The are a 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 ...

team in Japan's

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 ...

based north of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in

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. ...

, Fukuoka Prefecture, in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, which in turn is owned by the

Seibu Holdings is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company that primarily owns Seibu Railway, Prince Hotels, and Seibu Bus and its subsidiary, subsidiaries, which are collectively known as the . In total, fifty-three companies across ...

. The team experienced a recent period of financial difficulty, but the situation brightened when the team received a record ¥6 billion (about $51.11 million) posting fee from the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

for the right to negotiate a contract with

Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, Sports journalism, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed i ...

. Between 1978 and 2008, the team logo and mascot were based on the adult version of Kimba the White Lion, a classic Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

. In 2004, former Seibu Lions player Kazuo Matsui became the first Japanese infielder to play in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Franchise history

Nishitetsu Clippers (1950)

In 1950, the team became a founding member of the

. It was then owned by a private railroad company Nishi-Nippon Railroad, well known as "Nishitetsu", which was based in

, the western area of Japan (Nishi-Nippon). The Clippers name was chosen as Nishitetsu was in charge of Pan American Airlines' Japanese operations (back then, Pan Am's jets were known as "Clippers" due to them being aeronautical Boeing 314 Clipper). The team finished sixth that year, and at the end of the season, Nishitetsu was merged with another professional baseball club in Fukuoka, the Nishi-Nippon Pirates, which belonged to 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 ...

and managed by a local newspaper company the Nishinippon Shimbun. The new club was to form the Nishitetsu Lions. Thus the Lions name was adopted and has been retained up to today as the name of the franchise.

Nishitetsu Lions (1951–1972)

The Nishitetsu Lions called Heiwadai Stadium home for their entire existence. They were one of the most dominant teams in the Pacific League during the 1950s, winning four pennants, including three straight

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 ...

against 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 ...

behind famed manager Osamu Mihara; their last championship in Fukuoka came in 1958; after which Mihara left for the Taiyo Whales and led them to a Japan Series championship over the Daimai Orions in 1960. The team struggled through the following decade and did not witness much success on the field. In 1969 and 1970, the team was caught up in the infamous Black Mist game-fixing scandal, which resulted in four Lions pitchers being banned from NPB for life, as well as other players receiving lesser punishments. These losses decimated the team which the team would not recover from for the rest of their time in Fukuoka, which finished the 1970 season in last place. After a third straight last-place finish, and with Nishi-Nippon not wanting to do with anything to the team due to the Black Mist Scandal, in November 1972, the franchise was sold to the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation, a shell company within Nishi-Nippon Railroad. Following the sale, the team was renamed the Taiheiyo Club Lions.

Taiheiyo Club Lions (1973–1976)

Nishi-Nippon Railroad, founded by Nagayoshi Nakamura, then owner of

Lotte Corporation Lotte Corporation is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, and the fifth-largest chaebol in South Korea. Lotte was founded on 28 June 1948 by Korean businessman Shin Kyuk- ...

and the Orions, sold the team's sponsorship rights to Taiheiyo Club, a golf course and resort developer in 1973. The Lions, still smarting from the after-effects of the Black Mist Scandal, finished no higher than third throughout the 1970s.

Crown Lighter Lions (1977–1978)

At the end of the 1976 season, the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation announced that the team's new sponsor was Crown Gas Lighter. With this, the team's name for the upcoming season was changed to the Crown Lighter Lions. On October 25, 1978, the team was sold to Kokudo Keikaku (later Kokudo), and then merged into Prince Hotels.

Seibu Lions (1979–2007)

Following the sale of the Crown Lighter Lions and their merging into Prince Hotels, the team was renamed the Seibu Lions and relocated to a new ballpark northward in Tokorozawa, Saitama, west of the Tokyo area. Fukuoka would be left without an NPB team until , when the erstwhile

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. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

were bought by Daiei (they are now owned by the

SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a m ...

) and moved to the Lions' former stadium, Heiwadai Stadium.

Golden Age (1982–1994)

The Lions finished in last place in (something the team would not do again until ), and finished in fourth place in and . However, the following seasons would mark the beginning of a period of sustained success for the team under new manager Tatsuro Hirooka and with star players such as Osamu Higashio and Kōichi Tabuchi. Tatsuro Hirooka told the players that meat and other animal foods increase athletes' susceptibility to injury, and decrease their ability to perform. He required all players to take up a strictly vegetarian diet. The club won consecutive

