FUKUOKA SOFTBANK HAWKS

The 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.

Contents

History

Nankai (1938 to mid-1944)

Kinki Nihon (mid-1944 to 1944)

Kinki Great Ring (1946 to mid-1947)

Nankai Hawks (mid-1947 to 1988

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1988 to 2004)

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2005 to current)

News

2003

2004

Players of Note

Current Manager

Current Stars

Former Players

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

Nankai Hawks

Retired numbers

Honored numbers

External link

History

Nankai (1938 to mid-1944)

Kinki Nihon (mid-1944 to 1944)

Kinki Great Ring (1946 to mid-1947)

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 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)

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2005 to current)

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

★

Current Stars

★ - P

★ - OF

★ - P

★ - IF

★ - SS

★ - 3B

★ - P

★ - 1B

★ (a.k.a. C.J. Nitkowski in the MLB) - P

★ - CF

★ - P

★ - RF

★ - P

★ - LF

★ - P

Former Players

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

★ - 3B (Currently with Washington Nationals MLB)

★ - 2B

★ - C (Currently with Seattle Mariners MLB)

★ - DH

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

★

★

★

★

★

★

★ (Currently with MLB Philadelphia Phillies)

★

★

★

★

★

Nankai Hawks

★

★

★

★

★

Retired numbers

Honored numbers

★

External link

★ Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks official web site