history september

September

1996: Plans are announced to put a dome on Seibu Stadium.

1991: Yakult, Lotte and Nankai pitcher Yoshiaki Toyama dies at age 44.

1988: Hanshin and Tokyo Orions outfielder Teruo Namiki dies at age 49.

1982: Chunichi and Softbank infielder Tadaatsu Nakazawa is born.

1980: Seibu outfielder Shogo Akada is born.

1979: Yakult pitcher Shinji Mikami is born.

1978: Yakult and Lotte pitcher Takahiro Yamazaki is born.

1976: Seibu pitcher Yoshihiro Doi is born.

1970: Yomiuri pitcher Ryuji Kimura is born.

1966: Hankyu, Tokyu and Nishi Nihon pitcher Kotaro Mori dies at age 51.

1964: Daiei pitcher David West is born.

1962: Orix and Yokohama infielder Tomiji Iizuka is born.

1957: Daiei and Chunichi pitcher Kazuhiro Yamauchi is born.

1948: Chunichi pitcher Hiroshi Toyama is born.

1946: Chunichi and Lotte pitcher Michiro Mizutani is born.

1946: Hanshin pitcher Ikuo Sugimoto is born.

1946: Hankyu pitcher Seigo Sasaki is born.

1937: Toei infielder Takeharu Goto is born.

1937: Osaka Tigers outfielder Kiminaga Kawahara is born.

1937: Daiei Stars infielder Akiho Kikuchi is born.

1937: Chunichi outfielder Rikio Kato is born.

1934: Yomiuri pitcher Kozo Yamada is born.

1933: Nankai pitcher Hiroyuki Imai is born.

1931: Chunichi pitcher Kikuo Tokunaga is born.

1930: Taiyo pitcher Dean Stone is born.

1925: Takahashi outfielder Soichi Arakawa is born.

1921: Chunichi and Goldstar infielder Michio Nishizawa is born.

1919: Hanshin outfielder Kunigoro Mori is born.

1912: Tokyo Giants pitcher Kenichi Aoshiba is born.

1912: Hankyu outfielder Masao Nishimura is born.

1910: Dai Tokyo, Lion and Shochiku outfielder Noriichi Mizutani is born.

2006: It is the first time in Pacific League history that three teams were within 1.5 games of each other at the top of the heap and each was at least 20 games over .500.

1997: Yakult pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii throws a no hitter against Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium, the 65th man in history to register a no no.

1983: Chunichi pitcher Ryota Sato is born.

1970: Seibu infielder Shinji Ando is born.

1969: Kintetsu pitcher Hiroshi Takamura is born.

1968: Yomiuri outfielder Koichi Ogata is born.

1965: Hanshin infielder Soichi Yokotani is born.

1962: Hanshin infielder Yutaka Wada is born.

1962: Yakult infielder John Paredes is born.

1960: Yakult infielder Rex Hudler is born.

1953: Nankai outfielder Danny Goodwin is born.

1951: Chunichi infielder Takao Kanto is born.

1949: Kintetsu infielder Noboru Toshin is born.

1943: Toei infielder Sachihiko Korehisa is born.

1941: Nishitetsu outfielder Seiji Nakamine is born.

1938: Nankai and Taiheiyo pitcher Kiyohiro Miura is born.

1937: Hiroshima and Kintetsu infielder Junro Anan is born.

1936: Taiyo pitcher Mitsuo Tagashira is born.

1930: Nishitetsu pitcher Marion O'Neal is born.

1919: Daiei Stars and Shochiku outfielder Shinya Tsunashima is born.

1917: Dai Tokyo outfielder Jushiro Abe is born.

1911: Hankyu infielder Sukeiichi Takeda is born.

2008: Former Chunichi and Taiyo Whales infielder Riichi Kodama dies at age 89 of prostate cancer.

2005: In a game between Hiroshima and Yomiuri, each side gets at least one hit in every inning, the first time that had occurred in 20 years and just the fifth time overall. There were a total of 35 knocks in the contest.

2005: Nippon Ham released pitcher Brandon Knight and infielder Erick Almonte.

2005: Plate umpire Uemoto loses track of the count and Yokohama first baseman Takahiro Saeki had to keep pn batting depite ball four having already been registered against a pitcher for Hanshin in the third inning. None of the other umpires were paying attention, either, and, three days later, the entire crew would be sternly reprimanded the Central League commissioner.

2000: Hanshin outfielder Tony Tarrasco homers against Yokohama at Koshien Stadium for the Tigers 6,000th homer in the history of their ballclub.

1980: Kokutetsu outfielder Soichi Fujita dies at age 66.

1980: Hanshin pitcher Hirotaka Egusa is born.

1969: Lotte pitcher Masayuki Nakayama is born.

1969: Yomiuri catcher Naoki Sugiyama is born.

1965: Yomiuri pitcher Kazuhito Mizuno is born.

1962: Hiroshima and Daiei outfielder Soichiro Sakakibara is born.

1957: Taiyo infielder Hiroyuki Hirakawa is born.

1955: Lotte and Taiyo pitcher Yoshio Tanaka is born.

1954: Nippon Ham and Daiei outfielder Makoto Shimada is born.

1950: Lotte and Hiroshima outfielder Fukuo Toiya is born.

1945: Nishitetsu, Kintetsu and Hanshin pitcher Toshihiko Sei is born.

1943: Chunichi pitcher Nobuyuki Kadooka is born.

1942: Toei, Yakult, Kintetsu and Taiyo outfielder Hideaki Miyahara is born.

1941: Hanshin pitcher Tetsuo Kaneko is born.

1937: Kokutetsu, Yomiuri and Daimai outfielder Shosuke Doi is born.

1935: Central League umpire Eiji Chiba is born.

1924: Mainichi, Kintetsu and Nankai pitcher Yoshimi Ebara is born.

1922: Kintetsu infielder Masaichi Kato is born.

1912: Eagles and Yamato outfielder Kazutaka Terauchi is born.

2005: Seibu first baseman Alex Cabrera was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with the plate umpire during a game with Softbank. It was his second premature exit of the year and he received a 100,000 yen fine and a written reprimand.

1966: Daiei, Hanshin and Kintetsu pitcher Toyohiko Yoshida is born.

1966: Kintetsu and Yakult pitcher Kiminobu Kinoshita is born.

1960: Yomiuri and Hanshin outfielder Masahiro Ishii is born.

1946: Yakult infielder Joji Sekiguchi is born.

1941: Nankai outfielder Ken Washington is born.

1938: Nankai and Nishitetsu outfielder Sumio Watarai is born.

1936: Kintetsu and Hankyu outfielder Masaharu Sekimori is born.

1935: Hiroshima pitcher Katsumi Moriuchi is born.

1933: Nankai outfielder Nobushige Morishita is born.

1923: Hankyu, Hishi Nihon and Yomiuri infielder Saburo Hirai is born.

5

2009: Former Yomiuri outfielder Tsuneo Takabayashi dies of pneumonia at age 71.

2006: Rakuten outfielder Koichi Sekikawa lays down four sacrifice bunts in a game against Orix to tie a pro yakyu record held by six others.

1987: Former Kintetsu manager Takeo Akuta dies at age 83.

1978: Lotte outfielder Matt Watson is born.

1960: Yakult pitcher Tim Birtsas is born.

1951: Kokutetsu lefty Masaichi Kaneda throws a no hitter against Osaka at Osaka Stadium, the second man in Central League history to do so.

1946: Hanshin and Crown Lighter infielder Teruo Suzuki is born.

1942: Lotte and Hiroshima outfielder Reiji Iishi is born.

1940: Nishitetsu pitcher Fujio Danno is born.

1938: Chunichi pitcher Shunichi Sakaguchi is born.

1934: Kokutetsu outfielder Kazuo Katsuramoto is born.

1920: Nishitetsu and Hankyu infielder Kuniyoshi Niidome is born.

2005: Hanshin pitcher Masashi Sajikihara whiffs all three hitters he saw in an inning against Chunichi on just nine pitches, becoming only the 13th man ever to do that.

2005: Former Yomiuri and Chunichi pitcher Nobuaki Miyashita dies at age 81 of respiratory problems.

2005: It is revealed that Hiroshima manager Koji Yamamoto will resign at the end of the season.

1989: Lotte infielder Yoshinori Sonoda dies at age 41.

1985: Hanshin infielder Katsuhiko Saka is born.

1982: Yokohama pitcher Shinya Goto is born.

1982: Hanshin outfielder Masato Akamatsu is born.

1979: Yokohama outfielder Mitsuru Tanaka is born.

1978: Hiroshima pitcher Michito Miyazaki is born.

1976: Nippon Ham pitcher Michael Nakamura is born.

1948: Nishitetsu pitcher Isamu Itoh is born.

1944: Lotte infielder Masao Yamada is born.

1934: Hankyu outfielder Yoshio Kureyama is born.

1916: Dai Tokyo, Eagles and Nagoya Golden Dolphins infielder Susumu Urushibara is born.

2006: In perhaps the most bizarre occurrence in NPB history, Hiroshima catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara's glove is ticked by Yokohama first baseman Takahiro Saeki's bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth at Shimonoseki for a walkoff catcher's interference. This is the first time ever in Japanese pro history this has taken place. The final was 6-5, backup second baseman Kazuya Fujita trotting in with the winning run. In addition, Carp shortstop Eishin Soyogi cracks his 113th hit to set a new team rookie record.

2006: Lefthander Masanori Ishikawa wins his tenth game of the year in a faceoff with Chunichi, making it the first time in Swallows history that a pitcher has done that in each of his first five seasons with the club and the first man since Yukihiro Nishizaki of Nippon Ham in 1991.

2005: Hanshin bench coach Katsuo Hirata gets the gate after objecting to the plate umpire's ball and strike calls. He was subsequently suspended for one game and given a written reprimand by the league.

1979: Hiroshima catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara is born.

1965: Hiroshima and Lotte pitcher Yoshihisa Kondo is born.

