Japan NPB 03/29 09:00 - Softbank Hawks v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 03/30 04:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Softbank Hawks - View
Japan NPB 03/31 04:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Softbank Hawks - View
Japan NPB 04/02 09:00 - Seibu Lions v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/03 09:00 - Seibu Lions v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/04 04:00 - Seibu Lions v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/05 09:00 - Lotte Marines v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/06 05:00 - Lotte Marines v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/07 05:00 - Lotte Marines v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/09 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Rakuten Eagles - View
Japan NPB 04/10 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Rakuten Eagles - View
Japan NPB 04/11 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Rakuten Eagles - View
Japan NPB 04/12 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Nippon Ham Fighters - View
Japan NPB 04/13 05:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Nippon Ham Fighters - View
Japan NPB 04/14 05:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Nippon Ham Fighters - View
Japan NPB 04/16 09:00 - Rakuten Eagles v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/17 09:00 - Rakuten Eagles v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/18 09:00 - Rakuten Eagles v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/19 09:00 - Softbank Hawks v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/20 05:00 - Softbank Hawks v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/21 04:00 - Softbank Hawks v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/23 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Seibu Lions - View
Japan NPB 04/24 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Seibu Lions - View
Japan NPB 04/25 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Seibu Lions - View
Japan NPB 04/27 05:00 - Nippon Ham Fighters v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/28 04:00 - Nippon Ham Fighters v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/29 04:00 - Nippon Ham Fighters v Orix Buffaloes - View
Japan NPB 04/30 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Lotte Marines - View
Japan NPB 05/01 09:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Lotte Marines - View
Japan NPB 05/03 04:00 - Orix Buffaloes v Nippon Ham Fighters - View

Wikipedia - Orix Buffaloes

The Orix Buffaloes (オリックス・バファローズ, Orikkusu Bafarōzu) are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The team plays in the Pacific League and is under ownership by Orix, a leading diversified financial services company founded in Osaka.

The combined team began play in 2005. The Buffaloes split home games between Kyocera Dome Osaka, which was the home of the original Buffaloes franchise, and Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium, the former home of the BlueWave, when the Hanshin Tigers have to use Kyocera Dome. The Tigers' main home stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium, is used for the two biggest High School Tournaments in Japan, the Senbatsu in the month of March, coliding with the opening of the Season, and during the Japanese High School Baseball Championship in the month of August.

Through 2022, the club's all-time record is 5,543–5,297–410 (.511).

History

Hankyu/Orix (1936–2004)

Hankyu Braves

The franchise that eventually became the Orix Buffaloes was founded in 1936 under the ownership of a Japanese railway company Hanshin Kyuko Railway Company (阪神急行電鉄, Hanshin Kyuko Dentetsu, present: Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc.), as Osaka Hankyu Baseball Club (大阪阪急野球協会, Ōsaka hankyū yakyū kyōkai). Later nicknamed the Hankyu Braves, it was one of the first professional baseball teams in Japan, and the oldest surviving team in the Pacific League.

In the early 1950s, the franchise made a dedicated effort to attract foreign talent, particularly African-American veterans of Negro league baseball, including infielders John Britton and Larry Raines, and pitchers Jimmy Newberry and Rufus Gaines. These players were the first Americans other than Wally Yonamine to play Nippon Professional Baseball after World War II.

Starting in the mid-1960s, the Braves became one of the dominant teams not only in the Pacific League but in all of Japanese professional baseball. Between 1967 and 1972, the Hankyu Braves won the Pacific League pennant five times but lost the Japan Series each time against the Yomiuri Giants. Manager Yukio Nishimoto was known as "the great manager in tragedy" because of those losses. But the Hankyu Braves won Japan Series three times in a row from 1975, against the Tokyo Giants in 1976 and 1977, led by manager Toshiharu Ueda. At that time, many good players in Japanese baseball history played for the Hankyu Braves, including pitcher Hisashi Yamada and outfielder Yutaka Fukumoto.

In the 1980s, the team still was a strong contender in the Pacific League, but lost the PL pennant to the Seibu Lions every year except 1984; that year, the Braves fell to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the Japan Series in seven games.

