The are a Japanese 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 competing in

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 ...

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 ...

. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, 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 in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

. They have played their home games at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

since its opening in 1988. The team's owner is

The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings is a Japanese media conglomerate, and the holding company of the ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. Overview On July 1, 2002, Yomiuri Shimbun was divided into two companies: the holding company Yomiuri Shimbun, and the Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters, ...

, Japan's largest

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media company, 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, video games, amusement parks, or ...

which also owns two newspapers (including the eponymous ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

'') and the

Nippon Television Network JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

(which includes flagship

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

). The Giants are the oldest professional sports team in Japan. 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, 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 ...

titles and an additional nine in the era of NPB's forerunner, the

Japanese Baseball League The was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball. The league's dominant team was Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine le ...

. Their main rivalry is with the

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., ...

, a team especially popular in the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

region. The Yomiuri Giants are regarded as "The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

of Japan" due to their widespread popularity, past dominance of the league, and polarizing effect on fans. Most Japanese 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 Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American professional baseball player and manager. Though he spent eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, most notably for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillie ...

, a former

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 ...

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

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 Prefecture ...

. The team is often referred by fans and in news headlines and tables simply as , 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 was a Japanese media proprietor and politician. He was the owner of the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', founder of the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Television Network Corporation. After a career as a police officer, Shoriki acquired the bankrupt ''Yomiu ...

that toured the United States and matched up against an American all-star team that included

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

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 ...

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, 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 ...

, and

Charlie Gehringer Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers for 19 seasons from 1924 Detroit Tigers season, 1924 to 1943 Det ...

. While prior Japanese all-star contingents had disbanded, Shōriki went pro with this group, playing in an independent league. In 1935, the team traveled to the United States and faced off against college and minor league teams, ultimately playing 109 games in 128 days (including 34 games on 17 days as doubleheaders) across the country. The tour ended with a record of 75 wins, 33 losses, and 1 draw. When they faced off against the San Francisco Seals, the manager of the Seals,

, stated the team needed a promotional name, as just the team being named "Tokyo Dai Nippon Baseball Club" wouldn't mean anything of note to Americans, and because the tour was heavily funded with ticket sales. He suggested that since

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 ...

was the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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 ...

, they should emulate one of the two named

MLB 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 ...

teams in New York; either the

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 ...

or the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

(New York's third team). As "

" was immediately out of the question, due to it being an American name, O'Doul suggested the name "Giants", also thanks to the fact that coincidentally, O'Doul was formerly of the Giants himself, and the team adopted the Tokyo Giants moniker mid-tour. However, the Giants name would face minor challenging from Shōriki himself after the tour, as he wanted to name the team the Tokyo Golden Kites, after the

Order of the Golden Kite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

, a military order of the Empire of Japan (which would be abolished in 1947 following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). The players, however, would hold firm, and Shōriki would retain the Giants name.

Tokyo Kyojin

In 1936, with the formation of the

, 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 from 1938 to 1943. Russian-born pitcher

Victor Starffin Viktor Starukhin (, 1 May 1916 – 12 January 1957), nicknamed , or more commonly known as Victor Starffin , was a Japanese baseball player. Born in Russia, he became the first professional pitcher in Japan to win 300 games. With 83 career shutout ...

, 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 The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first prese ...

, 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 or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

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 number ...

. From 1937 to 1943 Sawamura had a record of 63–22, 554 strikeouts, and a 1.74 ERA. Sawamura was conscripted into the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

in 1938, 1941, and 1943; he returned to play for the Giants between deployments, though injuries and time away hindered his form and velocity. He was released by the team in 1943, then killed in battle when his ship was torpedoed near the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

led the Kyojin to a championship in 1941.

Tetsuharu Kawakami was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat, and his nickname . He was a professional player for 18 years, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in ...

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 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) (May 10, 1918 – April 26, 1997) was a Japanese baseball pitcher. He holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA (1.90) and seasonal ERA (0.73), as well as best all-time winning percentage (.697). During his ...