1960: Hiroshima infielder Wade Rowdon is born.

1952: Shochiku beats the Taiyo Whales in the 20th inning 2-1 at Nishi Kyogoku Stadium, a Central League record for longest game by number of innings.

1949: Yomiuri and Crown Lighter pitcher Nobuhiro Tamai is born.

1947: Hanshin infielder Masaaki Suenaga is born.

1941: Tokyo Orions infielder Yukio Saito is born.

1940: Hiroshima catcher Fumio Doi is born.

1940: Nishitetsu infielder Hideyuki Kikuchi is born.

1934: Yomiuri and Hiroshima pitcher Takao Aoki is born.

1922: Kokutetsu infielder Kichiji Tosauchi is born.

1999: Milwaukee pitcher Hideo Nomo becomes the third fastest all time in MLB to 1000 strikeouts.

1984: Kintetsu and Orix pitcher Kenta Abe is born.

1983: Rakuten infielder Wataru Nishimura is born.

1973: Daiei, Chunichi and Kintetsu infielder Kei Ichihara is born to former Nankai infielder Minoru Ichihara.

1973: Kintetsu pitcher Bob Wolcott is born.

1973: Daiei, Chunichi and Kintetsu infielder Kei Ichihara is born.

1968: Chunichi pitcher Futoshi Yoshida is born.

1968: Chunichi pitcher Shinichi Kondo is born.

1967: Seibu, Hanshin and Lotte pitcher Hisanori Yokota is born.

1967: Kintetsu pitcher Masami Yamada is born.

1963: Orix and Hiroshima catcher Shinji Watanabe is born.

1962: Seibu, Hiroshima and Daiei pitcher Ikuo Takayama is born.

1961: Hanshin pitcher Hiroyuki Hamaoka is born.

1950: Nankai and Hanshin pitcher Tsutomu Hasegawa is born.

1950: Taiyo outfielder Koji Kobayashi is born.

1944: Nishitetsu outfielder Shoichi Shimosusaki is born.

1943: Hankyu outfielder Tadayoshi Okuma is born.

1943: Lotte catcher Yasuo Otsuka is born.

1937: Kokutetsu and Tokyo Orions outfielder Hidero Konishi is born.

1936: Nishitetsu catcher Naoji Urata is born.

1935: Hankyu outfielder Yoshihiko Hayami is born.

1935: Kokutetsu outfielder Satoyuki Azuma is born.

1935: Toei infielder Yasuo Imai is born.

1934: Daiei Stars and Taiyo infielder Masaaki Ninomiya is born.

1927: Kokutetsu pitcher Ryoichi Samata is born.

1918: Kokutetsu catcher Inoue is born.

1912: Eagles pitcher Tadashi Kameda is born.

2006: Nippon Ham DH Fernando Seguignol homers from both sides of the plate against Orix, the sixth time in his Japanese career that he had pulled that off, tying an NPB record.

2006: Chunichi pitcher Masahiro Yamamoto strikes out his 2000th man, the 18th in history to that mark. He is also the first Dragon in history to do it and at 41 years old he was the oldest to reach it.

2005: Yomiuri reliever Takashi Kashiwada retires to become a scout with the club.

1997: Yokohama infielder Norihiro Komada mashes the 70,000th homer in Japanese baseball history.

1995: Yakult pitcher Terry Bross no hits Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome, becoming the 62nd man to pull a no no off.

1984: Chunichi pitcher Masanori Kikuchi is born.

1981: Yakult pitcher Ryo Kawashima is born.

1975: Yakult pitcher Takahiko Hagiwara is born.

1975: Nippon Ham pitcher Akio Shimizu is born.

1973: Yakult pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii is born.

1973: Daiei pitcher Katsunori Okamoto is born.

1971: Hiroshima pitcher Robinson Checo is born.

1969: Kintetsu, Hiroshima and Yakult infielder Hiroki Nobayashi is born.

1967: Lotte, Chunichi and Hanshin infielder Kazutoshi Higuchi is born.

1967: Chunichi infielder Tetsuya Komori is born.

1960: Kintetsu infielder Alvin Davis is born.

1959: Yakult pitcher Kenji Miyamoto is born.

1956: Nankai pitcher Yukihiro Murakami is born.

1951: Nippon Ham outfielder Kazuhiko Okaji is born.

1940: Taiyo infielder John Self is born.

1938: Chunichi infielder John Ward is born.

1935: Chunichi infielder Shigeo Ogawa is born.

1924: Goldstar and Daiei infielder Kazue Watanabe is born.

1924: Taiyo Robins and Kokutetsu outfielder Hideo Ogishima is born.

1922: Taiyo infielder Masanori Mori is born.

1917: Hanshin infielder Torao Hiruki is born.

1917: Osaka Tigers pitcher Tsuneo Tsuri is born.

1914: Nagoya Golden Dolphins, Tokyo Senators, Tsubasa, Eagles and Yamato pitcher Yutaka Kaneko is born.

2005: Hanshin wipes Hiroshima out 21-2 at Koshien Stadium to set a new Tigers team record for runs scored. However, Carp hurler Choji Mori beaned Hanshin backstop Akihiro Yano and was ejected.

2001: Kintetsu outfielder Tuffy Rhodes has 127 runs scored, a new Pacific League record.

2000: Yokohama pitcher Daisuke Miura reaches 1000 career innings.

2000: Nippon Ham has four players with at least 80 RBIs, a new Pacific League record.

1999: In a game between Hanshin and Yomiuri, a deep fly ball to leftcenter goes off of a fan's hand in the stands and it is ruled in play.

1998: Hanshin's minor league team wins the Western League title.

1998: Kintetsu pitcher Koki Morita has surgery to remove a brain tumor.

1997: Orix manager Akira Ogi is ejected for saying the magic word to an umpire. After he was reprimanded by the league, Ogi continued his tirade against the umpires and they issued a report to the league office about it.

1997: Daiei pitcher Kazuhiro Takeda reaches 1000 career innings.

1997: Seibu pitcher Takehiro Ishii reaches 1000 career innings.

1997: Chunichi releases pitcher Jimmy Williams.

1996: Nippon Ham anounces that manager Toshiharu Ueda is being put on leave.

1995: In a game between Hiroshima and Chunichi, both sides slug a grand slam.

1994: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki ties the Pacific League hits record with 187.

1994: Yomiuri absorbs a 19-5 loss at the hands of Hiroshima, the most runs ever given up by the Giants.

1994: Yokohama's record run of 54 straight games without its pitching staff throwing a complete game ends.

1993: Yakult pitcher Tsutomu Yamada fans 16 against Hiroshima to tie a then Central League record.

1992: Hiroshima releases pitchers Tatsumi Une, Koichi Ashizawa, Susumu Yamaguchi and Naoyuki Tashiro, infielder Yasuhiro Morishige and outfielder Tetsuya Katahira.

1991: Hiroshima surges to the top of the Central League heap after overcoming a 7.5 game deficit they were at on July 13th.

1990: Hankyu outfielder Hiromitsu Kadota slugs a sayonara homer for the second game in a row.

1990: Daiei infielder Shuzo Arita retires.

1989: Taiyo turns a triple play.

1988: Nagoya Golden Dolphins, Asahi and Tiyo infielder Yoshio Gomi dies at age 70.

1987: Hankyu outfielder Kazuhiko Ishimine hammers a homer for the sixth game in a row.

1985: Hanshin amasses 10 doubles in a game, a new Central League record.

1983: Yomiuri infielder Tatsunori Hara drives in six runs to make it 84 on the season, good enough for the league RBI lead.

1983: Yomiuri outfielder Tadashi Matsumoto steals his 70th base of the season to tie a team record.

1978: Yomiuri outfielder Masahiro Yanagida slugs the 4000th homer in team history off of Hiroshima hurler Akio Matsubara at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium.

1976: Lotte infielder Takuto Nobuhara is born.

1975: The riot police are called when a brawl between Hiroshima and Chunichi gets way out of hand over a tag play at the plate.

1971: Nankai catcher Katsuya Nomura sets a new Japan Record with 4018 total bases for his career.

1961: Yomiuri and Orix outfielder Tadahiro Sakaemura isborn.

1958: Lotte and Hiroshima outfielder Hideaki Takazawa is born.

1953: Hankyu and Nippon Ham catcher Hiroaki Nakanishi is born.

1947: Hanshin pitcher Mikio Ishitoko is born.

1947: Yakult, Nippon Ham and Hiroshima outfielder Junzo Uchida is born.

1944: Yomiuri pitcher Norio Yoshimura is born.

1943: Sankei pitcher Toshimitsu Daigo is born.

1940: Yakult infielder Bob Chance is born.

1931: Chunichi infielder Motoji Sasaki is born.

2001: Seibu's minor league team wins the Eastern League title.

2000: Orix releases infielder Troy Neel.

2000: Yomiuri pitcher Katsuyoshi Shiotsuki dies at age 48.

1999: Chunichi outfielder Takeshi Yamasaki is ejected from a game.

1999: Yokohama infielder Bobby Rose ties a record for foreigners with his 134th RBI.

1999: The Asian zone tournament to qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games opens with Japan hammering the Phillipines 10-0.

1998: Hiroshima pitcher Shinji Ko retires.

1997: Lotte infielder Makoto Kosaka sets a new rookie record with his 46th steal of the season.

1997: Hiroshima outfielder Koichi Ogata comes up in the bottom of the ninth with the Carp three runs down and slugs a sayonara grand slam.

1996: Hiroshima infielder Kojiro Machida sets a new record by reaching base in nine straight pinch hit appearances.

1995: Kintetsu coach Akio Nakao is reprimanded and fined 30,000 yen for getting tossed by theumpire the night before.

1994: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki rips four doubles in a game to tie a record. He is also at 191 hits on the year.

1993: Seibu first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara makes it eight straight years since coming right out of high school with at least 20 homers.