On October 19, 1988, Hankyu Railway sold the franchise to the lease company Orient Lease (since 1989 known as Orix Group), in what was known as "the longest day of the Pacific League". The reason is that when the franchise sale occurred, the Kintetsu Buffaloes played the legendary "10.19" double-header for the Pacific League pennant, only to miss the pennant out because of the second game ending in a tie. For Kintetsu to win the pennant, they had to win both games in the doubleheader against the Lotte Orions. The sale was a surprise; at that time, it was much rarer for a Japanese professional baseball team to change owners, not to mention for a large company to sell one of its parts. In that case, Hankyu Railway was thought of as one of the big companies that would never need to do such a thing.

The sale was not without two assurances: the team name would remain "Braves", and the franchise would stay in Nishinomiya. During the first two years of new ownership, the team was known as the Orix Braves and played in Nishinomiya.

BlueWave

In 1991, the team moved to Kobe and became the Orix BlueWave. Orix put out a poll to decide the new name, and unsurprisingly, people voted Braves. It was said that Orix put out another poll and told fans "Braves" was not allowed. What made it worse was in that second poll, "Thunder" was the winning name, which fit the new color scheme (when Orix bought the team, they changed their colors from black and red to navy blue and gold), and because the team's batting lineup was named Blue Thunder (ブルーサンダー, Burūsandā). But, Orix went with "BlueWave". Longtime fans were shocked by these changes. One member of the Braves' cheering squad (応援団 ouendan) said that "the race was decided before the gun even went off". Another thing that did not make sense to fans was they were named BlueWave while playing in then-named Green Stadium (now Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium) in a city whose official color is green. However, since Nishinomiya and Kobe are close to one another, and the new home field of the team was better than the old one, most fans accepted the move, although with some nostalgia for the historic "Braves" name. The team was sometimes called Aonami or Seiha (青波) by fans and the baseball media, which means "blue wave" in Japanese.

Led by Ichiro Suzuki in 1995 and 1996, the Orix BlueWave won the Pacific League pennant. In 1996, they also won the Japan Series. In 2001, Suzuki moved to the Seattle Mariners and led the Mariners to a 116 win season, the most wins by an American League team.

Orix Buffaloes (2005 to present)

Following the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment, the BlueWave merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. The team struggled since its merger, only finishing in the top half (or A Class) of the Pacific league once from 2005 to 2013. In 2008, The Buffaloes finished second in the Pacific League, going 75–68–1 and finishing 2+12 games behind the Saitama Seibu Lions, but were swept by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters at home in the first stage of the Climax Series. After two seasons of finishing last in the Pacific League, they finished first in 2021, going 70–55–18. They swept the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series to make their first Japan Series appearance since 1996. Ultimately, they were defeated by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in six games. In 2022, despite a rough start to the season, the Buffaloes finished 1st after a 5–2 win over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on the final day of the Pacific League regular season, combined with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks losing to the Marines, 5–2, at the same time the game was happening, and also because they had 5 more wins against the Hawks during the regular season, 15–10. The Buffaloes would defeat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Final Stage of the 2022 Pacific League Climax Series, 4 games to 1, which set up a rematch of the previous year's Japan Series, but this time the Buffaloes would exact revenge on the Swallows, defeating them 4 games to 2. In 2023, they swept the Chiba Lotte Marines in the final stage of the Climax Series to make their third Japan Series appearance. But, the Buffaloes were defeated by the Hanshin Tigers in seven games.

The Orix Buffaloes are a professional baseball team based in Osaka, Japan. They are members of the Pacific League and have a rich history dating back to their founding in 1936. The team has won the Japan Series championship five times, most recently in 1996.

The Buffaloes are known for their strong pitching and solid defense, with a roster that includes both experienced veterans and promising young players. Their home stadium is the Kyocera Dome Osaka, which has a seating capacity of over 36,000 fans.

The team's mascot is a blue and white buffalo named Buffalo Bull, who can often be seen entertaining fans during games. The Buffaloes also have a loyal fan base, known as the "Buffalo Family," who are known for their passionate support of the team.

Overall, the Orix Buffaloes are a respected and competitive team in the Japanese baseball league, with a strong tradition of excellence and a bright future ahead.