:Gk ryoDSC 97122.jpg, Main Giants player, Kazuma Okamoto


Managerial history


Players of note


Current roster


Former players

* *# * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



* *

* * * * * (pitcher; later a pro wrestler, founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling) *


Retired numbers

* * * * *


Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, % = Win Percentage''


"Japan's team" and allegations of corruption

Due to the Yomiuri company's vast influence in Japan as a major media conglomerate, the Giants have long been branded as "Japan's Team". In fact, for some years the Giants' uniforms had "Tokyo" on the jersey instead of "Yomiuri" or "Giants", seeming to imply that the Giants represent the vast metropolis and geopolitical center of Japan, even though 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 Yo ...
are also based in Tokyo and three other teams play in the
Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...
. This bandwagon appeal has been compared with the marketability of the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
,
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, and
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, except that support for the Giants nearly exceeds 50% of those polled, while in the United States and England, support is judged to be between 30% and 40% for the Yankees and Manchester United, respectively. Correspondingly, fans of other professional baseball teams in Japan are often openly derisive and contemptuous of the Giants' bandwagon marketing tactics, and an "anti-Giants" movement exists in protest of the Giants' near-hegenomy.Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989). In addition, despite the Giants having employed many foreign players over the years, many Japanese point proudly to the "pure-blooded period" of 1958–1974 when the team enjoyed continued success — 13 pennants — despite having no foreign players. It has also long been alleged that the Giants rely on underhanded tactics to recruit the best players, involving bribes to players and amateur coaches, or using their influence on the governing council of Japanese professional baseball to pass rules that favors their recruiting efforts. This may be one explanation for the Giants' abundance of success in league play. In August 2004, Yomiuri president
Tsuneo Watanabe is a Japanese journalist and businessman. He is the Representative Director, Editor-in-Chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings company, which publishes the largest Japanese daily newspaper ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' and substantially controls the largest J ...
resigned after it was revealed that the club had violated scouting rules by paying ¥2 million to pitching prospect Yasuhiro Ichiba. Ten months later, Watanabe was hired as chairman of the Yomiuri corporation.
Kyodo News is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million ...
,
Giants ax Kiyotake after vocal Watanabe slight
, ''
Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'', 19 November 2011, p. 16.
In 2012, ''
Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...
'' discovered that the Giants had violated NPB rules by secretly paying pitcher
Takahiko Nomaguchi is a Nippon Professional Baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's 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 pl ...
while he was still an amateur playing in Japan's corporate league. In 2009, the Giants played the
Japan national baseball team The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softb ...
in an unofficial goodwill game before the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
.


Controversies


1973 First nine consecutive victories in professional baseball history

As of October 21 before this game was played, the game difference with 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 Railway ...
was 0.5, this game resulting 9 to 0 victory over Tigers on October 22,
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 playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
Shozo Doi and
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...
Masaaki Mori is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Mori was born in Nagasaki Prefecture on July 12, 1961. After graduating from Fukuoka University Fukuoka University is a private research university locat ...
are each 3 hits and Doi takes two point homerun in fifth innings from Kenji Furusawa. And Giants 4 to 1 win from
Nankai 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. ...
(now
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. ...
) in
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 ...
, starter
Kazumi Takahashi was a Japanese novelist and scholar of Chinese literature in Shōwa period Japan. His wife was fellow writer Takako Takahashi. Biography Takahashi was born in Naniwa-ku, Osaka, and was a graduate of Kyoto University. While still a student, he ...
(23 win, 13 defeat) contribution this season.


Oh home run controversy

In 1985, American
Randy Bass Randy William Bass (born March 13, 1954) is an American politician and former baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and served in the Oklahoma Senate. Bass made his MLB debut in 1977, a ...
, playing for 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 Railway ...
, came into the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs, one short of manager
Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh ( Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...
's single-season record of 55. Bass was intentionally walked four times on four straight pitches each time, leading Bass to famously hold his bat upside down. Bass reached over the plate on the fifth occasion and batted the ball into the outfield for a single. After the game, Oh denied ordering his pitchers to walk Bass, but Keith Comstock, an American pitcher for the Giants, later stated that an unnamed Giants coach had threatened a fine of $1,000 for every strike that any Giants pitcher threw to Bass. The magazine Takarajima investigated the incident and reported that the Giants front office had likely ordered the team not to allow Bass an opportunity to tie or break Oh's record. For the most part the Japanese media remained silent on the incident as did league commissioner Takeso Shimoda. A similar situation to this was presented in the 1992 movie '' Mr. Baseball''.