1992: Hanshin and Yakult's game ends at 12:26 a.m. after a six hour and 26 minute battle in a 15 inning 3-3 tie, the longest game ever by time in Japanese baseball history.

1990: Hanshin pitcher Takashi Inomata cracks his first hit in his last 80 plate appearances.

1990: Lotte's pitching staff sets a new record with 53 wild pitches.

1990: Nagoya Stadium catches fire.

1989: Yomiuri's minor league club wins the Eastern League title.

1988: Hanshin outfielder Yasushi Tao belts his third sayonara homer of the year.

1988: The Pacific League sets a new attendance record.

1988: Nankai infielder Tony Bernazard sets a new record for foreign players with 26.

1987: Yakult infielder Fujio Sumi plays in his 1000th game.

1987: Yakult draws two million for the first time in its history.

1986: Hanshin pitcher Yutaka Tamaki is born.

1986: Seibu homers for the 24th game in a row to tie a Japan record.

1984: Chunichi and Nishitetsu catcher Yasuhiko Kawai dies at age 50.

1983: Nankai outfielder Hiromitsu Kadota slugs his fourth grand slam of the year, a new Pacific League record.

1974: Hanshin infielder Makoto Imaoka is born.

1973: Hiroshima and Orix pitcher Tom Davey is born.

1970: Lotte infielder Naoki Matsumoto is born.

1968: Lotte, Hanshin and Yakult pitcher Toshihide Narimoto is born.

1967: Taiyo pitcher Hideaki Aikawa is born.

1958: Hankyu pitcher Brad "The Animal" Lesley is born.

1956: Hankyu, Hanshin and Yomiuri pitcher Koki Suzuki is born.

1954: Orix pitcher Yoshinori Sato is born.

1953: Nishitetsu Lions shortstop Yasumitsu Toyoda becomes the first ever rookie fresh out of high school since the beginning of the two league system to hit a grand slam when he connected off of Shigeharu Kuwana of Tokyu at Heiwadai Stadium.

1944: Nankai and Hanshin infielder Yukiyasu Nakamura is born.

1940: Toei pitcher Yukio Ozaki is born.

1939: Taiyo outfielder Hakaru Narasaki is born.

1937: Korakuen Stadium opens.

1924: Mainichi infielder Teruo Nomura is born.

2006: Softbank pitcher Nagisa Arakaki wins his 13th of the year against Orix. That gives the Hawks three men who have attained that figure on the season, the first time that has occured for them since 1966.

2001: Seibu first baseman Alex Cabrera and third baseman Scott McClain each go yard in the same game to set a new Pacific League record for the same two men homering in one game wtih 15.

2001: Yakult ties a Central League mark with six sac bunts in a game.

2001: After a game with Yomiuri, Yokohama outfielder Hitoshi Nakane goes over to the Giants bench and gets into a verbal confrontation with the Giants players.

2001: Japanese high school baseball powerhouse Sendai Ikuei High is discovered to have had a violent incident within the team in August and the head coach and his boss are asked to resign by the Japan High School Baseball Federation.

2000: A big typhoon causes enough flooding to interrupt train service, resulting in Yomiuri Giants players having to spend the night in a train car. That forced the cancellation of their game with Hanshin. Meanwhile, there was some flooding around Nagoya Done, too, so a sceduled match between Hiroshima and Chunichi was postponed, too.

2000: Seibu shortstop Kazuo Matsui hoemrs from both sides of the plate.

2000: Orix reliever Masao Kida is diabnosed with a stress fracture in the pinky finger of his left hand and will be out a month.

2000: It is revealed that Chunichi pitcher Kazuhiro Takeda had surgery on a knee to remove some cartilage on the 7th.

2000: Kintetsu catcher Akihito Fujii has surgery on his right knee to repair a ligament.

1999: Yokohama infielder Bobby Rose sets a new RBI record for foreign players with 135.

1999: Yomiuri pitcher Masumi Kuwata is tossed for throwing a pitch near or at the batter's head.

1999: yakult pitcher Atsunori Itoh is diagnosed with a dislocated right finger.

1997: Toei pitcher Toru Terashima dies at age 60.

1996: Kintetsu infielder Norihiro Nakamura goes on the shelf with a fracture.

1995: Hiroshima pitcher Masahito Yamane is diagnosed with a right shoulder injury.

1994: Yokohama releases pitcher Darryl Scott.

1993: Nishi Nihon, Nishitetsu and Takahashi catcher Isao Kyuki dies at age 67.

1992: Yakult pitcher Ryuji Nishimura is victimized by the fourth grand slam off of him that season, a new record.

1990: Seibu pitchers Kazuo Yamane and Yuji Kurohara retire.

1989: The Western League schedule ends.

1988: Yomiuri's minor league team wins its second straight minro league championship.

1988: Hanshin pitcher Yoshihiro Nakata has surgery to remove some ikneee cartilage.

1988: Hiroshima signs outfielder Dave Meyer and infielder Wade Rowdon. Meyer never made it to Japan.

1985: Hiroshima infielder Sachio Kinugasa makes it 12 years in a row with at least 20 homers.

1983: Yomiuri pitcher Satoshi Fukuda is born.

1982: Chunichi pitcher Atsushi Nakazato is born.

1979: Chunichi and Rakuten pitcher Tsuyoshi Kawagishi is born.

1974: Seibu pitcher Shinji Mori is born.

1973: Nankai catcher Katsuya Nomura attains 4500 total bases for his career, a new record.

1972: Daiei pitcher Brady Raggio is born.

1972: Orix catcher Eiji Yamamoto is born.

1968: Yomiuri, Orix and Yakult pitcher Masao Kida is born.

1950: Nippon Ham and Hanshin pitcher Isamu Nakahara is born.

1950: Osaka Stadium, the new home of the Nankai Hawks, opens.

1948: Lotte and Nippon Ham infielder Tadayoshi Iwasaki is born.

1945: Chunichi outfielder Koji Sasaki is born.

1943: Kintetsu infielder Katsuhiko Yajima is born.

1942: The Eagles change their name to Yamato due to an ownership change.

1940: The Japanese pro league agrees to cooperate in the war effort. They will ban the use of english words and tie games will be eliminated.

1940: Hankyu outfielder Yuji Otsuka is born.

1937: Lion and the Nagoya Golden Dolphins combine for an astonishing 26 BB/HBP, still the all time record.

1932: Hankyu catcher Yutaka Okada is born.

1925: Hankyu and Asahi outfielder Yasushi Niki is born.

1923: Kintetsu pitcher Tsutomu Hattori is born.

2000: Daiei pitcher Kenichi Wakatabe reaches 1000 career innings.

2000: Lotte pitcher Tomohiro Kuroki reaches 1000 career innings.

2000: Nippon Ham outfielder Kazuteru Shimada is diagnosed with injuries to his eighth and ninth ribs and is expected to be out three weeks.

1999: Japan whips Taiwan 9-0 to qualify for the Sydney Olympics.

1998: Hiroshima outfielder Tomonori Maeda has his 23rd game of three or more hits on the season, a new Central League record.

1998: Chunichi pithcer Shigeki Noguchi ties a Central League record with three wild pitches in a game.

1997: Seibu reliever Kiyoshi Toyoda experiences elbow pain while pitching in a game and has to come out. It is discovered that he has bone chips and a weeks rest is recommended.

1996: Hanshin manager Taira Fujita is fired and coach Takeshi Shibata is made interim skipper.

1995: Hiroshima pitcher Yutaka Ono throws a shutout at age 40, the first time ever any 40 year old had done that in Central League history.

1992: Yomiuri infielder Masahiro Kawai connects for his second inside the park homer of the season.

1991: Hiroshima's minor league team wins the Western League title.

1990: Hiroshima decides it will release infielder Wade Rowdon.

1990: Nippon Ham has five pitchers with at least ten wins.

1989: There are 22 extra base hits ina game between Daiei and Hankyu, a new record.

1988: Chunichi pitcher Genji Kaku gets his 31st save, a new Central League record.

1988: Seibu pitcher Fumikazu Kimura is born.

1987: Seibu outfielder Koji Akiyama racks up a 30-30 season.

1987: 48,000 folks file into Nishinomiya Stadium, the most in Hankyu team history.

1986: Seibu sets a new record with 25 straight games with at least one homer.

1985: Hiroshima manager Takeshi Koba decides he will resign at the end of the season.

1985: NPB Commissioner Hiromi Kawashima refuses a request to use the DH in the Japan Series.

1985: Nankai's minr league squad takes the Western Leaue title.

1981: Yakult infielder Katsuo Osugi scores his 1000th career run.

1981: Nippon Ham pitcher Shigekuni Mashiba wins his 14th straight from Opening Day, a new record.

1980: Hankyu outfielder Yutaka Fukumoto steals his 800th base.

1980: Seibu pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is born.

1977: Chunichi pitcher Masahiro Araki is born.

1976: Orix pitcher Masanobu Okubo is born.

1972: Yomiuri outfielder Isao Shinbata reaches 400 career steals.

1971: Lotte outfielder Brent Brede is born.

1969: Yomiuri and Daiei outfielder Hiroyasu Itoh is born.

1959: Lotte infielder Kenichi Sato is born.

1959: Lotte catcher Chikara Tanaka is born.

1953: Osaka whips Kokutetsu 7-0 at Koshien Stadium for the Tigers 1,000 win in its history.

1950: Nippon Ham and Yakult infielder Kenichi Oyamada is born.

1942: Hiroshima and Nanki outfielder Takashi Teraoka is born.

1937: Taiyo infielder Masamoto Katsuura is born.

1932: Kokutetsu infielder Hideo Okubo is born.

1924: Mainichi, Takahashi and Daiei Stars outfielder Kazuhiro Kuroda is born.

1904: Yomiuri infielder Fujio Nagasawa is born.

2005: It comes to light that Hiroshima infielder Kenjiro Nomura will retire at the end of the season.