(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 In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

, including the first

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...

in Japanese professional baseball. In addition, he served as the Giants'

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

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 fifty years. For various periods of time, it was also the home stadium of six other professional Japanese baseba ...

, moving to their current home the

in 1988. In 1950, the Giants were one of the founding members of

, joining the

. Slugger

Noboru Aota was a Japanese professional baseball player. An outfielder, he played with the Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants, Hankyu Braves, and Taiyo-Shochiku Robins from 1942–1959, playing in both the Japanese Baseball League and Nippon Professional Basebal ...

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 1951 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1951 season. It was the second Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champions, the Nankai Hawks, against the Central League champions, the Yomiuri ...

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

4 games to 2 for their first NPB championship. The Giants would also win Japan Series championships in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, all over the Nankai Hawks. The team was the Central League champion every year from 1955 to 1959, winning the

championship in 1955, but they lost four consecutive Japan Series thereafter, with the first three losses coming against 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 ...

, and then the Hawks finally got their revenge to close out the decade. World career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

record holder

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh ( Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born Chinese former professional baseball player and manager who is currently the chairman of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of N ...

starred for the Giants from 1959 to 1980, and fellow

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Shigeo Nagashima was a Japanese professional baseball player and manager. Nicknamed "Mr. Pro Baseball" of Japan and "Mr. Giants", Nagashima first began playing baseball in elementary school, before playing at his high school in Chiba Prefecture before playing ...

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,

led the Giants to nine consecutive

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

most valuable player award nine times. Nagashima won the season MVP award five times, and the

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first prese ...

every single year of his career (a total 17 times). Future Hall of Famer

Tsuneo Horiuchi is a former professional baseball player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and a politician. A right-handed pitcher, in he was voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball career Horiuchi played for the Yomiuri Giants his who ...

pitched for the team during its heyday, from 1966 to 1983. The renowned left-hander

Masaichi Kaneda was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher of Zainichi Korean origin, one of the best-known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame i ...

pitched for the team from 1965 to 1969, later having his number retired by the Giants.

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. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays, and in Nipp ...

starred for the Giants for ten seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s before migrating to

. He was a three-time NPB

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

, leading his team to four

, winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002), and earning the popular nickname "

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

". He also made nine consecutive All-Star Games and led the league in

s and RBIs three times. File:Kawakami Tetsuharu 1946.JPG,

in 1946 File:Yomiuri Giants4.jpg, Three Giants stars of the 1950s,

Shigeru Chiba , known by the stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator, 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 '' Jo ...

, and

(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 celebration 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

, former stars and manager for long period, in

, May 2013. File:Giants sugano 19.jpg, A main Giants pitcher,

Tomoyuki Sugano is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. Sugano is a three-time winner of the Central League Mos ...

File:Gk ryoDSC 97122.jpg, Main Giants player, Kazuma Okamoto

Managerial history and lifetime records

Rivalries

The Giants have several rivalries with clubs in the

, most notably rivalries with the

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 1985 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218,948 households and a population density ...

-based

, the

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

-based

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 their cross-town rivals, the

Hanshin Tigers

The Giants-Tigers rivalry is considered the most intense professional rivalry in the history of Japanese team sports. The Giants-Tigers feud began on July 15, 1936 in Nagoya,

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

, Japan, at a time where Japanese clubs besides the Tigers did not have set home ballparks, and would bounce around wherever they could play. This game would set the tone for the history-setting rivalry, as the first home run in Giants professional club history would come on that day at the hands of

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The , commonly known outside of Japan as the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, is a hall of fame and museum in Tokyo dedicated to professional baseball, with a prominent focus on professional baseball in Japan. The Hall is intended to honor and co ...

member Haruyasu Nakajima off Tigers' ace

Tadashi Wakabayashi Tadashi Henry Wakabayashi () (March 1, 1908 – March 5, 1965) was a professional baseball player from Oahu, Hawaii. He was a second generation Japanese American. Biography Wakabayashi's parents had immigrated to Hawaii from Hiroshima, Japan, an ...