in and , and went to the

again in , but lost to the Hanshin Tigers, who won their first Japan Series title. That Japan Series was also notable for the Tigers also breaking tradition by becoming the first Central League club to use the designated hitter during the Japan Series, prior to the NPB requiring its use during the Japan Series in Pacific League stadiums in 1990 (with it eventually being also used in interleague play when it was introduced in 2005). Following the 1986 season, the club replaced Hirooka with Masaaki Mori, who was able to sustain the team's prolonged success. Mori won eight league championships, between 1986 and 1988 and 1990–1994, and six Japan Series championships in his nine-year managing career, winning the Japan Series in 1986,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, 1988, 1990,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. The team gained the moniker "Invincible Seibu" during the 1980s and 1990s due to their sustained domination of the league. The Lions had a powerful lineup in this period, loaded with sluggers such as Koji Akiyama, Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Orestes Destrade. Their defense also benefited from the services of skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige, Romeo Calhoun, Hatsuhiko Tsuji and catcher Tsutomu Ito. Among the pitchers employed by the Lions in this period was "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku, Kimiyasu Kudoh, Hisanobu Watanabe, and relievers Yoshitaka Katori and Tetsuya Shiozaki.

= Prominent Golden Age Players

Saitama Seibu Lions (2008–)

In order to reinforce the affiliation between the team and their home region, the Lions added the prefecture name "Saitama" to their team name in 2008. They were Pacific League Champions that year and went on to win the

. The team logo and uniforms were further modified for the 2009 season, with the team trading in their traditional light-blue colour scheme for a dark blue design similar to that employed during the Nishitetsu Lions era in the 1950s and 1960s. Between 2010 and 2019, the Lions made the Pacific League Climax Series 1st stage 5 times, (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017) but lost to 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 ...

in 2010 and 2013, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2017, and to the

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. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

in 2011 and 2012. They made the Final Stage twice in back to back years in 2018 and 2019, but lost to the Hawks on both occasions. In 2020, the team finished in 3rd place, but was unable to make the playoffs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacific League removed the First Stage of the playoffs; only the top 2 teams in Pacific League made the playoffs, while Central League removed it entirely, instead opting to send the regular season champion (

) straight to the

. In 2021, the Lions finished in 6th and last place for the first time since 1979 with a 55–70–18 record.

Season-by-season records

Current roster

Managers

* Statistics current through the end of the season.

Former players of note

* () 1952–1959 * () 1952–1969 * () 1953 * () 1953–1962 * () 1954–1968 * () 1956–1969 * () 1969–1988 * () 1972–1978 * () 1973–1978 * () 1974–1976 * () 1976–1981 * () 1977–1991 * () 1981–1983 * () 1979–1984 * () 1979–1984 * () 1980–1985 * () 1984 * () 1986–1987 * () 1987–1990 * () 1975–1981 * () 1981–1993 * () 1983–1997 * () 1981–1994 * () 1982–2003 * () 1982–1994, 2010 * () 1984–1995 * () 1985–1997 * () 1985–1999 * () 1986–1996 * () 1989–1992, 1995 * () 1989–1997 * () 1989–2002 * () 1990–2004 * () 1992–1999 * 1993–1998 * () 1994–1998 * () 1994–2003, 2018 * () 1995–1996 * () 1995–2015 * () 1997–2002 * () 1997–1998 * () 1997–2005 * () 1998–2000 * () 2000 * () 1999–2001 * () 1997–2007 * () 1999–2006, 2021 * () 2000–2011 * () 2001–2004 * () 2002–2006 * () 2001–2007 * () 2001–2012 * () 2006–2011 * () 2008–2013 * () 2010–2018 * () 2012–2022 * () 2012 * () 2012–2013 * () 2014–2021 * () 2014–2022 * () 2014–2023 * () 2013–2024 * () 2013–2024

Retired number

Team announced Kazuhisa Inao's No.24 was the first retired number of the Lions on May 1, 2012.

MLB players

* Yusei Kikuchi (2019–) Retired From MLB: * Frank Howard (1974) * Tony Fernández (2000) * Kazuhisa Ishii (2002–2006) * Kazuo Matsui (2004–2010) * Shinji Mori (2006–2007) *

(2007–2014) Kikuchiyusei.jpg, Yusei Kikuchi Daisuke Matsuzaka on March 25, 2008.jpg,

Kazuo_Matsui_on_April_11,_2010.jpg, Kazuo Matsui Lions_Hotaka_Yamakawa.JPG, Hotaka Yamakawa

Minor League team

The Lions farm team plays in the Eastern League. The year of the team's founding is unknown. They first played in the Kansai Farm League in 1952 and joined the Eastern League in 1979.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

High resolution photos and discussion of the Lions in English
{{Authority control Nippon Professional Baseball teams Baseball teams established in 1950 Jungle Emperor Leo Sports clubs and teams in Saitama Prefecture Tokorozawa, Saitama 1950 establishments in Japan Railway sports clubs and teams