The Hanshin Tigers (???????, Hanshin Taigasu ?, ) are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 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. The team's circular logo is very similar to the classic Detroit Tigers logo, except that the tiger in the Major League version is orange whereas Hanshin's is yellow. The Tigers' cap logo is very similar to that of the New York Yankees and they often wear similar pinstriped uniforms. Though they are the sister team of the American baseball team Detroit Tigers, they are frequently compared to the Red Sox. Both the Tigers and Red Sox have an enthusiastic fan base and play in older stadiums. The Tigers' rivalry with the Yomiuri Giants parallels the rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees and like Boston, the Tigers have usually not prevailed, often losing in dramatic fashion near the end of the season. This has resulted in "curse" legends for both teams and to the Tigers' nickname of "Hard-Luck Hanshin." This idea is explored in Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's 2004 book Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season where the Tigers are often portrayed as the Japanese Red Sox.

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History of the Hanshin Tigers

The Hanshin Tigers, one of the oldest professional clubs in Japan, were founded on December 10, 1935 with the team being formed in 1936. The team was first called "the Osaka Tigers". In 1940, amid anti-foreign sentiment, the Tigers changed the name to "Hanshin" and in 1947 changed the name back to "Osaka 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 Koshien 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 Mazda Stadium in Hiroshima (Hiroshima Toyo Carp), and Skymark Stadium in Kobe (part-time home of the newly-merged Orix Buffaloes). Of the three, only Koshien has a dirt infield. 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 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

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). After many series without a series win, the Tigers were said to be doomed never to win the season again until the Colonel was rescued from the river. The top half of the statue was finally recovered on March 10th, 2009, in the canal by construction workers while constructing a new boardwalk area as part of a beautification project.

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 Kobe and Osaka moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside until the series was over to protect them from Tigers fans.

The statue was discovered on March 10, 2009 in the canal by construction crew while building a new walkway. The KFC outlet where this statue once stood has since closed.

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 (?????????, Hanshin Tigers no Uta ^?, )", as known as " (, ^? )", is a popular song in the Kansai area. It can even be found on karaoke boxes.

????????? (???, kanji) ??? (???????)? ?? (????)? ?? (????)? (?)???? (????)? ????? ? (???)?? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? (???????) ? (?)??? ?? ? (??)???? (?)? ????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? (????)? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ??????

Hanshin Tigers no Uta (Rokko Oroshi, romaji) Rokko oroshi ni sasso to Soten kakeru nichirin no Seishun no haki uruwashiku Kagayaku wagana zo Hanshin Tigers O-o-o-o Hanshin Tigers Fure-fure-fure-fure Toshi hatsuratsu tatsu ya ima Nekketsu sude ni teki o tsuku Juo no iki takaraka ni Muteki no warera zo Hanshin Tigers O-o-o-o Hanshin Tigers Fure-fure-fure-fure Tetsuwan kyoda ikuchitabi Kitaete koko ni Koshien Shori ni moyuru eikan wa Kagayaku warera zo Hanshin Tigers O-o-o-o Hanshin Tigers Fure-fure-fure-fure

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 Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray! Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times Trained with every discipline here at Koshien Crowned with constant victory glorious, matchless feat Always proud, invincible "Hanshin Tigers" Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

Season-by-season

From the Kosaido Publishing Co., Ltd. (?????????, Kabushikigaisha Kosaido Shuppan ^?, ) guidebook.