, but the Tigers would win the game 8-7. On September 25, 1936, young Giants ace

threw the first no-hitter in Japanese professional baseball history against the Tigers at

Hanshin Koshien Stadium , commonly referred to as simply Koshien Stadium, is a baseball stadium located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built to host the national high school baseball tournaments, and opened on 1 August 1924. It was ...

. He would be the only Giants pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Koshien until

Shosei Togo is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career On May 24, 2024, Togō threw a no-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the ...

did it on May 24, 2024. The Giants-Tigers rivalry has seen mostly the Giants enjoy long standing periods of success at the expense of the Tigers. From to , the Giants won the Central League pennant over the Tigers in each of the four seasons; however, the Giants would lose all 4 of their

appearances during that time, three times to the

(now the

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

) from 1956 to , and once to the

(now 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 1959. Most notably during this time, the only ever baseball Tenran-jiai, or "Match viewed by the Emperor" happened on June 25th, 1959, where

Emperor Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

decided to watch the game between the Tigers and Giants; Giants legend

would walk off future Tigers legend

Minoru Murayama was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers (later Hanshin Tigers) in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number ''11'' is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 caree ...

in the bottom of the 9th as the Giants won 5-4. During the Giants' V9 dynasty, where the Giants would win a record setting 9 consecutive Japan Series championships from to , the Tigers would finish 2nd in the Central League 5 of the 9 seasons, including 3 consecutive second place finishes from to . As of the end of the season, the Giants have the edge in Japan Series championships, 22–2, Central League pennants, 39–6, overall championships, 31–6, and the Giants lead the Tigers head to head, 1127–888–77. The Giants and Tigers have met in the

Climax Series The is the current annual playoff system implemented by Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). It determines which team from the Central League (CL) and from the Pacific League (PL) will advance to compete for the championship in the Japan ...

5 times, in which the Giants lead the overall head-to-head matchup 11-6-0, winning the series 4 times to the Tigers' 1.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

The geographic rivalry between the Giants and the

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

-based Tokyo Yakult Swallows has been around since the Swallows were founded by the former

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(known as Kokutetsu (国鉄) in Japanese)) as the Kokutetsu Swallows on January 12, 1950. However, the rivalry never truly began in earnest until

Yakult is a Japanese sweetened probiotic milk beverage fermented with the bacteria strain '' Lacticaseibacillus casei'' Shirota. It is sold by Yakult Honsha based in Tokyo. The name "Yakult" was coined from ''jahurto'', an Esperanto word meaning "yogu ...

, who bought the team from national newspaper

Sankei Shimbun The , name short for , is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper ''Japan Forward'', the ''Sankei ...

in 1970, added "Tokyo" to the team's name in the 2005-06 NPB offseason, where games began being referred to by the media as the " TOKYOシリーズ", or literally "Tokyo Series" in Japanese. In , the Swallows and Giants officially announced plans for an annual "Tokyo Series" event with each team hosting a series. At the same time, the Swallows began producing annual alternate uniforms for said rivalry games. Since Yakult added Tokyo to the Swallows name in 2006, the Giants lead the head-to-head regular season series 260–184–19. Overall, since the Swallows were founded in 1950, the Giants lead the head-to-head regular season series 1094–758–61. The Swallows and Giants have met in the Climax Series 4 times, in which Yakult lead the head-to-head matchups 9–4–1 (including Yakult's 1 advantage win in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2021 Central League Climax Series The 2021 Central League Climax Series (CLCS) was a set of two consecutive Nippon Professional Baseball playoffs, playoff series in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The First Stage began on November 6 and the Final Stage concluded on November 1 ...

), winning the series 3 times to the Giants' 1 series win.