1999: In a doubleheader against Kansas City, Anaheim reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa gets a win and a save.

1999: Yomiuri pitcher Koji Uehara wins his 14th game in a row.

1999: Hiroshima infielder Eddy Diaz homered, but passed the runner ahead of him and was out, and it was then scored only as a single.

1998: Seattle pitcher Makoto Suzuki gets his first major league win.

1997: Daiei pitcher Katsunori Okamoto gets his 21st save point, tying a Pacific League rookie record.

1997: Seiibu outfielder Tetsuya Kakiuchi goes to the U.S. to have his left knee operated on.

1997: Nippon Ham's farm team wins the Eastren League title.

1994: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki singles to left in the thrid inning of a game against Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome off of Masashi Arikura for his 192nd hit, setting a new Japan single season record.

1994: Chunichi outfielder Yasuaki Taiho victimizes Hiroshima again with his 17th clout of the season against them, tying a Japan record for most homers gainst one team in a campaign.

1993: Seattle signs pitcher Makoto Suzuki to a minor league contract.

1992: Umpire Mitsukiyo Taira is fined 30,000 yen and reprimanded for calling what should have been a sayonara homer a ground rule double.

1992: Taiyo infielder Kenji Horie will be out three months with a fracture.

1989: Hanshin pitcher Osamu Nishimura dies at age 57.

1988: Hanshin infielder Masayuki Kakefu announces he will retire.

1988: Yakult outfielder Tsutomu Wakamatsu plays in his 2000th game.

1988: Plans to sell controlling interest in the Nankai Hawks to the Daiei supermarket chain are formally announced.

1977: Yakult pitcher Hirotoshi Ishii is born.

1977: Yakult slams five homers in an inning against Taiyo at Kawasaki Stadium to establish a new Central League record and tie the pro yakyu mark.

1976: Yakult infielder Hiroki Hongo is born.

1970: Lotte pitcher Shoji Yashima is born.

1968: Hiroshima pitcher Yoshiro Sotokoba throws a perfect game against Taiyo in a 16 strikeout 2-0 triumph at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium.

1967: Orix pitcher Hiroshi Motohigashi is born.

1965: Orix infielder Troy Neel is born.

1964: Kintetsu outfielder Nobuhiko Kanazawa is born.

1962: Yokohama and Yomiuri infielder Norihiro Komada is born.

1961: Taiyo pitcher Hirofumi Sekine is born.

1960: Hanshin pitcher Tomoaki Hamada is born.

1958: Hankyu pitcher Takao Kajimoto throws a one hitter against Toei.

1956: Hiroshima outfielder Leslie Filkins is born.

1950: Hanshin and Lotte outfielder Masayoshi Moriyama is born.

1949: The Kinki Nihon Railway Company submits a request to have its team admitted to the new Japanese pro league.

1948: Nishitetsu infielder Yasuhiro Aratake is born.

1946: Lotte infielder Akira Furukawa is born.

1934: Yomiuri outfielder Akira Kunimatsu is born.

1929: Nishitetsu infielder Billy Wyatt is born.

1924: Hankyu, Taiyo and Toei pitcher Rentaro Imanishi is born.

2005: It is leaked that Tatsunori Hara will takeover Yomiuri as its manager for the following season.

2005: Rakuten releases pitchers Hiroshi Kobayashi, Tetsuro Kawajiri, Makoto Kito, Hisashi Ogura and Hideo Koike. Ogura would later be re-signed.

2003: Hanshin cinches the Central League pennant with a win against Hiroshima at Koshien Stadium with a team record 81st victory. They also go over three million in attendance.

2002: Hanshin's affiliate wins the Western League title for the second year in a row and the 11th time overall.

2001: Nippon Ham infielder Michihiro Ogasawara racks up 180 hits for the second season in a row.

2000: Second base umpire Koichi Tamba makes an out call, but realizing that he was out of position to get a good look at the play, he calls for a conference with his fellow arbiters and the judgement is changed to a safe call.

2000: The Western League schedule ends with Chunichi's farm club winning the top spot.

1999: Yomiuri rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi is diagnosed with a broken shoulder and will miss six weeks.

1998: Yakult pitcher Mark Acre returns to the states. He would subsequently be released.

1997: Lotte pitcher Toshihide Narimoto travels to the U.S. to have his shoulder and elbow looked at arthroscopically.

1997: Yakult pitcher Kenjiro Kawasaki hurts his right leg and leaves the game.

1995: Yakult's magic number to clinch is ten.

1995: Nippon Ham manager Toshiharu Ueda ties for seventh on the all time wins list with his 1066th.

1994: Hiroshima pitcher Manabu Kitabeppu says he will retire at the end of the season.

1994: Nippon Ham manager Keiji Ozawa decides that he will resign at the end of the schedule.

1993: Yomiuri outfielder Hideki Matsui ties a team record for a rookie fresh out of high school with his 7th homer.

1992: Chunichi's minor league team wins the Western League title.

1990: Chunichi outfielder Terufumi Kitamura plays in his 1000th career game.

1990: Yomiuri outfielder Kaoru Nimura decides to retire to take over the family farm in place of his injured father.

1984: Hiroshima outfielder Kiyoyuki Nagashima smacks a come from behind three run sayonara homer.

1984: Seibu pitcher Osamu Higashio tosses a complete game shutout for his 200th career win.

1983: Yomiuri wins its second game in a row in the bottom of the final inning and opens a 5.5 game lead on second place Hiroshima.

1983: Hiroshima third baseman Sachio Kinugasa socks his 400th lifetime homer.

1981: Nippon Ham pitcher Kiyoshi Sasaki is born.

1974: Daiei pitcher Shinji Kurano is born.

1974: Nippon Ham pitcher Kiyoshi Sasaki is born.

1973: A festival celebrating 100 years of baseball in Japan begins.

1973: Seibu pitcher Koji Mitsui is born.

1971: Hanshin infielder Jason Hardtke is born.

1965: Lotte pitcher Satoru Komiyama is born.

1965: Lotte and Yokohama pitcher Satoru Komiyama is born.

1959: Hiroshima pitcher Kazuhiro Tanaka is born.

1951: Hiroshima infielder Michio Irie is born.

1950: Yakult and Hanshin infielder Dave Hilton is born.

1941: Chunichi outfielder Jim Barbieri is born.

1939: Yomiuri outfielder Hidehiko Koga is born.

1936: Hiroshima pitcher Shuhei Munechika is born.

1934: Takahashi outfielder Mamoru Oki is born.

1933: Kokutetsu pitcher Hideo Otsuji is born.

2006: Chunichi lefthander Masahiro Yamamoto throws a no hitter against Hanshin at Nagoya Dome in a 3-0 final. Only an error in the fourth by third baseman Masahiko Morino separated Yamamoto from a perfect game. It was also the Tigers tenth straight loss at the Dragons homeground that season.

2005: The Japanese players union gives the okay in participating in the World Baseball Classic.

2001: Yakult sets a new Central League record with their 46th win by a lefty that season.

2001: Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu becomes the second all time save points leader with his 217th.

2000: Nishi Nihon and Nishitetsu outfielder Teruo Tabe dies at age 83.

2000: Hanshin infielder Tsuyoshi Yoshida plays in his 1000th career game.

2000: Anaheim pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa wins his tenth game.

1999: Japan downs China 3-0 in the Sydney Olympics baseball tournament.

1999: Hiroshima pitcher Hyogo Yamamoto dies at age 61.

1998: Yomiuri pitcher Kazuhisa Kawaguchi announces he will retire.

1998: Hanshin pitcher Katsuhiro Hiratsuka has appendix surgery.

1998: Kintetsu infielder Phil Clark ties a Pacific League record with his 77th extra base hit of the season.

1998: Kintetsu third baseman Norihiro Nakamura slugs his 100th career homer.

1998: Nippon Ham third baseman Atsushi Kataoka sets a new PL record with 108 walks.

1997: Yakult pitcher Terry Bross pulls an oblique muscle in a game and has to come out.

1997: A Daiei-Seibu game scheduled for that night at Fukuoka Dome is cancelled due to a typhoon.

1997: Yakult pitcher Kenjiro Kawasaki goes on the shelf with a groin injury.

1997: Hanshin outfielder Darnell Coles suffers an elbow inflammation and will miss two weeks.

1997: Yomiuri pitcher Kazutomo Miyamoto announces his retirement effective at the end of the season.

1997: Lions, Goldstar and Chunichi outfielder Michinori Tsubouchi dies at age 83.

1997: In Taiwan, 32 players are found guilty of gambling charges.

1995: Nippon Ham outfielder Rob Ducey and Daiei outfielder Kevin Reimer are both ejected for their actions in a brawl.

1995: Daiei outfielder Chihiro Hamana suffers a fracture.

1993: Yakult pitcher Tsutomu Yamada strikes out 16 in a game against Hiroshima at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium in a complete game shutout to tie a Central League record.

1993: Hiroshima manager Koji Yamamoto resigns.

1992: Yomiuri pitcher Masumi Kuwata ties a Central League record with two wild pitches in an inning.

1988: Hiroshima pitcher Yutaka Ono racks up his 1000th strikeout.

1984: Hiroshima outfielder Kiyoyuki Nagashima slugs a sayonara homer for the second consecutive game. The first one was off of Nishimoto and this one was off of Suguru Egawa.

1984: Hankyu third baseman Hiromi Matsunaga rips a sayonara inside the park homer, becoming the fourth man in history to do that.

1983: Hankyu centerfielder Yutaka Fukumoto sets a then world record with his 36th homer leading off a first inning.

1983: Yakult pitcher Hiromitsu Takagi is born.

1976: Lotte and Rakuten pitcher Takashi Kawai is born.

1975: Hankyu, Nishi Nihon and Nishitetsu catcher Takeshi Hibino dies at age 55.

1971: Yomiuri outfielder Kazuya Ono is born.

1970: Hankyu and Hiroshima pitcher Minoru Kasamatsu dies at age 54.