1994 Central League tie-breaker game

For the first time in Japanese professional baseball history, the Giants and
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) ...
ranked at the same percentage of the league warfare winning percentage, so both teams competed in a tie-breaker game to determine who gets to go to the Japan Series. The Giants won 6 to 3 against Chunichi, and took the Central League pennant and advanced to the
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 ...
.


1996 Nagashima controversy

The team accelerates at a stretch when winning in nine consecutive hits of professional baseball tie-record in one inning of July 9 against
Hiroshima 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 ...
's game. Both main starter, Masaki Saito,
Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographical ...
n Balvino Galvez raised 16 won games the most wins on this season,
relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...
,
Mario Brito Mario Brito (born April 9, 1966) is a former baseball player born in the Dominican Republic. Brito is part of a handful of players to have played in both Japan and Taiwan, having played for the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseba ...
who reinforced during the season and Hirofumi Kono supported the team,
Hideki Matsui , nicknamed " Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Mats ...
was very success as a main season. Rookies Toshihisa Nishi and Takayuki Shimizu were active and generation change was also decided admirably. At the time I reached the biggest 11.5 game difference in league history and accomplished the league championship. Although defeated lost 1 to 4 games by
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 ...
(now
Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...
) on
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 ...
.


2008 Miracle season

Despite losing five consecutive games from the opening game on March 28, On May 26, a banned drug was detected to be used by Luis Gonzalez, so he was suspended for 1 year from Nippon Professional Baseball for violating league anti-doping policies, and on the following day, the Giants decided to release Gonzalez from his contract. At the time, October reached the biggest 13 game (as July) difference in league history and accomplished the league championship, from September 19, including their 3rd consecutive victory against the Hanshin Tigers, they recorded a total of 12 consecutive victories for the first time in 32 years, followed by 3 to 1 winning the final direct confrontation on October 8. Contributors included
Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the Nippon Professional ...
,
Yoshinobu Takahashi Yoshinobu Takahashi (高橋 由伸, born April 3, 1975) is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. He spent his entire playing career with the Yomiuri Giants and served as the team's manager for three seasons. He graduated ...
,
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 ...
,
Alex Ramirez Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...
, Seth Adam Greisinger, Marc Jason Kroon,
Hisanori Takahashi is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He began his professional career in NPB with the Yomiuri Giants, and played in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago ...
, and
Tetsuya Utsumi is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball(NPB). He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants. Career In , Orix BlueWave selected him with the first selection, but he did not sign, and ...
, The Giants, however, lost 3 games to 4 to the
Saitama Seibu 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 subsidiary ...
in the
2008 Japan Series The 2008 Japan Series was the 59th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff between the respective champions of the Central League's and the Pacific League's Climax Series (postseason) began on Satu ...
.


2011 Kiyotake controversy

On 18 November 2011, Giants' general manager Hidetoshi Kiyotake was fired by the Yomiuri organization for "defamation of the team and Yomiuri newspaper group". Kiyotake had recommended that Kaoru Okazaki be retained as the team's 2012 head coach. After Yomiuri chairman
Tsuneo Watanabe is a Japanese journalist and businessman. He is the Representative Director, Editor-in-Chief of the Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings company, which publishes the largest Japanese daily newspaper ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' and substantially controls the largest J ...
ordered Kiyotake to replace Okazaki with
Suguru Egawa is a Japanese former pitcher and current baseball analyst. Despite being one of the best pitchers of his generation, Egawa's perceived arrogance and non-conformist ways earned him the media nicknames "Dirty Egawa," "The Giant Devil," and "The Ene ...
, Kiyotake called a public press conference on 11 November 2011 to complain about Watanabe's interference in the club's decision-making processes. Yomiuri's response was to fire Kiyotake. Okazaki was eventually selected to remain as the next season's coach. The story made major headlines in the Japanese media. On 13 December 2011, Kiyotake sued Yomiuri for ¥62 million for unfair dismissal and defamation and demanded that the company issue him a formal apology, printed in the ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. Yomiuri counter-sued Kiyotake for ¥100 million, saying that he had damaged the team's image. The suits, combined into one case, opened in Tokyo District Court on 2 February 2012.


