Pacific League

One of the professional baseball leagues that belong to Nippon Professional Baseball.

Affiliated Teams

Seven teams originally belonged to the founding Pacific League (hereinafter, "PL") in 1950. During the PL's early days in the 1950s, and due to NPB restructuring problems in 2004, there have been new entries or mergers of teams, and there are currently 6 teams since 2005. (Below, in alphabetical order.)

• Chiba Lotte Marines (1950–)
• Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (1950–)
• Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (1950–)
• Orix Buffaloes (Osaka/Kobe, 1950–)
• Saitama Seibu Lions (1950–)
• Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2005–)

Defunct Affiliated Teams

• Takahashi Unions (1954–1956, ※1)
• Daiei Unions (1950–1957, ※2)
• Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (1950–2004, ※3)

Relocated Teams

• Crown Lighter Lions (Fukuoka, 1950–1978, ※4)
• Lotte Orions (Tokyo, 1950–1972; Sendai, 1973–1977; Kawasaki, 1978–1991, ※5)
• Nankai Hawks (Osaka, 1950–1988, ※6)
• Nippon Ham Fighters (Tokyo, 1950–2003, ※7)
• Orix BlueWave/Buffaloes (Hyogo Prefecture, 1950-2004, 2006, ※3)

Footnotes

1. Merged with the Daiei Stars (from 1957: Daiei Unions) before the 1957 season.
2. Merged with the Mainichi Orions (now the Chiba Lotte Marines) before the 1958 season.
3. The Orix BlueWave moved to Osaka and merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes before the 2005 season. Orix moved the combined team back to Kobe for the 2006 season.
4. Moved to Saitama as the Seibu Lions before the 1979 season.
5. Moved to Chiba as the Lotte Marines before the 1992 season.
6. Moved to Fukuoka as the Daiei Hawks (now the SoftBank Hawks) before the 1989 season.
7. Moved to Sapporo before the 2004 season.

Related Tags

Nippon Professional Baseball Central League

American League: Junior League Counterpart in Major League Baseball

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