1968: Yakult pitcher Mark Acre is born.

1965: Nankai infielder Kazuharu Murakami dies at age 48.

1958: Yakult pitcher Mark Acre is born.

1954: Lotte pitcher Masaharu Mitsui is born.

1945: Hanshin infielder Masashi Eda is born.

1941: Tokyo Orions pitcher Masahiro Yasuoka is born.

1941: Yomiuri, Nippon Ham, Taiyo, Lotte and Hiroshima pitcher Hidetake Watanabe is born.

1940: Hiroshima pitcher Takashi Yagi is born.

1935: Hanshin pitcher Kazuomi Nakamura is born.

1929: Hiroshima pitcher Masao Konishi is born.

1927: Shochiku and Daiei Stars infielder Kenji Hirano is born.

1916: Dai Tokyo, Lion and Goldstar infielder Kazuaki Otomo is born.

1916: Hankyu, Taiyo, Nishitetsu, Goldstar and Nishi Nihon pitcher Michio Shigematsu is born.

2005: Lotte rookie pitcher Yasutomo Kubo wins his tenth game, thus becoming the first hurler for that organization fresh out of the amateur ranks to reach double figures in a campaign in 55 years and just the third Orion or Marine to do so ever. In addition, he became the fifth Lotte moundsman that year to get ten victories, a club first.

2005: Yomiuri pitching gets blasted by Yokohama to make it a club record 17th time that they surrendered into double figures for runs in a single season.

2001: Seibu infielder Scott McClain is ejected from a game.

2001: Chunichi third baseman Leo Gomez suddenly returns to the U.S.

2000: Yokohama first baseman Norihiro Kamada reaches 3000 career total bases.

2000: Hanshin infielder Yasuaki Taiho attains 1000 career strikeouts.

2000: The U.S. beats Japan 4-2 in the Sydney Olympics.

2000: In the first ever friendship game between minor league teams from Japan and MLB, the Mariners affiliate beats Orix' farm team 7-4

1999: Kintetsu releases outfielders Kazunori Yamamoto and Osamu Abe

1997: Orix outfielder Yasuo Fujii belts his 200th homer.

1997: Yomiuri catcher Yuichi Yanagisawa is diagnosed with a knee fracture and is expected to be out three weeks.

1997: Chunichi's string of 56 consecutive sellouts at Nagoya Dome ends.

1996: Kintetsu outfielder Jiro Fujitate homers for the third straight time in pinch hit duty.

1996: Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo no hits Colorado at Coors Field.

1995: Nippon Ham outfielder Rob Ducey ties a record by getting the gate for the third game that season.

1994: Yomiuri manager Shigeo Nagashima wins his 516th game, tying him for third all time among Giants skippers.

1994: Yakult pitcher Tomohito Itoh is thought to be unlikely to come back from an injury before the start of the following season.

1994: The Western League schedule ends.

1989: Hiroshima outfielder Ryuzo Yamasaki cracks his 1000th lifetime hit.

1989: Nippon Ham outfielder Makoto Shimada plays in his 1500th game.

1988: Hanshin pitcher Kazuyuki Yamamoto sets a new record for pitchers out of college with his 700th appearance.

1988: Hankyu centerfielder emerges at the top of the all time doubles list with 449.

1987: Chunichi outfielder Yasunori Oshima sets a new Central League mark with his 16th career pinch hit homer.

1987: It is announced that Hankyu centerfielder Yutaka Fukumoto's spikes will be exhibited at Cooperstown.

1985: Hakyu centerfielder Yutaka Fukumoto leads off the first inning with a homer for his 1500th career run scored.

1985: Hanshin becomes the third team all time to have four 30 homer men on it.

1985: Using the DH during the Japan Series is approved.

1985: Yakult releases pitcher Andy Beene.

1985: Hiroshima's minor league team wins the Western League pennant.

1984: It si announced that a stamp commemorating 50 years of Japanese pro baseball will be issued starting November 15th.

1984: Kintetsu pitcher Keishi Suzuki loses his 232nd game, fourth most all time.

1984: Pacific League umpire Keigen Sunagawa dies at age 61.

1983: Rakuten pitcher Shingo Matsuzaki is born.

1980: NPB Commissioner Hiroyuki Uchimura dies.

1976: Yokohama pitcher Susumu Nakanowatari is born.

1972: Hankyu centerfielder Yutaka Fukumoto becomes the first man in Japanese history to steal 100 bases in a season.

1972: Daiei pitcher Brady Raggio is born.

1971: Daiei pitcher Keisaburo Tanoue is born.

1968: Hanshin pitcher Yautaka Enatsu finishes the day at 354 strikeouts on the year, a new record, in a game against Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium. He fanned Sadaharu Oh to set the new mark.

1967: Nishitetsu pitcher Tadao Wako tosses a no hitter against Hankyu in game two of a doubleheader at Nishimoiya Stadium in a 4-0 victory.

1965: Chunichi pitcher Masaaki Miura is born.

1960: Nishitetsu shortstop Yasumitsu Toyoda has three sac flies in a game.

1955: Nippon Ham outfielder Marshall Brant is born.

1950: The first game ever played at Osaka Stadium occurs.

1947: Yomiuri and Nippon Ham pitcher Toshihiko Kosaka is born.

1941: Kintetsu pinch hitter Hideyo Kadoguchi is born.

1937: Toei, Kintetsu and Sankei outfielder Hachiro Yamamoto is born.

1935: Nankai pitcher Tadashi Sugiura is born.

1932: Kintetsu and Tombo infielder Sadakazu Higuchi is born.

1931: Kintetsu and Takahashi pitcher Seiichiro Fujii is born.

1925: Chunichi and Daimai pitcher Shigeru Sugishita is born.

1924: Kinki Nihon catcher Susumu Yagi is born.

2006: Orix reliever Kazuo Yamaguchi beans Lotte catcher Tomoya Satozaki and is ejected under the dangerous pitch rule.

2005: Hanshin centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi sets a new pro yakyu record with 153 singles on the year during a game with Yakult.

2001: Kintetsu's magic number to clinch the Pacific League flag is six.

2001: In their 132nd game of the season, a Kintetsu pitcher finally throws a complete game shutout.

2001: Chunichi outfielder Koichi Sekikawa has bone chips removed from his right elbow.

2000: Japan waxes Holland in the Sydney Olympics 10-2.

2000: The results of fan voting for the composition of the NPB all star team that will faceoff against one from MLB is announced.

1999: Kintetsu second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi has bone chips removed from his right elbow.

1996: Lotte's minor league squad wins the Eastern League pennant.

1995: After Nippon Ham outfielder Rob Ducey is ejected in consecutive games, the league suspends him for another two games and fines him 300,000 yen. The guy that Ducey punched in one of those games, Daiei outfielder Kevin Reimer, is reprimanded.

1994: Kintetsu third baseman Norihiro Nakamura hits for the cycle.

1992: Seibu outfielder Koji Akiyama connects for his 30th homer, making it eight straight 30 homer campaigns, a new Pacific League record. It also marks the third time that the trio of Akiyama, first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara and DH Orestes Destrade have hit 30 homers together in the same season, also a new record.

1991: Yomiuri's minor league team wins the Eastern League title.

1991: During the top of the seventh inning in a game bwtween Yomiuri and Taiyo, Taiyo outfielder R.J. Reyonolds signs an autograph for a kid while he's out there to play defense.

1991: Hanshin outfielder Yasushi Tao and pitcher Fujitaka Itoh decide to hang them up at the end of the season.

1991: Daiei infielder Eddy Williams goes back to the states and is later released. He then signs with Atlanta.

1990: Hankyu infielder Hiromi Matsunaga's house is broken into and 50 million yen in "precious metals" and other items are stolen.

1990: Hiroshima infielder Yoshio Minakami connects for his 100th careerhomer.

1990: Nippon Ham infielder Yasunori Oshima suffers a hairline fracture in his left foot and is lost for the season.

1988: Kintetsu infielder Tokuichi Fukuishi appears in his 1000th career game.

1986: Hanshin pitcher Kazuyuki Yamamoto ties a record for players out of college with his 639th lifetime appearance.

1986: Yomiuri releases pitcher Keith Comstock.

1986: Lotte pitcher Tokinari Nishina culls his 100th career victory.

1985: Nankai sets a then Pacific League record by scoring 25 runs in a game.

1985: The Central League eclipses ten million in total attendance for the 17th straight season.

1985: Lotte infielder Hiromitsu Ochiai slugs three homers in a game for the second time that season.

1984: Hiroshima's magic number to clinch the pennant is 11.

1983: Seibu infielder Hiroyuki Yamazaki cracks his 2000th hit.

1970: Chunichi outfielder Ozzie Timmons is born.

1969: Chunichi pitcher Katsuyoshi Murata is born.

1968: Hanshin pitcher Gene Bacque and Yomiuri coach Hiroshi Arakawa tussle during a bench clearing brawl.

1965: Hanshin pitcher Yosuke Takamura is born.

1964: Daiei, Seibu and Hanshin pitcher Takehiro Hashimoto is born.

1959: Nippon Ham outfielder Mikio Oikawa is born.

1958: Nippon Ham outfielder Takashi Kimura is born.

1951: Taiyo catcher Masayuki Miura is born.

1946: Nankai infielder Mitsuru Fujiwara is born.

1945: Taiheiyo and Hiroshima pitcher Satoru Miwa is born.

1945: Lotte catcher Shinichi Sakaki is born.

1940: Toei pitcher Akira Kawarada is born.

1936: Yomiuri pitcher Tokito Soejima is born.

1936: Yomiuri pitcher Yoshinori Kido is born.

1930: Nankai and Hanshin catcher Noboru Fujishige is born.

1929: Yomiuri infielder Tetsuharu Teramoto is born.

1922: Asahi outfielder Masaharu Tanaka is born.

2006: Lotte outfielder Kenji Morozumi announces his retirement, effective at the end of the season.