2012 Hara controversy

In 2012 Japanese weekly '' Shukan Bunshun'' reported that current team manager Tatsunori Hara had paid ¥100 million to a former
Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
gangster in response to a threat to go public on an extra-marital affair that Hara had been involved in. The Yomiuri corporation admitted that the payout had been made, but sued ''Shukan Bunshun'' for insinuating that the incident had underworld connections. The suit is pending.


2015 gambling controversy

In 2015, an investigation by the league found that three Giants pitchers: Shoki Kasahara,
Ryuya Matsumoto (born April 29, 1993) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who last played for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. In November 2015 he was one of three Giants players handed a penalty of indefinite disqualificati ...
, and
Satoshi Fukuda is a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) pitcher who last played for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League. In October, 2015, Fukuda was named as a result of an investigation conducted by the Giants into illegal betting on profes ...
had bet on NPB and other sporting events with underworld bookmakers. The Giants claimed that the three did not bet on Giants games. Placing wagers on baseball games or associating with criminal elements is expressly prohibited in the contracts that all NPB players must sign, a rule similar to Major League Baseball's Rule 21 in North America, intended to prevent a repeat of the
Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...
of 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Kyodo News is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million ...
,
Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds
, ''
Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'', 21 October 2015
On 9 November 2015, the Giants organization terminated the contracts of all three players, with the league placing an indefinite disqualification on the players.


MLB players

;Active: *
Taylor Jungmann Taylor Heath Jungmann (born December 18, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Prior to play ...
(2015–2017) *
Justin Smoak Justin Kyle Smoak (born December 5, 1986) is an American professional baseball first baseman who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewer ...
(2021 - Present) * Eric Thames (2021 - Present) *
Gerardo Parra Gerardo Enrique Parra (born May 6, 1987) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants ...
(2020) * Matt Andriese (2022 - Present) ;Retired: *
Takashi Kashiwada Takashi Kashiwada (柏田 貴史, born May 14, 1971, in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player. He played for the Yomiuri Giants and the New York Mets. He was a left-handed relief pitcher who wore #18 while ...
(1998) *
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 Maj ...
(2002) *
Joe Dillon Joseph William Dillon (born August 2, 1975) is an American former professional baseball utility player, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays, and in Nippon Professional Baseball ...
(2007) *
Masumi Kuwata Masumi Kuwata (桑田 真澄 ''Kuwata Masumi'', born 1 April 1968 in Yao, Osaka, Japan) is a former Japanese right-handed pitcher who played the bulk of his career with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. He pitched 21 seasons wi ...
(2007) *
Ken Kadokura is a retired Japanese professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (Chunichi Dragons, Yomiuri Giants) and the KBO League. He threw a four-seam fastball, a slider, and a fork ball. Biography After 13 years in NPB, Ka ...
(2009) *
Hideki Matsui , nicknamed " Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Mats ...
(2003–2012) * Hideki Okajima (2007–2011, 2013) *
Hisanori Takahashi is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He began his professional career in NPB with the Yomiuri Giants, and played in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago ...
(2010–2013) *
Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), as well as the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (M ...
(2009–2017)


Mascots

The Giants have 6 mascots, known as the Giabbits. They are based on one of the older logos of the Giants. They have 2 adult male mascots named Giabyi and Giabba (their jersey numbers are 333 and 555 respectively), an adult female mascot named Vicky, and 2 children mascots (a boy and a girl respectively), Tsuppy and Chappy (the former wears shorts and the latter wears a skirt and a headband on their left ear). The most recent one, Grandpa Giabbit, was introduced in 2014, the team's 80th anniversary. His jersey number is 1934, the year the team was founded.


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

* * {{Authority control Baseball teams established in 1934 Nippon Professional Baseball teams Sports teams in Tokyo 1934 establishments in Japan