Pacific League

Map of Japan showing home towns of the Pacific League teams

The Lua error in Module:Unicode_data at line 293: attempt to index local 'data_module' (a boolean value). or Lua error in Module:Unicode_data at line 293: attempt to index local 'data_module' (a boolean value). is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan.^[1] There are six teams in the league.^[2]

History

In 1949, The league was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union. There were seven teams.

In 1980, the name was changed to Pacific League.

After the 2004 season, the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to form the Orix Buffaloes.^[3] At the same time, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were added to the league.^[4]

Current teams

Team	Japanese Name	Place	Sponsor
Chiba Lotte Marines^[2]	千葉ロッテマリーンズ Chiba Rotte Marīnzu	Chiba, Chiba	Lotte
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks^[2]	福岡ソフトバンクホークス Fukuoka Sofutobanku Hōkusu	Fukuoka, Fukuoka	SoftBank
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters^[2]	北海道日本ハムファイターズ Hokkaidō Nippon-Hamu Faitāzu	Sapporo, Hokkaidō	Nippon Ham
Orix Buffaloes^[2]	オリックス・バファローズ Orikkusu Bafarōzu	Osaka, Osaka / Kobe, Hyōgo	ORIX
Saitama Seibu Lions^[2]	埼玉西武ライオンズ Saitama Seibu Raionzu	Tokorozawa, Saitama	Seibu Railway
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles^[2]	東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス Tōhoku Rakuten Gōruden Īgurusu	Sendai, Miyagi	Rakuten

Championships

Nishitetsu Lions were Pacific League Champions in 1954

League champion

The team which wins the most games in each year is the league champion or "pennant winner".^[5]

1950 Mainichi Orions
1951 Nankai Hawks
1952 Nankai Hawks
1953 Nankai Hawks
1953 Nankai Hawks
1954 Nishitetsu Lions
1955 Nankai Hawks
1956 Nishitetsu Lions
1957 Nishitetsu Lions
1958 Nishitetsu Lions
1959 Nankai Hawks

_____

1960 Daimai Orions
1961 Nankai Hawks
1962 Toei Flyers
1963 Nishitetsu Lions
1964 Nankai Hawks
1965 Nankai Hawks
1966 Nankai Hawks
1967 Hankyu Braves
1968 Hankyu Braves
1969 Hankyu Braves

_____

1970 Lotte Orions
1971 Hankyu Braves
1972 Hankyu Braves
1973 Nankai Hawks
1974 Lotte Orions
1975 Hankyu Braves
1976 Hankyu Braves
1977 Hankyu Braves
1978 Hankyu Braves
1979 Kintetsu Buffaloes

_____

1980 Kintetsu Buffaloes
1981 Nippon-Ham Fighters
1982 Seibu Lions
1983 Seibu Lions
1984 Hankyu Braves
1985 Seibu Lions
1986 Seibu Lions
1987 Seibu Lions
1988 Seibu Lions
1989 Kintetsu Buffaloes

_____

1990 Seibu Lions
1991 Seibu Lions
1992 Seibu Lions
1993 Seibu Lions
1994 Seibu Lions
1995 Orix BlueWave
1996 Orix BlueWave
1997 Seibu Lions
1998 Seibu Lions
1999 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

_____

2000 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
2002 Seibu Lions
2003 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2004 Seibu Lions
2005 Chiba Lotte Marines
2006 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
2007 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
2008 Saitama Seibu Lions
2009 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

_____

2010 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
2011 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
2012 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019

Since 2004, there has been a three-team playoff system called the "climax series". The teams with the 2nd- and 3rd-best records play in the 3-game first stage. The winner plays in a 5-game final series against the top-ranked team.^[2]

Japan Series

Each year, the winner of the league championship competes against the Central League champion in the Lua error in Module:Unicode_data at line 293: attempt to index local 'data_module' (a boolean value). or Lua error in Module:Unicode_data at line 293: attempt to index local 'data_module' (a boolean value)..^[6]