Chunichi Dragons

The Giants-Dragons rivalry is said to be the oldest professional rivalry in the history of professional Japanese team sports. The Giants and one of the teams that would eventually form the Dragons, then known as the Nagoya

Shachihoko A – or simply – is a sea monster in Japanese folklore with the head of a dragon or tiger or lion and the body of a carp covered entirely in black or grey scales.Joya. ''Japan and Things Japanese.'' Taylor and Francis, 2017;2016;, Accordi ...

, first met on February 5, 1936 at Narumi Baseball Stadium in the suburbs of Nagoya, marking the first ever game in the history of the Japanese Professional Baseball League, which is now known as Nippon Professional Baseball. The Shachihoko, later known as Nagoya Kinko, would be absorbed into the

Nagoya Baseball Club 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) ...

in 1943 as their parent company, the Nagoya Shimbun, was forced to merge into rival newspaper company Shin-Aichi Shimbun under the Japanese newspaper control ordinance, creating Chubu-Nippon Shimbun, or

Chunichi Shimbun The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of the three major Japanese metropolitan areas, it boasts the third highest circulation after the group newspa ...

as it is known today. This created the Sangyo Baseball Club, which is now known as today's

. Like the Giants-Tigers rivalry, the Giants have enjoyed long standing success at the expense of the Dragons, creating animosity amongst Dragons fans. This came to a head in the finale of the 1994 NPB season, where the Giants and Dragons were tied in the standings, each sitting at 69-60-0. The Giants would win that game and the Central League pennant by a score of 6-3, in what would be known as the 10.8 Showdown, and eventually would win the

1994 Japan Series The 1994 Japan Series was the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) championship series for the 1994 season. It was the 45th Japan Series and featured the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions against the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants. The s ...

over the Seibu Lions. Since Nagoya Kinko merged into the Nagoya Baseball Club in 1943, the Giants lead the Dragons in Japan Series championships, 22-2, Central League pennants, 39-9, and head-to-head, 1061-871-61. The Giants and Dragons have met in the Climax Series 5 times, in which the overall head-to-head is tied, 12-12-1, including 1 game advantage wins in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and

2012 Central League Climax Series The 2012 Central League Climax Series (CLCS) consisted of two consecutive series, Stage 1 being a best-of-three series and Stage 2 being a best-of-six with the top seed being awarded a one-win advantage. The winner of the series advanced to the ...

. The Giants also have won the head to head series in the Climax Series 3 times to Chunichi's 2.

Roster

Players of note

Former players

* *# * * * * * * * * * * * * *{{player, , KOR, {{nihongo,

Isao Harimoto is a Korean-Japanese former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun (). Harimoto has spent his life as a resident of Japan and a ...

(Jang Hun), 張本勲 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Tatsuro Hirooka Tatsuro Hirooka (広岡達朗, ''Hirooka Tatsurō'' born February 9, 1932) is a Japanese retired professional baseball player and manager. Hirooka played his entire career, from 1954 to 1966, for the Yomiuri Giants. He was awarded the Central ...

, 広岡達郎 *{{player, , USA,

Damon Hollins Damon Jamall Hollins (born June 12, 1974) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach. Hollins played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. His only re ...

– OF *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

, 堀内恒夫 *{{player, , USA,

Gabe Kapler Gabriel Stefan Kapler (born July 31, 1975), nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager who serves as the assistant general manager of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kapler was a 57th- ...

– OF, later manager of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

*{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Masumi Kuwata Masumi Kuwata (桑田真澄 ''Kuwata Masumi'', born 1 April 1968 in Yao, Osaka, Japan) is a former Japanese people, Japanese right-handed pitcher who played the bulk of his career with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. He pitch ...

, 桑田真澄 – P *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

, 川上哲治 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Kazuhiro Kiyohara is a Japanese television personality, YouTuber and former professional baseball player. He played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league for 23 seasons. He retired following the 2008 season. Born in Kishiwada, Osaka in 1967, his family w ...

