From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chunichi Dragons |
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| League |
Central League |
| Location |
Nagoya |
| Ballpark |
Nagoya Dome |
| Year Founded |
1936 |
| Nickname(s) |
Chunichi (中日), Dragons (ドラゴンズ), Ryu (竜, dragon) |
| League championships |
1954, 1974, 1982, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2006
2007(climax) |
| Japan Series championships |
1954, 2007 |
| Former name(s) |
Nagoya Club (1936-1943), Sangyo (1944), Chubu Nihon (1946), Chunichi Dragons (1947-1950), Nagoya Dragons (1951-1953) |
| Colors |
Blue and white |
| Logo Design |
"Dragons" written in blue with a "C" interlocking with the letter D |
| Uniforms |
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The Chunichi Dragons (中日ドラゴンズ, Chūnichi Doragonzu?) are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu ("Middle of Japan") region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and Konami Cup Asia Series 2007.
The Chunichi Dragons had won the Central League pennant seven times until 2006, but until 2007 their last Japan Series victory was in 1954, the longest such drought in NPB. In 1974, the team won the league title for the first time in 20 years, and this victory stopped the Yomiuri Giants from winning the league for their tenth consecutive year. Another league title came in 1999, and in that year, Dragons set a record by winning 11 consecutive games at the opening of the season. In the 2004 season they reached the Japan Series, but lost to the Seibu Lions, the Pacific League Champions.
2007 was the first year in Central League history where the league winner did not automatically advance to the Japan Series. The Dragons took advantage of the new playoff system, and after finishing second in the season standings, swept the Hanshin Tigers in a best of 3 series, then swept the Yomiuri Giants in a best of 5 series to advance to the Japan Series against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. In an exact reversal of the 2006 Japan Series, Hokkaido won game 1 of the series, but the Dragons won the next four straight games, including a combined perfect game from Daisuke Yamai and star closer Hitoki Iwase in the deciding Game 5, to become the 2007 Japan Series Champions.
[edit] Current Roster
[edit] Pitcher
- 0
Kongoh Hiroki (金剛 弘樹)
- 11 Kenshin Kawakami (川上 憲伸)
- 13 Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬 仁紀)
- 14 Kenta Asakura (朝倉 健太)
- 16 Mitsuru Satoh (佐藤 充)
- 17 Susumu Kawai (川井 進)
- 18 Atsushi Nakazato (中里 篤史)
- 19 Kazuki Yoshimi (吉見 一起)
- 20 Kenichi Nakata (中田 賢一)
- 21
Chen Weiyin (陳 偉殷)
- 23 Yoshihiro Suzuki (鈴木 義広)
- 26 Sohma Yamauchi (山内 壮馬)
- 29 Daisuke Yamai (山井 大介)
- 30 Yuya Ishii (石井 裕也)
- 33 Masahumi Hirai (平井 正史)
- 34 Masahiro Yamamoto (山本 昌広) (Playing as 山本昌, the oldest no-hitter recorded on September 16, 2006)
- 38 Shinsuke Saitoh (斉藤 信介)
- 41 Takuya Asao (浅尾 拓也)
- 42
Rafael Cruz (ラファエル・クルス)
- 43 Takashi Ogasawara (小笠原 孝)
- 47 Masanori Kikuchi (菊地 正法)
- 50 Ryouta Satoh (佐藤 亮太)
- 54 Kazuyuki Akasaka (赤坂 和幸)
- 58 Ken Higuchi (樋口 賢)
- 60 Takuya Takaesu (高江洲 拓哉)
- 61 Yuichi Hisamoto (久本 祐一)
- 64 Akinobu Shimizu (清水 昭信)
- 67 Akihumi Takahashi (高橋 聡文)
- 68 Syozi Nagamine (長峰 昌司)
- 69 Masato Kobayashi (小林 正人)
[edit] Catcher
- 00 Akihiro Maeda (前田 章宏)
- 22 Daisuke Tanaka (田中 大輔)
- 27 Motonobu Tanishige (谷繁 元信)
- 28 Kouhei Oda (小田 幸平)
- 37 Yoshio Koyama (小山 良男)
- 39 Masaumi Shimizu (清水 将海)
- 59 Masatoshi Ogawa (小川 将俊)
[edit] Infielder
[edit] Outfielder
- 4 Atsushi Fujii (藤井 淳志)
- 5 Kazuhiro Wada (和田 一浩)
- 7
Lee Byung-Kyu (李 炳圭)
- 8 Ryousuke Hirata (平田 良介)
- 9 Kazuki inoue (井上 一樹)
- 24 Hidenori (英智)
- 35 Yoshinori Ueda (上田 佳範)
- 51 Issei Nakamura (中村 一生)
- 56 Koji Nakamura (中村 公治)
- 62 junichi Fukuhara (普久原 淳一)
- 63 Takehiro Donoue (堂上 剛裕)
[edit] Manager
[edit] Coaches
[edit] Former famous stars
[edit] Retired numbers
[edit] Trivia
The Dragons were featured in the 1992 movie Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. Their logo at the time, which they used for many years, was "Dragons" written in script which resembled the logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The oldest pitcher in NPB to throw a no-hitter is Dragons veteran Masahiro Yamamoto. He performed the feat on September 16, 2006, at 41 years of age.
Daisuke Yamai (8 innings) and Hitoki Iwase (1 inning) combined for the first perfect game in Japan Series history on November 1, 2007. The 1-0 victory came in Game 5, which clinched the series for the Dragons.
The team is referenced in an episode of Heroes, where Hiro Nakamura tries to convince that he is from the future by correctly predicting a game in which "the Swallows will slay the Dragons".
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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Nippon Professional Baseball |
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| Seasons |
1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008
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Chunichi Dragons current roster |
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Chunichi Dragons |
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| Formerly the Nagoya Dragons • Based in Nagoya, Japan |
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| The Franchise |
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| Ballparks |
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| Culture |
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| Important Figures |
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| Retired Numbers |
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Japan Series
Championships (2) |
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Central League
Championships (8) |
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Tyrone Woods (T. ウッズ)
Leo Gomez(ゴメス)
Omar Linares(リナレス)
Matt Stairs