2006: Nippon Ham reaches 80 wins for the first time since 1961 with a victory over Rakuten.

2005: Lotte infielder Kiyoshi Hatsushiba announces that he will retire at the end of the season.

2001: Kintetsu racks up its 200th homer of the season.

2001: Daiei catcher Kenji Johjima slugs his 30th homer of the year.

2001: Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki raps out his224th hit to set a new rookie record and help the Mariners clinch the American League Western Division.

2000: Nippon Ham first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara sets a new single season Pacific League record with 119 runs scored.

2000: Japan beats Australia at the Sydney Olympics 7-3.

2000: Daiei releases pitchers Tsutomu Yamada and Kiyotaka Koishizawa, catcher Akihiro Honda, infielders Koji Wakisaka and Shoya Shinzato and outfielders Brian Banks and Kazuyoshi Yoshimoto.

1999: Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka connects for his second sayonara homer of the season, tying a rookie record.

1999: Daiei pitcher Takayuki Shinohara wins his 13th game in a a row since Opening Day, all in relief.

1998: Yokohama pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki sets a new single season record with his 39th save.

1998: Yomiuri releases infielder Mariano Duncan.

1997: Yakult manager Katsuya Nomura wins his 1066th game as a field boss, putting him in a tie for eighth all time.

1997: Hiroshima outfielder Tomonori Maeda laces six hits in six official at bats.

1995: Orix clinches the Pacific League pennant and lifts the earthquake ravaged city of Kobe's spritis.

1995: Yomiuri outfielder Yudai Deguchi hammers a homer in his first pro at bat.

1992: Orix pitcher Nobuyuki Hoshino strikes out a hitter in every inning in a game for the third time in his career, tying a Pacific League record.

1989: Chunichi infielder Masaru Uno causes an injury accident and is suspended for ten days by the team.

1985: Chunichi infielder Ken Macha is going to leave the team and is lifted up on the shoulders of his teammates and tossed in the air several times as a sendoff.

1984: Chunichi pitcher Kazuki Yoshimi is born.

1983: Chunichi's Western League club wins that circuit's pennant.

1983: Yomiuri pitcher Masanori Hayashi is born.

1978: Daiei pitcher Akichika Yamada is born.

1978: Hanshin pitcher Yasuhiro Nakamura is born.

1976: Lotte pitcher Takashi Kawai is born.

1973: Daiei pitcher Shinichi Fukuda is born.

1969: Nippon Ham outfielder Kazuteru Shimada is born.

1966: Hiroshima infielder Kenjiro Nomura is born.

1964: Nankai clinches the Pacific League pennant.

1963: Hanshin infielder Yoshiyuki Shimizu is born.

1960: Yomiuri first baseman Sadaharu Oh drills his 200th career homer in his 870th lifetime game.

1958: Yomiuri rookie third baseman Shigeo Nagashima blasts one over the leftcenterfield fence against Hiroshima at Korakuen Stadium, but fails to touch first base and is called out. The blast would have set a new rookie record for homers. It was scored a groundout to the pitcher.

1956: Kokutetsu pitcher Yoshitomo Miyaji tosses a perfect game against Hiroshima at Kenroku Stadium in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. He is the third man in history to accomplish that.

1950: Taiyo outfielder Ryuichiro Sato is born.

1949: The Nishi Nihon Shimbun asks to have their new ballclub admitted to the new leagues. The request is eventually approved, but the club lasts for just one season before it is merged with Nishitetsu before the 1951 season.

1948: Hiroshima infielder Toshiyuki Mimura is born.

1947: Taiyo pitcher Masaji Hiramatsu is born.

1941: Yomiuri pitcher Takamasa Kondo is born.

1940: Hiroshima and Toei pitcher Susumu Oba is born.

1939: Tokyo Orions infielder Akira Arai is born.

1938: Daimai and Taiyo pitcher Mitsuo Nishi is born.

1938: Chunichi outfielder Katsuji Noguchi is born.

1933: Chunichi pitcher Katsuhiko Ishikawa is born.

1931: Kokutetsu pitcher Akira Takahashi is born.

1919: Hankyu, Kyuei, Taiyo Robins and Hiroshima infielder Narihide Tanaka is born.

2006: Nippon Ham decides to let pitcher Felix Diaz go.

2006: Rakuten pitcher Hisashi Tokano reveals that he had a tumor removed in August. It turned out that it was cancerous, but caught early.

2001: The Japanese players association contributes to a fund for victims of the September 11th terrorist incidents.

2001: Yakult minor league outfielder Takenori Daita sets a new Eastern league single season record with 52 steals.

2000: Japan beats Italy 6-1 at the Sydney Olympics.

2000: Yakult pitcher Tatsuki Yamamoto is ejected for throwing a pitch near a hitter's head.

1999: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is diagnosed with a fracture.

1999: Swallows pitcher Rich Batchelor returns to the states to have knee surgery and is eventually released.

1998: Yokohama pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki racks up his 40th save.

1998: Kintetsu infielder Phil Clark sets a new Pacific League record with 79 extra base hits. His 47 doubles also ties a pro yakyu record.

1998: Lotte infielder Kiyoshi Hatsushiba cracks his 1000th career hit.

1998: Orix infielder Yasuo Fujii rips his 1000th career hit.

1997: Kintetsu third baseman Norihiro Nakamura homers to all three fields in a game in consecutive at bats.

1997: Kintetsu infielder Daijiro Oishi announces his retirement.

1997: Lotte pitcher Toshihide Narimoto has elbow ligament surgery.

1996: Chunichi manager Senichi Hoshino gets into a confrontation with umpire Koichi Uemoto after a game. When umpire Toshiyuki Tanaka tries to intervene, Hoshino kicks him. What is ironic was that the call that Hoshino objected to was correctly judged.

1996: Pacific League umpire Takeo Kojima dies at age 86.

1995: Chunichi decides to rehire Senichi Hoshino as its manager starting next season.

1994: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first man in Japanese history to eclipse 200 hits in a season when he doubles in the sixth inning of a game against Lotte at Kobe Green Stadium off of Kazumi Sonokawa.

1994: Kintetsu has two players with more than 100 RBIs , the third time in Japanese history that has occurred.

1994: Chunichi outfielder Takeshi Yamasaki suffers a fracture and will be out a month.

1994: Hiroshima pitcher Manabu Kitabeppu announces that he will retire at the end of the season.

1993: Daiei personnel director Tadashi Sugiura is let go in a front office shakeup.

1992: Nippon Ham manager Masayuki Dobashi is ejected by the umpires during a game.

1990: Kintetsu pitcher Hideo Nomo attains 250 strikeouts on the season.

1990: Orix decides on Shozo Doi as its manager for next season, when it will operate under the Blue Wave nickname.

1987: Lotte pitcher Choji Murata reaches 2000 career strikeouts when he blows away Seibu infielder Hiromichi Ishige. However, after the game, Murata tells reporters he wanted to do it against first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara.

1986: Hanshin and Daiei's Eastern League teams combine for 34 runs in a game, a circuit record.

1985: Taiyo infielder Yutaka Takagi is thought to have come down with acute appendicitis.

1985: Yomiuri infielder Tatsunori Hara announces that he has sold his company.

1985: Nippon Ham pitcher Shigekuni Mashiba grabs his first win in 15 months after coming down with a circulatory problem.

1985: Lotte announces that Kazuhisa Inao will be its new manager next season.

1984: Taiyo pitcher Akio Saito makes his first start in two and a half years and throws a complete game shutout.

1982: Nippon Ham pitcher Yutaka Enatsu registers his then Pacific League record 26th save.

1977: As the result of a hard slide into Nippon Ham catcher Yoshio Kato by Kintetsu infielder Toshizo Sakamoto that ended up becoming a bench emptying brawl, Kintetsu bullpen catcher Yasuro Iwaki is ejected for punching Kato.

1976: Orix pitcher Satoshi Tokumoto is born.

1972: Yomiuri first baseman Sadaharu Oh homers in his seventh straight game.

1972: Chunichi and Yakult pitcher Masataka Endo is born.

1959: Hanshin infielder Masao Iida is born.

1958: Yomiuri third baseman Shigeo Nagashima, following the previous night's baserunning blunder, connects for what is officially his 28th homer of the year in a game with Hiroshima, a new rookie mark.

1957: Hankyu infielder Mineo Fukuhara is born.

1952: The Fort Meyers Colonials, who were in Japan for an international tournament, also play friendship games with the Daiei Stars, Mainichi and Toei.

1938: Chunichi and Tokyo Orions catcher Eiji Yoshida is born.

1937: Hiroshima outfielder Fumio Yamamoto is born.

1935: Daiei Stars outfielder Mitsuaki Watanabe is born.

1932: Hankyu outfielder Noboru Sakamoto is born.

1926: Nankai pitcher Munehiro Kajiwara is born.

1923: Nishitetsu outfielder Hayami Ueda is born.

1919: Tokyo Senators, Toku and Hankyu pitcher Giichiro Shiraki is born.

1917: Dai Tokyo, Nagoya and Tokyo Senators infielder Chujiro Endo is born.

1915: Nankai outfielder Hiroshi Kaizoji is born.

2006: Rakuten releases outfielder Eric Valent.

2005: The Hanshin pitching staff fans six Dragons to set a new record for most strikeouts by a staff in a single season with 1128.

2005: Yakult manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu announces that he will resign. He was actually forced to do so by the team owner, who wanted to make catcher Atsuya Furuta the skipper.

2002: Seibu wins the Pacific League pennant when Daiei ties despite losing to Lotte 4-0. It is the 19th time the Lions have won the flag, 14 of those under the Seibu ownership.

2001: Hanshin infielder Yutaka Wada retires.

2001: Kintetsu pitcher Koki Morita, who returned to action after suffering a brain tumor, is named Pacific League Comeback Player of the Year.

2001: It is decided to hold a moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the 23rd. There will also be no post pennant clinching celebration.