Season	Place	Manager
Former Japanese Baseball League
Spring 1936	Did not place	Shigeo Mori (? ??, ? )
Summer 1936	Did not place	Shigeo Mori (? ??, ? )
Autumn 1936	2nd	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
Spring 1937	2nd	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
Autumn 1937	1st (League Champion )	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
Spring 1938	1st (League Champion )	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
Autumn 1938	2nd	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
1939	2nd	Shuichi Ishimoto (?? ??, ? )
1940	2nd	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1941	5th	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1942	3rd	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
1943	3rd	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
1944	1st (League Champion )	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
1945	No league play
1946	3rd	Fumio Fujimura (?? ???, ? )
1947	1st (League Champion )	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
1948	3rd	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
1949	6th	Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??, ? )
In the Central League
1950	4th	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1951	3rd	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1952	2nd	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1953	2nd	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1954	3rd	Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???, ? )
1955	3rd	Ichiro Kishi (? ??, ? ) ? Fumio Fujimura (?? ???, ? )
1956	2nd	Fumio Fujimura (?? ???, ? )
1957	2nd	Fumio Fujimura (?? ???, ? )
1958	2nd	Yoshio Tanaka (?? ??, ? )
1959	2nd	Yoshio Tanaka (?? ??, ? )
1960	3rd	Masayasu Kaneda (?? ??, ? )
1961	4th	Masayasu Kaneda (?? ??, ? ) ? Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1962	1st (League Champion )	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1963	3rd	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1964	1st (League Champion )	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1965	3rd	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1966	3rd	Shigeru Sugishita (?? ?, ? ) ? Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1967	3rd	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1968	2nd	Sadayoshi Fujimoto (?? ??, ? )
1969	2nd	Tsuguo Goto (?? ??, ? )
1970	2nd	Minoru Murayama (?? ?, ? )
1971	5th	Minoru Murayama (?? ?, ? )
1972	2nd	Minoru Murayama (?? ?, ? ) (- April 21) ? Masayasu Kaneda (?? ??, ? ) (April 22 -)
1973	2nd	Masayasu Kaneda (?? ??, ? )
1974	4th	Masayasu Kaneda (?? ??, ? )
1975	3rd	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1976	2nd	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1977	4th	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1978	6th (last place)	Tsuguo Goto (?? ??, ? )
1979	4th	Don Blasingame (Don Blazer)
1980	5th	Don Blasingame (Don Blazer) ? Futoshi Nakanishi (?? ?, ? )
1981	3rd	Futoshi Nakanishi (?? ?, ? )
1982	3rd	Motoo Andoh (?? ??, ? ) Takao Sato (?? ??, ? ) (June 13 - June 15)
1983	4th	Motoo Andoh (?? ??, ? )
1984	4th	Motoo Andoh (?? ??, ? )
1985	1st (League Champion ) Japan Series Champion	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1986	3rd	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1987	6th (last place)	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1988	6th (last place)	Minoru Murayama (?? ?, ? )
1989	5th	Minoru Murayama (?? ?, ? )
1990	6th (last place)	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? )
1991	6th (last place)	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? )
1992	2nd	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? )
1993	4th	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? )
1994	4th	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? )
1995	6th (last place)	Katsuhiro Nakamura (?? ??, ? ) (- July 23) ? Taira Fujita (?? ?, ? ) (July 24 -)
1996	6th (last place)	Taira Fujita (?? ?, ? ) (- September 11) ? Takeshi Shibata (?? ?, ? ) (September 12 -)
1997	5th	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1998	6th (last place)	Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??, ? )
1999	6th (last place)	Katsuya Nomura (?? ??, ? )
2000	6th (last place)	Katsuya Nomura (?? ??, ? )
2001	6th (last place)	Katsuya Nomura (?? ??, ? )
2002	4th	Senichi Hoshino (?? ??, ? )
2003	1st (League Champion ) Lost in Japan Series, 4-3 to Daiei Hawks	Senichi Hoshino (?? ??, ? )
2004	4th	Akinobu Okada (?? ??, ? )
2005	1st (League Champion ) Lost in Japan Series, 4-0, to Chiba Lotte Marines	Akinobu Okada (?? ??, ? )
2006	2nd	Akinobu Okada (?? ??, ? )
2007	3rd Lost in the Climax Series Central 1st Stage	Akinobu Okada (?? ??, ? )
2008	2nd Lost in the Climax Series Central 1st Stage	Akinobu Okada (?? ??, ? )

