What is Nankai Hawks?

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
League	Pacific League
Location	Fukuoka
Ballpark	Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome
Year Founded	1938
Nickname(s)	SoftBank (ソフトバンク), Hawks (ホークス), Taka (鷹, hawk), SB
League championships	1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1999, 2000, 2003
Japan Series championships	1959, 1964, 1999, 2003
Former name(s)	Nankai (1938-1944), Kinki Nihon (1944), Kinki Great Ring (1946-1947), Nankai Hawks (1947-1988), Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1989-2004)
Colors	Yellow and black
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (福岡ソフトバンクホークス, Fukuoka Sofutobanku Hōkusu) are a Japanese baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. The team was bought on January 28, 2005 by SoftBank Corporation.

It was formerly known as Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. In 1988, Daiei bought the team from Osaka's Nankai Electric Railway Co., and its headquarters was moved to Fukuoka. The Daiei Hawks won the Pacific League championship in 1999, 2000 and 2003 and won the Japan Series in 1999 and 2003.

History

Under the Ownership of the Nankai Electric Railway Company

Nankai (1938 to mid-1944)-Kinki Nihon (mid-1944 to 1944)-Kinki Great Ring (1946 to mid-1947)

The name of the franchise started from Nankai when they joined the league, originated from the name of the owning company, the Nankai Electric Railway Co.. Since then, there are several changes in the team's name, sometimes by the pressure from the atmosphere of nationalization during the second world war and sometimes by the team's own will. However, the the team had still belonged to the Nankai Electric Railway Co. during that period. And finally the name of the team settled down to the Nankai Hawks in the middle of the 1947 season.

Nankai Hawks (mid-1947 to 1988)

Under the name Nankai Hawks, they won 2 Japan Series titles, and 10 Pacific League Pennants.

Franchise Players: Katsuya Nomura, Mutsuo Minagawa, Hiromitsu Kadota, Chusuke Kizuka, Kohei Sugiyama

The Nankai Hawks (南海ホークス|, Nankai Hawks) were the top team in the first twenty years of the Pacific League, but fell on hard times and finished in the second division every year from 1978 to 1988, at which point the team was sold to the Daiei corporation to become the Daiei Hawks. They begun to rebound after that and re-established themselves as one of the top Pacific League teams in the late 1990s.

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988 to 2004)

After the franchise was acquired by department store chain Daiei, Inc., the Hawks were flush with new funds, and a new home city in Fukuoka, the capital of the eponymous prefecture on Kyushu Island. The Hawks were a B-class team in the Pacific League for a number of years in the mid-'90s. However, when new blood was brought in through the draft, the fortunes of the Hawks started to look up. Future stars that were drafted included Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, 2B Tadahito Iguchi, and ace pitcher Kazumi Saitoh. Even with shaky financial ground looming up until Daiei's sale of the team in 2004, the Hawks were competitive every year from 1999 on, making a Japan Series appearance against the Hideki Matsui-led Yomiuri Giants in 2000, and finally winning a Japan Series in 2003 against the Hanshin Tigers.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2005 to current)

The Hawks continued their winning ways even after the sale of the team to SoftBank. Even though one of the richest teams in Japan, the Hawks core is still intact from the last years of the Daiei era, especially the starting pitching of Saitoh, Tsuyoshi Wada, Nagisa Arakaki, and Toshiya Sugiuchi. In each of the 3 years since SoftBank has purchased the franchise, the Hawks have made the playoffs every year, but with two consecutive 3rd-place finishes in the Pacific League and aging players like Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroki Kokubo, some player turnover might be in order. In 2005, the Hawks fell to to the Seibu Lions in the playoffs. In 2006, a dramatic pennant race led to an even more exciting playoff run that ended in Sapporo Dome to the hands of the eventual Japan Series Champions, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The 2007 season saw injuries, ineffectiveness, and inconsistency leading to another 3rd-place finish, and a first-stage exit at the hands of the chiba Lotte Marines.

News

2003

Daiei Inc of Japan had a 60% ownership stake in the team. Daiei Inc., under financial pressure, agreed to sell the team as well as the Fukuoka Dome and the Sea Hawk Hotel.

2004

In August, Daiei's was in discussion with its primary lenders, including UFJ Bank, to avoid having to sell the Daiei Hawks.

Players of Note

Current Manager

• 89 Sadaharu Oh

Current Stars

• 18 Nagisa Arakaki - P
• 00 Brian Buchanan - OF
• 43 Rick Guttormson - P
•  4 Adam Hyzdu- IF
• 52 Munenori Kawasaki - SS
•  9 Hiroki Kokubo - 3B
• 14 Takahiro Mahara - P
•  3 Nobuhiko Matsunaka - 1B
• 35 Christopher Nitkowski(a.k.a. C.J. Nitkowski in the MLB) - P
•  7 Naoyuki Ohmura - CF
• 66 Kazumi Saitoh - P
•  1 Hiroshi Shibahara - RF
• 47 Toshiya Sugiuchi - P
•  6 Hitoshi Tamura - LF
• 21 Tsuyoshi Wada - P

Former Players

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

• Tony Batista - 3B (Currently with Washington Nationals MLB)
• Jolbert Cabrera - 2B
• Kenji Johjima - C (Currently with Seattle Mariners MLB)
• Julio Zuleta - DH

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

• Koji Akiyama
• Morgan Burkhart
• Rich Gossage
• Lindsay Gulin
• Chris Haney
• Melvin Nieves
• Tadahito Iguchi (Currently with MLB Philadelphia Phillies)
• Kimiyasu Kudoh
• Kevin Mitchell
• Brady Raggio
• Bobby Thigpen
• Willie Upshaw

Nankai Hawks

• Tony Bernazard
• Don Blasingame
• Katsuya Nomura
• Joe Stanka
• Tadashi Sugiura

Retired numbers

Honored numbers

• 15 Masao Fujii

External links

• (Japanese) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks official web site

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-