The is one of the two minor leagues ("ni-gun")"Minor League History,"
JapaneseBaseball.com. . Accessed April 20, 2015. of Japanese professional baseball. The league is owned and managed by the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, 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 i ...

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 ...

(NPB). Teams in the Eastern League generally play an 80-game schedule every year.

Current teams

The league currently contains the minor league affiliates of seven Japanese professional teams plus one independent team. With a few exceptions, Eastern League teams currently carry the same name, and use the same uniforms, as their parent team.

History

Shin Nippon League

In 1954 the six teams of NPB's

agreed to form their own minor league — the Shin Nippon LeagueRyo
"Ni-Gun Baseball,"
''NPB Tracker'' (25 August 2009). (or "New Japan League") — as a complement to the already extant Kansai Farm League, which had begun play in 1952. The minor league affiliates of 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 ...

and

Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium. The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...

moved over from the Kansai Farm League. The initial roster of Shin Nippon League teams (NPB parent team in parentheses): * Chunichi Diamonds (

) * Hiroshima Greens ( Hiroshima Carp) * Kokutetsu Fresh Swallows ( Kokutetsu Swallows) * Osaka Jaguars ( Osaka Tigers) * Taiyō-Shochiku Junior Robins ( Taiyō-Shochiku Robins) * Yomiuri Junior Giants (

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 ...

)

Formation of the Eastern League

Both minor leagues decided to join forces with

in 1955, and the 14

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

s of the Central League and

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

were split up to create the Eastern League and the Western League, each with seven teams. The Eastern League contained the minor league teams of the seven professional teams that had their homefields in the Eastern region of Japan (NPB parent team in parentheses): * Daiei Junior Stars ( Daiei Stars) * Kokutetsu Fresh Swallows ( Kokutetsu Swallows) * Mainichi Little Orions ( Mainichi Orions) * Taiyo Junior Whales ( Taiyo Whales) * Toei Chick Flyers ( Toei Flyers) * Tombo Unions ni-gun ( Tombo Unions) * Yomiuri Junior Giants (

)

1956-1960 hiatus

After one year of operation, the league dissolved in 1956 for financial reasons.

Rebirth

The Eastern League restarted in 1961 with five teams: in the interim the Daiei Stars and the Takahashi Unions (formerly the Tombo Unions) had merged into the

Daiei Unions The were a Japanese professional baseball team that was founded in 1946, and played in various incarnations until 1957, when it merged with another team. Overall, the franchise only had three winning seasons, never rising higher than third place. ...

, who in turn merged with the Mainichi Orions to ultimately form the Daimai Orions (now known as the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

). From that point until the year 2000, all Japanese minor league teams used the same name as their NPB parent club. In 1979, 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 ...

moved their franchise to Saitama, with their minor league team leaving the Western League to join the Eastern League. In 2005 the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were formed to join NPB, and their farm team became part of the Eastern League as well. The independent Niigata Albirex Baseball Club was added to Eastern League for the 2024 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern League (Japanese Baseball) 2 3 Sports leagues established in 1955 1955 establishments in Japan Sports leagues disestablished in 1956 1956 disestablishments in Japan Professional sports leagues in Japan