2001: Kobe Steel announces that it will do away with its industrial league team at the end of the season.

2000: Hanshin releases pitcher Tsutomu Tamura and outfielder Makoto Sasaki.

1999: Yomiuri rookie pitcher Koji Uehara wins his 15th in a row.

1999: Yomiuri outfielder Hideki Matsui slugs his 200th homer.

1999: Lotte pitcher Kazumi Sonokawa retires.

1998: Yakult manager Katsuya Nomura says he will leave the team.

1998: The Eagles in the Taiwan leagues announce that the team will be dissolved.

1997: Orix' minor league team wins the Western League pennant.

1996: Chunichi manager Senichi Hoshino if given a severe reprimand and fined one million yen for insulting and assaulting an umpire.

1996: The International Baseball Federation approves the use of professionals in their tournaments.

1995: Seibu pitcher Yoshitaka Katori makes his 700th career mound appearance.

1995: Nippon Ham infielder Yukio Tanaka's streak of 339 consecutive errorless chances ends.

1994: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki stes a new record with his 145th single.

1994: Chunichi pitcher Genji Kaku attains 100 wins and 100 saves.

1994: Daiei locks up its first .500 campaign in 17 years.

1993: Hiroshima decides to hire minor league skipper Toshiyuki Mimura as its new manager starting next season.

1993: It is decided to put the free agency system into effect during the offseason.

1993: Orix outfielder Telmanch Gainey hammeres three homers in a game at Kobe Green Stadium, the first time that had been done at that ballpark.

1992: Kintetsu pitcher Hideo Nomo makes it three consecutive seasons of 15 wins and 200 strikeouts.

1992: Nippon Ham manager Masayuki Dobashi is reprimaded by the Pacific League and fined 200,000 yen.

1991: Hiroshima's magic number to clinch the pennant is 14.

1991: Seibu's magic number to clinch the pennant is ten.

1991: Chunichi manager Senichi Hoshino decides to resign at the end of the season.

1990: Yomiuri pitcher Hajime Kato retires.

1988: Seibu pitcher Osamu Higashio reaches 4,075 hits given up, third all time.

1987: Hiroshima third baseman Sachio Kinugasa announces he will retire at the end of the season.

1986: Seibu first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara ties a fresh out of high school rookie record with his 67th RBI and sets a new post high schooler mark with 100 strikeouts.

1986: Seibu infielder Hiromichi Ishige blasts his eighth homer leading off the first inning this season, tying a record.

1985: Yomiuri infielder Norihiro Komada announces he will get married during the offseason.

1985: Hanshin ties a team record with 193 homers.

1985: Hanshin infielders Randy Bass and Masayuki Kakefu homer in the same game for the 14th time during the season, tying a record.

1984: Lotte pitcher Taiki Nakago is born.

1980: Daiei infielder Mizuki Tanaka is born.

1975: Kintetdu wins the second half Pacific League title.

1974: Hiroshima pitcher Toshikazu Sawazaki is born.

1972: Nippon Ham pitcher Shannon Whithem is born.

1967: Yokohama and Chunichi pitcher Denny Tomori is born.

1965: Chunichi pitcher Koichi Morita is born.

1963: Hanshin infielder Cecil Fielder is born.

1961: Hiroshima and Kintetsu pitcher Eiji Kiyokawa is born.

1961: Kintetsu pitcher Tatsuya Yamamura is born.

1961: Hiroshima and Kintetsu pitcher Eiji Kiyokawa is born.

1960: Kokutetsu pitcher Masaichi Kaneda reaches 3000 career strikeouts in a game against Hiroshima at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, the first man ever to do that.

1954: Nankai sets a new record with its 18th consecutive win.

1952: Hiroshima outfielder Art Gardner is born.

1949: The Mainichi Shimbun asks to have its new ballclub added to the league.

1934: Chunichi infielder Yoshizumi Hino is born.

1930: Kokutetsu pitcher Hajime Asada is born.

1910: Eagles outfielder Susumu Nakane is born.

2007: Lotte DH Julio Zuleta hits for the cycle and drives in seve runs in a win over Rakuten at Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. He is just the seventh foreign player in history to go cycling.

2000: Japan whips South Africa 8-0 at the Sydney Olympics.

2000: It is announced that Hiroshima will fire manager Mitsuo Tatsukawa at the end of the season.

2000: Infielder Norihiro Komada is released.

1999: Yomiuri outfielder Hideki Matsui slugs his 40th homer.

1996: Orix plays its 19th extra inning game of the year.

1996: Due to a bad typhoon blowing in, train and bus service was canceled and thus so was the Yomiuri-Chunichi tilt at Tokyo Dome.

1995: Hiroshima infielder Kenjiro Nomura reaches 1000 career hits.

1995: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki ties a Pacific League record with his 17th HBP.

1995: Central League umpire Toshiyuki Tanaka calls his 2500th game.

1994: Yakult infielder Shinichi Sakurai breaks his shoulder during a game and is taken out.

1990: Nippon Ham outfielder Makoto Shimada collects his 1500th career hit.

1987: Taiyo outfielder Kaname Yashiki plays in his 1000th career game.

1985: Nankai appoints Tadashi Sugiura as its new manager for next season.

1984: Hankyu's magic number to clinch the Pacific League pennant is one.

1984: Hankyu infielder Boomer Wells ties a record for foreign players with his 129th RBI.

1981: Hiroshima pitcher Tetsuto Tomabechi is born.

1976: Eagles pitcher Tadashi Kameda dies at age 64.

1971: Hanshin pitcher Hiroki Sakai is born.

1968: Lotte outfielder Jeff Barry is born.

1965: Hanshin outfielder Hiroyuki Yoshikawa is born.

1956: Seibu and Daiei infielder Hiromichi Ishige is born.

1955: Yomiuri catcher Kazuhiro Yamaguchi is born.

1950: Lotte and Nankai pitcher Keiji Sato is born.

1947: Chunichi outfielder Kenichi Yazawa is born.

1939: Kokutetsu infielder Nobuo Kameda is born.

1933: Taiyo and Tokyo Orions pitcher Takashi Suzuki is born.

1931: Chunichi and Taiyo infielder Ken Aspromonte is born.

1931: Tokyu outfielder Eisaku Kamiyama is born.

1925: Hankyu outfielder Tatsuro Enami is born.

1923: Asahi, Pacific, Shochiku and Taiyo infielder Akiyoshi Kobayashi is born.

2006: Former Hankyu pitcher Takao Fujimoto dies at age 71 of respiratory arrest.

2006: Rakuten clinches last place, making it four straight years that manager Katsuya Nomura has guided a club to the cellar, a new pro yakyu record. He had finished at the tail end each of his three campaigns with Hanshin in his previous job.

2006: Seibu pitcher Hideaki Wakui beaned Rakuten infielder Tatsuya Shiokawa and was ejected under the dangerous pitch rule.

2005: Hanshin becomes the first team in history to have two relievers who have each made 70 appearances in Jeff Williams and Kyuji Fujikawa.

2005: DH Julio Zuleta becomes the first Hawks foreign player to ever tally up 40 homers in a season when he goes deep against Seibu.

2005: Yakult reliever Masato Hanada is victimized by four homers in an inning against Yokohama to tie a pro yakyu record.

2001: Orix outfielder Yoshitomo Tani breaks the single season doubles record with his 49th. He would eventually finish with 52.

2000: Japan is beaten by Korea 7-6 at the Sydney Olympics.

2000: Hanshin releases pitchers Tsuyoshi Yoda, Daisuke Hashimoto and Tadahiro Hoshiyama as well as catcher Masahiko Jozume, infielder Naoyuki Kazaoka and infielder Hideki Hashigami.

1999: Kintetsu manager Kyosuke Sasaki willbe stepping down at the end of the season, it is revealed.

1999: Daiei pitcher Kimiyasu Kudoh reaches the 2000 career strikeout plateau.

1999: Hiroshima outfielder Koichi Ogata ties a single season record with eight first inning leadoff homers.

1998: Kintetsu pitcher Akinori Otsuka ties a Pacific League record with his 34th save.

1997: Lotte outfielder Mark Carreon misses a game without permission.

1997: Yakult pitcher Masato Yoshii reaches 1000 career innings.

1997: Nippon Ham pitcher Hiroshi Nagatomi strikes out his 1000th career man.

1996: Orix wraps up the Pacific League pennant thanks to a sayonara knock by outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, the first time in circuit annals that had been done.

1996: Seibu pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi strikes out eight men in a row in a game against Kintetsu at Seibu Stadium.

1996: Daiei sets a new record with 19 straight seasons in the second division.

1995: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki gets hit by a pitch for the 18th time that season, a new Pacific League record.

1995: Orix outfielder Yasuo Fujii drills his eighth career grand slam, tied for second among active player at the time.

1992: Hanshin pitcher Toshiro Mifume tosses a one hitter and LOSES.

1991: The Pacific League sets a new record for attendance with 8. 838 million.

1990: Seibu wraps up the pennant by taking a game against Nippon Ham at Seibu Stadium. Koji Akiyama leads the Lions attack with a grand slam. In addition, Nippon Ham outfielder Tony Brewer is ejected for the third time that season.

1990: Taiyo infielder Joey Meyer suffers a leg fracture.

1989: Seibu first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara is hit on the elbow by Lotte pitcher Sadaharu Hiranuma and throws his bat at Hiranuma and then goes out to the mound and kicks him, earning him an ejection. He is then suspended for two games and fined 300,000 yen.

1989: Manager Minoru Murayama will step down at the end of the season, it is announced.

1988: Nippon Ham infielder Yasunori Oshima drives in his 1000th lifetime run.

1988: Seibu infielder Hiromichi Ishige plays in his 1000th career game.

1988: Nankai infielder Tony Bernazard is ejected for the third time.

1986: Hiroshima third baseman Sachio Kinugasa slugs his 20th homer of the year, making it 13 straight seasons with at least that many.

