What is Kintetsu Buffaloes?

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes

Pacific League

Tier 2

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes

JAPAN CHAMPIONS (0)*

None

PL PENNANTS (4)**

2001 1989 1980 1979

The Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (ja: 大阪近鉄バファローズ) was a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka, Japan, which were in the Pacific League. The team was owned by Kinki Nippon Railway Co. (later: Kintetsu Corp.) and later sold to the Orix Group, the owner of the Orix Blue Wave baseball team, in 2004. The new owner then announced that they will merged the two teams into one team called the Orix Buffaloes before the start of the 2004-2005 NPB season.

Founded: 1950

Formerly known as: Kintetsu Pearls (1950-1958), Kintetsu Buffalo (1959-1961), Kintetsu Buffaloes (1962-1998), Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (1999-2004), Orix Buffaloes (2005-)

Home ballpark: Osaka Dome

Uniform colors: Red, navy blue and White

Nickname: Kintetsu (近鉄), Buffaloes (バファローズ), Mougyu (猛牛) means violent buffalo, Ushi (牛,丑) means cow.

Logo design: A stylized buffalo's head with angry-looking red eyes which is designed by Okamoto Taro; or "Buffaloes" in red script, outlined with white.

League championships won (4): 1979, 1980, 1989, 2001

Japan Series championships won (0):

Players of note

Former players

• Ralph Bryant
• Phil Clark
• Dick Davis
• Chuck Essegian
• Yoshiaki Kanemura (金村 義明)
• Hisashi Iwakuma (岩隈 久志)
• Charlie Manuel
• Don Money
• Norihiro Nakamura (中村 紀洋)
• Hideo Nomo (野茂 英雄)
• Ben Oglivie
• Akinori Otsuka (大塚 晶則)
• Tuffy Rhodes
• German Rivera
• Lee Stevens
• Keishi Suzuki (鈴木 啓示)
• Jim Traber
• Masato Yoshii (吉井 理人)

Retired numbers

• 1 Keishi Suzuki

External links

• History of the Kintetsu Buffaloes
• The dramatic determination of championship in Pacific League

Nippon Professional Baseball
Central League			Pacific League
Yomiuri Giants	Chunichi Dragons	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Hanshin Tigers	Yokohama BayStars	Seibu Lions	Orix Buffaloes	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Japan Series - Japanese Baseball League (former) - Eastern League - Western League-