, 清原和博 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Yoshinobu Takahashi, 高橋由伸 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Norihiro Komada, 駒田徳広 *{{player, , USA,

Davey Johnson David Allen Johnson (born January 30, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played as a second baseman from through , most notably in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty t ...

– Manager *{{player, , DOM, Domingo Martínez *{{player, , USA, Chris Latham *{{player, , USA, Shane Mack *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Yukinaga Maeda, 前田幸長 – P *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Hiromi Makihara, 槙原寛己 *{{player, , DOM,

Gregory Polanco Gregory Polanco (born September 14, 1991), nicknamed "El Coffee", is a Dominican professional baseball right fielder for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for th ...

*{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Kimiyasu Kudo, 工藤公康 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

, 松井秀喜 *{{player, , USA,

Miles Mikolas Miles Tice Mikolas (; born August 23, 1988), is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers, and in Nippon Prof ...

– P *{{player, , CAN,

Scott Mathieson Scott William Mathieson (born February 27, 1984) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants. Career ...

*{{player, , AUS, {{nihongo,

Micheal Nakamura , also known as "MICHAEL" in NPB, is a Japanese-born Australian former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Yomiuri Giants and ...

, マイケル中村, , MICHAEL *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

, 長嶋茂雄 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Kiyoshi Nakahata, 中畑清 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Hiromitsu Ochiai is a Japanese former professional baseball manager and player. He is former manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He is considered to be one of the most important players in the history of Japanese baseball, win ...

, 落合博満 *{{player, , TWN, {{nihongo,

, 王貞治 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Sho Nakata , nicknamed "Sho Time", is a Japanese professional baseball player playing for the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He plays outfield and fir ...

, 中田翔 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Hideki Okajima is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. Okajima pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athl ...

, 岡島秀樹 *{{player, , VEN,

Roberto Petagine Roberto Antonio Petagine Hernandez (; born June 7, 1971) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player of Italian descent. His Major League Baseball career includes brief stints with the Houston Astros (1994), San Diego Padres (1995), Ne ...

*{{player, , USA, Jeremy Powell *{{player, , USA,

Tuffy Rhodes Karl Derrick "Tuffy" Rhodes (born August 21, 1968) is a retired American professional baseball player. He played six years in Major League Baseball in the US, and thirteen years in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan. Rhodes is the all-t ...

*{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo, Masaki Saito, 斎藤雅樹 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

, 沢村栄治 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Hirokazu Sawamura is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Yomiuri Giants, and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , h ...

, 澤村拓一 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Isao Shibata (born February 8, 1944) is a former professional baseball outfielder who played his entire career with the Yomiuri Giants from 1962 to 1981. A speedy switch-hitter, he won the Japan Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1966, after he hit .565 w ...

, 柴田勲 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Kazunori Shinozuka is a former professional Japanese 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. ...

, 篠塚和典 *{{player, , USA,

Reggie Smith Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Pr ...

*{{player, , RUS,

*{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Kazumi Takahashi was a Japanese novelist and scholar of Chinese literature in Shōwa-era 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 co ...

, 高橋一三 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Shigeru Takada is a former general manager of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and former manager of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He was previously an outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants ...

, 高田繫 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Koji Uehara is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He 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 (MLB). A rig ...

, 上原浩治 *{{player, , USA,

John Wasdin John Truman Wasdin (born August 5, 1972) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2007, and also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Wasdin made his MLB debut in 1995 wi ...

*{{player, , USA,

Roy White Roy Hilton White (born December 27, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Yankees between 1965 and 1979. With the Yankees, he w ...

*{{player, , USA,

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauke ...

*{{player, , USA, {{nihongo,

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 ...

, 与那嶺要 *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Shohei Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...