Players of note

Current players

• 00 Shuta Tanaka (?? ??) - IF
•  0 Takahiro Shoda (?? ??) - OF
•  1 Takashi Toritani (?? ?) - IF
•  2 Kohei Shibata (?? ??) - OF
•  3 Kentaro Sekimoto (?? ???) - IF
•  4 Hiroki Uemoto (?? ??) - IF
•  5 Keiichi Hirano (?? ??) - OF
•  6 Tomoaki Kanemoto (?? ??) - OF
•  7 Makoto Imaoka (?? ?) - IF
•  8 Ryo Asai (?? ?) - OF
•  9 Atsushi Fujimoto (?? ??) - IF
• 12 Ryo Watanabe (?? ?) - P
• 13 Satoru Kanemura (?? ?) - P
• 14 Atsushi Nohmi (?? ??) - P
• 16 Yuya Ando
• 17 Naohisa Sugiyama (?? ??) - P
• 19 Shoh Ikketsu
• 20 Kazuya Tsutsui (?? ??) - P
• 21 Minoru Iwata (?? ?) - P
• 22 Kyuji Fujikawa (?? ??) - P
• 24 Shinjiro Hiyama (?? ???) - OF
• 25 Takahiro Arai (?? ??) - IF
• 26 Hirotaka Egusa (?? ??) - P
• 27 Scott Atchison - P
• 28 Shinobu Fukuhara (?? ?) - P
• 29 Tatsuya Kojima (?? ??) - P
• 30 Tomoyuki Kubota (??? ??) - P
• 31 Lin Weichu (? ??) - OF
• 32 Kevin Mench - OF
• 33 Ikuro Katsuragi (?? ??) - OF
• 34 Yasutomo Kubo (?? ??) - P
• 35 Katsuhiko Saka (? ??) - IF
• 36 Takuya Takahama (?? ??) - IF
• 37 Masashi Nohara (?? ??) - IF
• 38 Ryohei Hashimoto (?? ??) - C
• 39 Akihiro Yano (?? ??) - C
• 40 Masashi Sajikihara (?? ??) - P
• 41 Keiji Uezono (?? ??) - P
• 42 Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (?? ?) - P
• 43 Ken Nishimura (?? ?) - OF
• 44 Toru Fujiwara (?? ?) - IF
• 45 Takashi Shimizu (?? ?) - C
• 46 Naoto Tsuru (? ??) - P
• 47 Hirokazu Shiranita (??? ??) - P
• 48 Shunsuke Ishikawa (?? ??) - P
• 49 Ryuji Wakatake (?? ??) - IF
• 50 Mitsunobu Takahashi (?? ??) - IF
• 51 Kodai Sakurai (?? ??) - OF
• 52 Aarom Baldiris - IF
• 53 Norihiro Akahoshi (?? ??) - OF
• 54 Jeff Williams (baseball)
• 55 Tadatoki Maeda (?? ??) - IF
• 56 Kenta Abe (?? ??) - P
• 57 Taichi Okazaki (?? ??) - C
• 58 Yusuke Takahashi (?? ??) - OF
• 59 Yusuke Kuroda (?? ??) - P
• 60 Shinji Komiyama (??? ??) - C
• 61 Daiyu Kanemura (?? ??) - P
• 62 Yutaka Tamaki (?? ?) - P
• 63 Yuji Oshiro (?? ??) - IF
• 64 Cheng Kaiwen (? ??) - P
• 65 Daiki Kiyohara (?? ??) - P
• 66 Yamato Maeda
• 67 Craig Brazell - IF
• 68 Ryunosuke Yokoyama (?? ???) - P
• 69 Chris Resop - P
• 99 Keisuke Kanoh (?? ??) - C
• ? Keisuke Mizuta (?? ??) - IF

Coaching

• 72 Akinobu Mayumi (?? ??) - Manager
• 91 Katsuhiko Kido (?? ??) - Head coach
• 82 Yoshiaki Oka (? ??) - Fielding chief coach
• 84 Yasuo Kubo (?? ??) - Pitching coach
• 85 Takashi Yamaguchi (?? ??) - Pitching coach
• 86 Yutaka Wada (?? ?) - Hitting coach
• 87 Yutaka Nakamura (?? ?) - Hitting coach
• 89 Koji Yamawaki (?? ??) - Base coach
• 92 Teruyoshi Kuji (?? ??) - Base coach
• 81 Yasuo Yoshida (?? ??) - Battery coach
• 74 Atsunori Itoh (?? ??) - Traning coach
• 93 Takao Ebino (??? ??) - Traning coach

