Tokyo Yakult Swallows
The Yakult Swallows Tōkyō (Japanese東京 ヤクルト スワローズ, Tōkyō Yakuruto Suwarōzu ) is a Japanese professional baseball team. They play in the Central League and have been able to five times the Nihon Series win. Home of the Swallows is Tokyo, their home games they wear in the Meiji Jingū Stadium from.
Owner and namesake of the Swallows is the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics company Yakult. Manager and Coach ( kantoku ) of the team since 2008, the former Giants outfielder Shigeru Takada.
History
The Swallows were founded in 1950 as Kokutetsu Swallows by the State Railway ( Kokutetsu ). In the early years they were among the weaker teams in the league, only in 1961, they achieved a winning percentage of 0.527 more victories than defeats. Best player of these years was the pitcher Masaichi Kaneda (nickname Kaneda Tennō ), three times the Sawamura Award won for the best pitcher and was subsequently included in the Hall of Fame. He left the Swallows at the end of the season 1964.
In 1965, the team was sold to the Sankei Shimbun and Sankei atom was from 1966 - the 1965 season was still played as Sankei Swallows: sixth (Last ) of the Central League was the team 45.5 games behind the first (44 wins, 91 defeats, 5 draws ). The following year the team played in the lower half of the table.
1970 bought the Yakult Atoms: With a winning percentage of .264 (33 S - 92 N - 5 U), they reached in their first season as Yakult Atoms the low point of the team 's history. However, succeeded in the 1970s - from 1974 then as Yakult Swallows - building a strong team to Hiromi Matsuoka ( pitcher ) and Tsutomu Wakamatsu ( outfielder ). Under manager Tatsuro Hirooka ( 1977-79 ) brought them their first league title in 1978 and then won the Nihon Series against the Orix Buffaloes. This year she was awarded as a professional team of the year.
Although the dominance of the record champions and local rivals Yomiuri Giants wore in the 1980s, it was not possible the Swallows to build on the success of 1978. They were four times last and never got into the top three. Only with manager Katsuya Nomura ( 1990-98 ) for longer -term success resulted: Four times the Swallows occupied the first place and won it three times (1993, 1995 and 1997) the championship in the Nihon Series. Outstanding players of those years were the first baseman Tom O'Malley and the pitcher Masato Yoshii and Atsuya Furuta.
Your last championship won by the Swallows 2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes against. In 2006 the name was preceded by the local name of Tōkyō. In the 2007 season, the Swallows were 84 defeats for the first time since 1986 Last of the Central League.
Since its inception in 1950, the Swallows achieved a winning percentage of .466 with 3,456 wins, 3,961 losses and 253 draws.
Stadium
Home of the Swallows is the Meiji Jingū Stadium since 1964. The stadium was built in 1926, making it the second oldest after the Koshien professional baseball stadium in Japan, which is still in use. It was rebuilt several times, most recently in 2007 / 08, and currently offers space for 36,000 spectators. By 1963, the Swallows played in Korakuen Stadium.