, 馬場正平, ジャイアント馬場, , pitcher; later a pro wrestler, founder of

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

*{{player, , KOR, {{nihongo,

Lee Seung-Yeop Lee Seung-yuop (born 18 August 1976) is a retired baseball player and the current manager of the Doosan Bears. He spent most of his career with the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball ...

, 李承燁 *{{player, , VEN,

Alex Ramírez Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez (born 3 October 1974), nicknamed Ramichan, is a Venezuelan-born former professional baseball outfielder who had a long career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He is the first foreign-born player to re ...

*{{player, , DOM, C. C. Mercedes *{{player, , JPN, {{nihongo,

Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player and current manager, 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 th ...

, 阿部慎之助 {{colend

Retired numbers

*{{player, 1, TWN, {{nihongo,

, 王貞治 *{{player, 3, JPN, {{nihongo,

, 長嶋茂雄 *{{player, 4, JPN, {{nihongo, Toshio Kurosawa, 黒沢俊夫 *{{player, 14, JPN, {{nihongo,

, 沢村栄治 *{{player, 16, JPN, {{nihongo,

, 川上哲治 *{{player, 34, JPN, {{nihongo,

, 金田正一

Top starting pitchers

{, class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;" , - ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Player ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Years ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Games ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Win ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Defeat ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Save ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Innings Pitched ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Strikeout ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", ERA , - ! scope="row",

Takehiko Bessho , born , was a Japanese baseball player whose professional career as a player lasted from 1942 until 1960. Bessho first achieved fame as a pitcher in Japanese professional baseball; later, he served as a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) manage ...

, 1949–1961 , 476 , 221 , 102 , 0 , 2925 2/3 , 1372 , 2.20 , - ! scope="row", Teruzo Nakao , 1939–1957 , 516 , 209 , 127 , 0 , 3057 , 1597 , 2.48 , - ! scope="row",

, 1966–1983 , 560 , 203 , 139 , 6 , 3045 , 1865 , 3.27 , - ! scope="row",

, 1936–1944 , 311 , 199 , 61 , 0 , 2245 , 1225 , 1.37 , - ! scope="row",

, 1942–1946 1948–1955 , 332 , 183 , 72 , 0 , 2353 2/3 , 1100 , 1.90 , - ! scope="row", Masaki Saito , 1983–2001 , 426 , 180 , 96 , 11 , 2375 2/3 , 1707 , 2.77 , - ! scope="row",

, 1986–2006 , 442 , 173 , 141 , 14 , 2761 2/3 , 1980 , 3.53 , - ! scope="row", Hiromi Makihara , 1982–2001 , 463 , 159 , 108 , 56 , 2485 , 2111 , 3.19 , - ! scope="row", Kunio Jonouchi , 1962–1971 , 354 , 141 , 88 , 0 , 1966 2/3 , 927 , 2.56 , - ! scope="row",

, 1979–1987 , 266 , 135 , 72 , 3 , 1857 1/3 , 1366 , 3.02 Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed, date=June 2023

Top leading hit players

{, class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;" , - ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Player ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Years ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Games ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Number ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Hit ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Homerun ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", RBI ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Stolen base ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Strikes ! scope="col" style="width:10%;", Batting average , - ! scope="row",

, 1959–1980 , 2831 , 9250 , 2786 , 868 , 2170 , 84 , 1319 , .301 , - ! scope="row",

, 1958–1974 , 2186 , 8094 , 2471 , 444 , 1522 , 190 , 729 , .305 , - ! scope="row",

, 1938–1955 , 1979 , 7500 , 2351 , 181 , 1319 , 220 , 422 , .313 , - ! scope="row",

Hayato Sakamoto is a Japanese professional baseball shortstop with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In , Sakamoto became the first player in Giants franchise history to start a season opener while under the age of 20 since Hideki Mats ...