Former players

• George Altman - OF
• Sohachi Aniya (??? ??) - P
• George Arias - IF
• Gene Bacque - P
• Randy Bass - IF
• Mike Blowers - IF
• Jamie Brown (baseball)
• Darnell Coles - IF, OF
• Doug Creek - P
• Glenn Davis (baseball player)
• Rob Deer - OF
• Yutaka Enatsu (?? ?) - P
• Tom Evans (baseball)
• Cecil Fielder - IF
• Lew Ford - OF
• Fumio Fujimura (?? ???) - P, IF
• Taira Fujita - IF (?? ?)
• Rich Gale - P
• Mike Greenwell - OF
• Shosei Go (? ??) - OF
• Dave Hansen (baseball player)
• Jason Hardtke - IF
• Phil Hiatt - IF
• Katsumi Hirosawa (?? ??) - IF, OF
• Trey Hodges - P
• Osamu Hoshino (?? ?, ?? ???) - IF
• Nobuyuki Hoshino (?? ??) - P
• Kei Igawa (?? ?) - P
• Atsunori Itoh (?? ??) - P
• Mark Johnson (MLB first baseman)
• Masaru Kageura (?? ?) - OF, IF, P
• Masayuki Kakefu (?? ??) - IF
• Tsutomu Kameyama (?? ?, ?? ???) - OF
• Atsushi Kataoka (?? ??) - IF
• Kozo Kawato (?? ??) - PH, OF
• Matt Keough - P
• Katsuhiko Kido (?? ??) - C
• Mike Kinkade - IF
• Willie Kirkland - OF
• Masaaki Koyama (?? ??) - P
• Kuo Lee Chien-Fu (?? ??) - P
• Kojiro Machida (?? ???) - OF
• Kenjiro Matsuki (?? ???) - IF
• Darrell May - P
• Akinobu Mayumi (?? ??) - IF, OF
• Susumu Mikoshiba (??? ?) - P
• Kurt Miller - P
• Toyozo Minamimure (??? ??) - IF, OF
• Takao Misonoo (??? ??) - P
• Trey Moore - P
• Ramon Morel - P
• Minoru Murayama (?? ?) - P
• Rodney Myers - P
• Yutaka Nakamura (?? ?) - OF
• Kiyooki Nakanishi (?? ??) - P
• Toshihiro Noguchi (?? ??) - C
• Akinobu Okada (?? ??) - IF
• Tom O'Malley - IF
• Chris Oxspring - P
• Eduardo Perez - IF
• Larry Parrish - IF
• Alonzo Powell - OF
• Mike Reinbach - OF
• Jerrod Riggan - P
• Bienvenido Rivera - OF
• Tsuyoshi Shinjo (?? ??) - OF
• Shane Spencer - OF
• Kento Sugiyama (?? ??) - P
• Koichi Tabuchi (?? ??) - C
• Tony Tarasco - OF
• Katsunori Tomari (??? ??) - IF, OF, PH
• Shoji Toyama (?? ??) - P
• Tomochika Tsuboi (?? ??) - OF
• Marc Valdes - P
• Ryan Vogelsong - P
• Yutaka Wada (?? ?) - IF
• Tadashi Wakabayashi (?? ??) - P
• Craig Worthington - IF
• Marvell Wynne (baseball player)
• Keiichi Yabu (? ??) - P
• Hiroshi Yagi (?? ?) - IF, PH
• Kazuhiro Yamauchi (?? ??) - OF
• Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese baseball player)
• Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??) - IF
• Toshiro Yufune (?? ??) - P

Retired numbers

• 10 Fumio Fujimura (?? ???)
• 11 Minoru Murayama (?? ?)
• 23 Yoshio Yoshida (?? ??)

Media relating to the Tigers

;Newspapers ;Broadcasting stations

See also

• Central League
• Western League
• Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group - Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd.