| Hanshin Tigers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| File:Hanshintigerslogo.png | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Central League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ballpark | Hanshin Kōshien Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year Founded | 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Hanshin (阪神), Tigers (タイガース), Tora (トラ, "tiger"), "Mōko" (猛虎, "fierce tiger") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League championships | 1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Japan Series championships | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former name(s) | Ōsaka Tigers (1936–1940, Nicknamed "Tigers"), Hanshin (1940–1946), Ōsaka Tigers (1947–1960, Nicknamed "Hanshin") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colors | white, black and yellow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Logo Design | A tiger's head on a red disk outlined in black, reading "Hanshin Tigers" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mascot | TO LUCKY (トラッキー, No. 1985) LUCKY (ラッキー, No. 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布, No. 80)
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| Uniforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース Hanshin Taigāsu?) are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly. It is the sister team of the American baseball team Detroit Tigers and in Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's 2004 book Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, the Tigers are often portrayed as the Japanese Red Sox. The team's circular logo is very similar to the classic Detroit Tigers logo, except the tiger in the Major Leagues version is orange, whereas Hanshin's is yellow. The Tigers' cap logo is very similar to that of the New York Yankees, and they are often seen with similar pinstriped uniforms.
History of the Hanshin Tigers[]
Kōshien Stadium (in 2007)
The Hanshin Tigers, one of the oldest professional clubs in Japan, were founded in 1935 with the team being formed in 1936. The team was first called the Ōsaka Tigers. In 1940, amid anti-foreign sentiment, the Tigers changed the name to Hanshin and in 1947 changed the name back to Ōsaka Tigers. The current team name was assumed in 1961.
The Tigers won four titles before the establishment of the two league system in 1950. Since the league was split into the Central League and the Pacific League, the Tigers have won the Central League pennant five times (1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005) and the Japan Series once (1985).
When the 2004 Major League Baseball season opened in Japan, the Tigers played an exhibition game against the New York Yankees at the Tokyo Dome on March 29. The Tigers won 11–7.
In each of 2005, 2006 and 2007, over 3 million people attended games hosted by the Tigers. The Tigers were the only one of the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams to achieve this.
On January 31, 2007, the Tigers presented uniforms for the 2007 season. For the home uniforms, yellow, one of the colors of the team, was used again.
The home field, Hanshin Kōshien Stadium, is used by high school baseball teams from all over Japan for play in the national championship tournaments in spring and summer.
Famous players in Hanshin Tigers history include Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu, Minoru Murayama, Jeff Williams, and many others.
Koshien Stadium[]
The home field of the Tigers, Hanshin Koshien Stadium, is one of three major natural grass baseball stadiums in Japan. The others are the Hiroshima Municipal Ballpark (Hiroshima Toyo Carp), and Skymark Stadium in Kobe (part-time home of the newly-merged Orix Buffaloes). Of the three, only Skymark (Kobe) has grass on the infield as well as in the outfield. There are numerous smaller grass field ballparks around the country; Japanese baseball teams frequently play games in small cities so that local fans can see more of their heroes.
Koshien Stadium is by far the oldest ballpark in Japan; built in 1924, the stadium was once visited by American baseball legend Babe Ruth on a tour of Major League stars in 1934. There is a monument commemorating this visit at the front gates of the park.
Koshien is revered as a "sacred" ballpark, and players traditionally bow before entering and before leaving its hallowed field. The losing team in any high school baseball game played at the ballpark is allowed to scoop up handfuls of Koshien infield dirt, stuffing holy clay clods into tiny plastic bags as hordes of Japanese papparazzi snap photos at arm's length.
Curse of the Colonel[]
- Main article: Curse of the Colonel
As with many other underachieving baseball teams, a curse is believed to lurk over the Tigers. After their 1985 Japan Series win, fans celebrated by having people who looked like Tigers players jump into the Dotonbori Canal. According to legend, because none of the fans resembled first baseman Randy Bass, fans grabbed a life-sized statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot Colonel Sanders and threw it into the river (like Bass, the Colonel had a beard and was not Japanese). The statue was never recovered. Thus, the Tigers are said to be doomed never to win the season again until the Colonel is rescued from the river.