, 2008–ongoing , 1985 , 7580 , 2205 , 266 , 944 , 160 , 1315 , .291 , - ! scope="row",

, 2001–2019 , 2282 , 7514 , 2132 , 406 , 1285 , 13 , 1306 , .284 , - ! scope="row",

, 1962–1981 , 2208 , 7570 , 2018 , 194 , 708 , 579 , 1087 , .267 , - ! scope="row", Yoshinobu Takahashi , 1998–2015 , 1819 , 6028 , 1753 , 321 , 986 , 29 , 1173 , .291 , - ! scope="row",

, 1976–1994 , 1651 , 5372 , 1696 , 92 , 628 , 55 , 580 , .309 , - ! scope="row", Tatsunori Hara , 1981–1995 , 1697 , 6012 , 1675 , 382 , 1093 , 82 , 899 , .279 , - ! scope="row", Shigeru Chiba (baseball), Shigeru Chiba , 1938–1956 , 1512 , 5645 , 1605 , 96 , 691 , 155 , 575 , .284 Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed, date=June 2023

Top leading homerun players

{, class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center;" , +Most caps , - !width=35, Rank !Player !width=40, Homeruns !width=80, Years , - , 1 , style="text-align:left",

, 868 , 1959–1980 , - , 2 , style="text-align:left",

, 444 , 1958–1974 , - , 3 , style="text-align:left",

, 406 , 2001–2019 , - , 4 , style="text-align:left", Tatsunori Hara , 382 , 1981–1995 , - , 5 , style="text-align:left",

, 332 , 1993–2002 , - , 6 , style="text-align:left", Yoshinobu Takahashi , 321 , 1998–2015 , - , 7 , style="text-align:left",

, 266 , 2008–ongoing , - , 8 , style="text-align:left",

, 194 , 1962–1981 , - , 9 , style="text-align:left",

, 185 , 1997–2005 , - , 10 , style="text-align:left",

, 181 , 1938–1958 Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed, date=July 2023

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, % = Win Percentage'' {, class="wikitable" , - style="font-weight:bold; background:#ddd;" , Season , , GP , , W , , L , , T , , % , , Finish , , Playoffs , - , 2017 , , 143 , , 72 , , 68 , , 3 , , .514 , , 4th, Central , , Did not qualify , - , 2018 , , 143 , , 67 , , 71 , , 5 , , .486 , , 3rd, Central , , Lost in League Final Stage, 0–4 (Carp) , - , 2019 , , 143 , , 77 , , 64 , , 2 , , .546 , , 1st, Central , , Lost in Japan Series, 0–4 (Hawks) , - , 2020 , , 120 , , 67 , , 45 , , 8 , , .598 , , 1st, Central , , Lost in Japan Series, 0–4 (Hawks) , - , 2021 , 143 , 61 , 62 , 20 , .496 , 3rd, Central , Lost in League Final Stage, 0–3 (Swallows) , - , 2022 , , 143 , , 68 , , 72 , , 3 , , .514 , , 4th, Central , , Did not qualify , - , 2023 , , 143 , , 71 , , 70 , , 2 , , .504 , , 4th, Central , , Did not qualify

"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 are also based in Tokyo and three other teams play in the Greater Tokyo Area. This bandwagon appeal has been compared with the marketability of the

, Real Madrid C.F., Real Madrid, and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, 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-hegemony.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 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
"Giants ax Kiyotake after vocal Watanabe slight"
''The Japan Times'', 19 November 2011, p. 16. In 2012, ''Asahi Shimbun'' discovered that the Giants had violated NPB rules by secretly paying pitcher Takahiko Nomaguchi while he was still an amateur playing in Japan's corporate league. In 2009, the Giants played the Japan national baseball team in an unofficial goodwill game before the World Baseball Classic.

Controversies

1973 First nine consecutive victories in professional baseball history

As of October 21 before this game was played, the teams only had a 0.5 game difference the

, this game resulted 9 to 0 win over Tigers on October 22, infielder Shozo Doi and catcher Masaaki Mori (baseball), Masaaki Mori each had 3 hits and Doi hit a two run homerun in the fifth inning off Kenji Furusawa in the Giants 4 to 1 win from

(now

) in

, starter

(23 wins, 13 losses) contribution this season.

Oh home run controversy

In 1985, American Randy Bass, playing for the

, came into the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs, one short of manager

'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

With the Giants and

tied 69-60 after 129 games, and the makeup for the 129th game, originally scheduled for September 27, was postponed to September 29 by rain (the 130th scheduled game was played September 28 as planned), and it again was not played because of rain, the final game of the regular season was rescheduled for October 8, 1994. The winner advances to the Japan Series, with Chunichi having the advantage in case the game ends in a tie, Chunichi would advance by rule (the previous year's better record). The Giants won 6 to 3 against Chunichi, and took the Central League pennant and advanced to the

. {{see, 1994 Central League tie-breaker game

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's game. Both main starter, Masaki Saito, Dominican Balvino Galvez raised 16 won games the most wins on this season, relief pitcher, Mario Brito who reinforced during the season and Hirofumi Kono supported the team,

was very success as a main season. Rookies Toshihisa Nishi and Takayuki Shimizu (baseball), 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 (now

) on

.{{page needed, date=November 2017

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 González (infielder), 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

, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Michihiro Ogasawara, Alex Ramirez, Seth Greisinger, Seth Adam Greisinger, Marc Kroon, Marc Jason Kroon, Hisanori Takahashi, and Tetsuya Utsumi, The Giants, however, lost 3 games to 4 to the

in the 2008 Japan Series.{{page needed, date=November 2017 The Yomiuri Giants drew an average home attendance of 39,948 in 2008.

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 ordered Kiyotake to replace Okazaki with

, 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 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, and Satoshi Fukuda 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 of 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.Kyodo News
"Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds"
''The Japan Times'', 21 October 2015 On 9 November 2015, the Giants organization terminated the contracts of all three players, with an indefinite suspension from ''all'' World Baseball Softball Confederation leagues on the players. The offending players must be reinstated by the WBSC before they can participate in any league.

MLB players

;Active: *

(2015–2017) * Matt Andriese (2022) *

(2025–present) ;Retired: * Takashi Kashiwada (1998) * Takahito Nomura (2002) * Joe Dillon (2007) *

(2007) * Ken Kadokura (2009) *

(2003–2012) *

(2007–2011, 2013) * Hisanori Takahashi (2010–2013) *

(2009–2017) * Taylor Jungmann (2015–2017) * Gerardo Parra (2020) * Eric Thames (2021) * Justin Smoak (2021)

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.

Minor League team

The Giants farm team plays in the Eastern League (Japanese baseball), Eastern League. It was founded in 1949.

References

{{reflist

External links

{{Commons category * {{Official website, https://www.giants.jp/en/ * {{Official website, https://npb.jp/bis/eng/teams/index_g.html , name=NPB Official Website (Yomiuri Giants) {{Yomiuri Giants {{Japanese Professional Baseball {{Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize {{Authority control Yomiuri Giants, 1934 establishments in Japan Baseball teams established in 1934 1985 controversies Nippon Professional Baseball teams Baseball teams in Tokyo

Franchise history

Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club

Tokyo Kyojin

Yomiuri Giants

Managerial history and lifetime records

Rivalries

Hanshin Tigers

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Chunichi Dragons

Roster

Players of note

Former players

Retired numbers

Top starting pitchers

Top leading hit players

Top leading homerun players

Season-by-season record

"Japan's team" and allegations of corruption

Controversies

1973 First nine consecutive victories in professional baseball history

Oh home run controversy

1994 Central League tie-breaker game

1996 Nagashima controversy

2008 Miracle season

2011 Kiyotake controversy

2012 Hara controversy

2015 gambling controversy

MLB players

Mascots

Minor League team

References

Further reading

External links