In 2003, when the Tigers returned to the Japan Series after 18 years with one of the worst records in the Central League, many KFC outlets in Kōbe and Ōsaka moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside until the series was over to protect them from Tigers fans.
Fandom[]
Tigers fans are known as perhaps the most fanatical and dedicated fans in all of Japanese professional baseball. They often outnumber the home team fans at Tigers "away" games. Tigers fans also have a reputation for rough behavior and a willingness to brawl with other fans or with each other, although long fights are rare. A famous Tigers fan tradition is the release, by the fans, of hundreds of air-filled balloons immediately following the 7th inning stretch and the singing of the Tigers' fight song. This tradition is carried-out at all home and away games, except at games against the Yomiuri Giants in the Tokyo Dome due to the Giants' notoriously heavy-handed rules for behavior by visiting fans.
The Tigers-Giants rivalry is considered the national Japanese rivalry, on par with the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball or Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona in Spanish football.
"The Song of the Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガースの歌 Hanshin Tigers no Uta?)", as known as "Rokko Oroshi" (The Wind of Mount Rokko), is a popular song in the Kansai area. It can even be found on karaoke boxes.
| Hanshin Tigers no Uta (Rokko Oroshi, romaji)
Rokkō oroshi ni sassō to Tōshi hatsuratsu tatsu ya ima Tetsuwan kyōda ikuchi tabi |
The Song of the Hanshin Tigers (The Wind of Mount Rokko) (An official English version, not a direct translation) Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times |
Season-by-season[]
From the Kosaido Publishing Co., Ltd. (株式会社廣済堂出版 Kabushikigaisha Kōsaidō Shuppan?) guidebook.
| Season | Place | Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Former Japanese Baseball League | ||
| Spring 1936 | Did not place | Shigeo Mori (森 茂雄?) |
| Summer 1936 | Did not place | Shigeo Mori (森 茂雄?) |
| Autumn 1936 | 2nd | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| Spring 1937 | 2nd | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| Autumn 1937 | 1st (League Champion) | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| Spring 1938 | 1st (League Champion) | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| Autumn 1938 | 2nd | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| 1939 | 2nd | Shuichi Ishimoto (石本 秀一?) |
| 1940 | 2nd | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1941 | 5th | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1942 | 3rd | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| 1943 | 3rd | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| 1944 | 1st (League Champion) | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| 1945 | No league play | |
| 1946 | 3rd | Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富美男?) |
| 1947 | 1st (League Champion) | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| 1948 | 3rd | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| 1949 | 6th | Tadashi Wakabayashi (若林 忠志?) |
| In the Central League | ||
| 1950 | 4th | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1951 | 3rd | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1952 | 2nd | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1953 | 2nd | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1954 | 3rd | Kenjiro Matsuki (松木 謙治郎?) |
| 1955 | 3rd | Ichiro Kishi (岸 一郎?) → Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富美男?) |
| 1956 | 2nd | Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富美男?) |
| 1957 | 2nd | Fumio Fujimura (藤村 富美男?) |
| 1958 | 2nd | Yoshio Tanaka (田中 義雄?) |
| 1959 | 2nd | Yoshio Tanaka (田中 義雄?) |
| 1960 | 3rd | Masayasu Kaneda (金田 正泰?) |
| 1961 | 4th | Masayasu Kaneda (金田 正泰?) → Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1962 | 1st (League Champion) | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1963 | 3rd | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1964 | 1st (League Champion) | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1965 | 3rd | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1966 | 3rd | Shigeru Sugishita (杉下 茂?) → Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1967 | 3rd | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1968 | 2nd | Sadayoshi Fujimoto (藤本 定義?) |
| 1969 | 2nd | Tsuguo Goto (後藤 次男?) |
| 1970 | 2nd | Minoru Murayama (村山 実?) |
| 1971 | 5th | Minoru Murayama (村山 実?) |
| 1972 | 2nd | Minoru Murayama (村山 実?) (- April 21) → Masayasu Kaneda (金田 正泰?) (April 22 -) |
| 1973 | 2nd | Masayasu Kaneda (金田 正泰?) |
| 1974 | 4th | Masayasu Kaneda (金田 正泰?) |
| 1975 | 3rd | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1976 | 2nd | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1977 | 4th | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1978 | 6th (last place) | Tsuguo Goto (後藤 次男?) |
| 1979 | 4th | Don Blasingame (Don Blazer) |
| 1980 | 5th | Don Blasingame (Don Blazer) → Futoshi Nakanishi (中西 太?) |
| 1981 | 3rd | Futoshi Nakanishi (中西 太?) |
| 1982 | 3rd | Motoo Andoh (安藤 統男?) Takao Sato (佐藤 孝夫?) (June 13 - June 15) |
| 1983 | 4th | Motoo Andoh (安藤 統男?) |
| 1984 | 4th | Motoo Andoh (安藤 統男?) |
| 1985 | 1st (League Champion) Japan Series Champion |
Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1986 | 3rd | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1987 | 6th (last place) | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1988 | 6th (last place) | Minoru Murayama (村山 実?) |
| 1989 | 5th | Minoru Murayama (村山 実?) |
| 1990 | 6th (last place) | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) |
| 1991 | 6th (last place) | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) |
| 1992 | 2nd | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) |
| 1993 | 4th | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) |
| 1994 | 4th | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) |
| 1995 | 6th (last place) | Katsuhiro Nakamura (中村 勝広?) (- July 23) → Taira Fujita (藤田 平?) (July 24 -) |
| 1996 | 6th (last place) | Taira Fujita (藤田 平?) (- September 11) → Takeshi Shibata (柴田 猛?) (September 12 -) |
| 1997 | 5th | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1998 | 6th (last place) | Yoshio Yoshida (吉田 義男?) |
| 1999 | 6th (last place) | Katsuya Nomura (野村 克也?) |
| 2000 | 6th (last place) | Katsuya Nomura (野村 克也?) |
| 2001 | 6th (last place) | Katsuya Nomura (野村 克也?) |
| 2002 | 4th | Senichi Hoshino (星野 仙一?) |
| 2003 | 1st (League Champion) | Senichi Hoshino (星野 仙一?) |
| 2004 | 4th | Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布?) |
| 2005 | 1st (League Champion) | Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布?) |
| 2006 | 2nd | Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布?) |
| 2007 | 3rd Lost in the Climax Series 1st Stage |
Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布?) |
| 2008 | 2nd | Akinobu Okada (岡田 彰布?) |
| 2009 | 4th | Akinobu Mayumi (真弓 明信?) |
| 2010 | 2nd | Akinobu Mayumia (真弓 明信?) |
| 2011 | 4th | Akinobu Mayumi (真弓 明信?) |
| 2012 | 5th | Yutaka Wada (和田 豊?) |
| 2013 | 2nd | Yutaka Wada (和田 豊?) |
Retired numbers[]
- Template:Player
- Template:Player
- Template:Player
Media relating to the Tigers[]
- Newspapers
-
- Daily Sports (デイリースポーツ)
- Nikkan Sports (日刊スポーツ, Kansai edition)
- Sankei Sports (サンケイスポーツ, Kansai edition)
- Sports Nippon (スポーツニッポン, Kansai edition)
- Broadcasting stations
-
- SUN-TV (サンテレビ, TV)
- Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC, 朝日放送, Radio, TV)
- Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc. (MBS, 毎日放送, Radio, TV)
- Kansai Telecasting Corporation (KTV, 関西テレビ, TV)
- Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (ytv, 読売テレビ, TV)
- Television Osaka, Inc. (TVO, テレビ大阪, TV)
See also[]
- Central League
- Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group - Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
External links[]
| Search Wikimedia Commons | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hanshin Tigers |