1984: Hankyu clinches the Pacific League pennant. It was also their 3000th win in club history.

1984: Seibu's minor league team wins the Eastern League pennant.

1984: Chunichi infielder Yasuharu Fujio belts his first career homer.

1983: Nippon Ham pitcher Yutaka Enatsu saves his 31st game, a new Japan record.

1983: Hankyu third baseman Hiromi Matsunaga homers from each side of the plate for the second time in his career. He would eventually do that six times in his career.

1983: Hankyu pitcher Hisashi Yamada reaches 3000 career innings.

1981: Yomiuri and Nippon Ham clinch their respective league's pennants on their off days.

1978: The plate umpire gets so angry at something that Kintetsu manager Yukio Nishimoto says to him that he heads for the dressing rooms and the other umpires join him. This results in a four minute delay before play resumed.

1977: Yomiuri clinches the Central League pennant.

1974: Lotte pitcher Eric Knott is born.

1971: Yomiuri and Daiei outfielder Yudai Deguchi is born.

1967: Hanshin was so angry over a strike three call that they refused to continue the game and were charged with a forefeit. What geniuses

1966: Yomiuri locks up the Central League pennant.

1964: Yomiuri first baseman Sadaharu Oh blasts two homers to finish with 55, which is still the Japan record.

1963: Yomiuri, Kintetsu and Orix infielder Hironori Suguro is born.

1954: Yomiuri outfielder Wally Yonamine bumps the ump and gets tossed.

1951: The Commissioner announces that the season must end by October 9th since an MLB all star team is coming to Japan around that time.

1949: Hankyu infielder Minoru Hatano is born.

1943: Taiheiyo Club infielder Winston Llenas.

1936: The first grand slam in Japanese pro history is struck by Nagoya infielder Tsugio Iwata.

1928: Toei infielder Hiroshi Nomura is born.

1918: Yomiuri and Taiyo Whales outfielder Kikuji Hirayama is born.

1914: Hankyu outfielder Takashi Nakajima is born.

2006: Nippon Ham pitcher Satoru Kanemura, seeking his tenth victory, is taken out in the fifth inning after getting hit around and angrily verbally attacks manager Trey Hillman, earning him a season ending suspenion. He was also fined two million yen.

2002: Yomiuri clinches the Central League pennant despite losing 3-2 at Koshien Stadium because Chunichi beat Yakult. It is Yomiuri's 30th CL flag and 39th pennant overall.

2001: Kintetsu leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes rockets his 55th homer of the year, tying Sadaharu Oh's record and setting a new homer mark for foreign players.

2001: Kintetsu pitccher Hisashi Aikyo throws one pitch and gets a win.

2001: Pitcher Shinichi Kato wins in double figures for the first time in 12 years.

2001: Lotte releases pitcher Jeff Kubenka.

2000: Down 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth against Chunichi, Yomiuri gets a grand slam to tie it up and then wins it on a walkoff homer by Tomohiro Nioka to lock up the pennant.

2000: Japan is defeated by Cuba at the Sydney Olympics 6-2.

2000: Daiei third baseman Hiroki Kokubo reaches the 150 career homer mark.

2000: Lotte releases pitcher Chris Roberts and outfielder Jeff Barry.

1999: Hiroshima infielder Kenji Tamashino retires. 0

1998: Yokohama's magic number is nine.

1998: Hanshin releases pitcher Kuo Lee Chen-fu. Kuo is now pitching in Taiwan.

1998: Orix releases catcher Makoto Takada and infielders Hiroshi Fujimoto, and Masanori Tokumoto.

1998: Hiroshima's Dominican academy sustains hurricane damage.

1997: Lotte reprimands infielder Mark Carreon for missing a game without permission and fines hims $5000.

1997: It is announced that Yokohama pitcher Pat Mahomes will return to the U.S. to have surgery.

1997: Yomiuri outfielder Takayuki Shimizu suffers a knee injury and is taken off the roster.

1996: Orix outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has his eighth four hit game of the season, a new record.

1995: Hiroshima outfielder Koichi Ogata steals his 40th base.

1992: Yakult pitcher Daisuke Araki takes the hill in a relief role at Meiji Jingu Stadium against Hiroshima for his first appearance in four years.

1992: Yomiuri's minor league team wins the Eastern League flag.

1991: Nippon Ham infielder Kazuyuki Shirai is put out of action by a knee injury.

1990: Hanshin releases pitcher Matt Keough.

1989: Hiroshima catcher Mitsuo Tatsukawa appears in his 1000th game.

1989: Seibu outfielder Ken Hirano cracks his 1000th career hit.

1988: Sadaharu Oh resigns as manager at Yomiuri. Motoshi Fujita is announced as his successor.

1986: Taiyo infielder Daisuke Yamashita plays in his 1500th career game.

1986: Yomiuri infielder Tatsunori Hara is put on the shelf for two months with a hand fracture.

1985: Softbank outfielder Ryuma Kidokoro is born.

1984: Hankyu infielder Boomer Wells sets a new record for foreigners with 130 RBIs in a season.

1984: Kintetsu pitcher Keishi Suzuki wins his 311th game, fourth on the all time list.

1983: Nippon Ham infielder Shingo Nonaka is born.

1981: Taiyo owner Fujijiro Nakabe expresses interest in hiring Shigeo Nagashima as manager, but Nagashima refuses. Taiyo also lets its manager, Atsushi Doi, go.

1971: Yomiuri first baseman Sadaharu Oh walks five times in a game, the first time that had happened since the two league system began in 1950.

1969: Yokohama and Chunichi pitcher Katsuya Udo is born.

1966: Hanshin catcher Masahiko Jozume is born.

1963: Chunichi pitcher Toshiyuki Furukawa is born.

1955: Hiroshima catcher Masato Monzen assaults the umpire and gets tossed.

1954: Kintetsu and Chunichi outfielder Masahiro Nakane is born.

1949: Taiyo Fisheries applies to have its ballclub admitted to the pro league.

1946: Hanshin and Seibu catcher Koichi Tabuchi is born.

1945: Hiroshima and Hankyu pitcher Yukio Miyoshi is born.

1939: The Nagoya Club sets a new record for hits in a game with 23.

1936: Kokutetsu and Hankyu catcher Mitsuhiro Negoro is born.

1934: Nankai outfielder Tamotsu Kimura is born.

1931: Taiyo, Kintetsu and Hanshin Mike Krsnich is born.

1923: Chunichi outfielder Susumu Kato is born.

2009: Former Yomiuri second baseman Shozo Doi dies of pancreatic cancer at age 67.

2005: Rakuten manager Yasushi Tao is fired and it is announced that Katsuya Nomura will helm the Eagles in 2006.

2005: Lotte pitcher Shingo Ono picks up his tenth win against Rakuten and Lotte ties a pro yakyu record with six pitchers who registered in double figures in victories in the same season.

2001: Chunichi manager Senichi Hoshino announces that he is going to resign.

2001: Daiei releases outfielder Tony Mitchell and pitcher Chris Haney.

2001: Samsung wins the KBO league title.

2001: Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki sets a new rookie hits mark with 234.

1999: Daiei wins its first pennant in decades.

1998: Hanshin outfielder Desi Wilson is released.

1997: Nippon Ham pitcher Kazuyuki Atsuzawa has a ball lined off of the left side of his head and is removed form the game. Fortunately, the injury is only a minor concussion.

1996: Hanshin brings in Yoshio Yoshida yet again as manager.

1995: Kintetsu announces that its manager next season will be Kyosuke Sasaki.

1995: Orix pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa suffers a hairline rib fracture.

1994: Chunichi infielder Yasuaki Taiho goes yard for the 18th time this season against Hiroshima, the most ever hit by one player against one particular club in a single campaign.

1994: Between them, Daiei and Orix have left 1000 men on base during the season, the first time that two team have ever combined to do that in a 130 game season.

1993: Yakult sets new records with its 13th sayonara win and ninth by walkoff homer in a year in a game with Chunichi at Meiji JIngu Stadium. The ninth homer was by first baseman Katsumi Hirosawa and it was his lifetgime 200th dinger.

1993: Nippon Ham and Seibu play to a scoreless ten inning tie.

1993: The Central League reaches 12 million in total attendance in its 364th game, the fastest pace in history. It is also the seventh straight year they have eclipsed that total attendance figure.

1992: There is only half a game separating the top three teams in the Central League.

1991: Kintetsu wins 75 games for the first time in its history.

1984: Hiroshima's magic number to clinch is 6.

1984: Lotte pitcher Choji Murata makes his first start in 28 months.

1978: Kintetsu, Hanshin and Orix pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa is born.

1975: Yomiuri first baseman Sadaharu Oh sets a new record with 2187 games played.

1975: Lotte infielder Michiyo Arito connects for his 20th homer, making it seven straight years with at least that many.

1968: Seibu infielder Reggie Jefferson is born.

1965: Nippon Ham pitcher Masahiro Uchiyama is born.

1953: Kintetsu infielder Dick Davis is born.

1952: Chunichi and Nankai infielder Yasunori Itoh is born.

1950: Taiyo outfielder Yukinobu Inoue is born.

1936: Tokyo Giants pitcher Eiji Sawamura pitches the first no hitter in Japanese history.

1935: Hanshin pitcher Hajime Nishigaki is born.

1932: Kokutetsu pitcher Yoshiaki Inoue is born.

1929: Nankai and Toei outfielder Hiroshi Minohara is born.

1923: Nishi Nihon pitcher Masanori Yabuta is born.

1922: Kokutetsu manager Kuninobu Sunaoshi is born.

26

2008: Former Nankai, Taiyo, Shochiku and Toei outfielder Yoshiyuki Iwamoto dies of cardiac arrest at age 96.

2006: Rakuten announces the release of pitchers Eiji Yano, Shigeo Tamaki, Masahiko Kaneda, Kazuhiro Sato and Hisashi Tokano as well as infielder Tadaharu Sakai and outfielder Daisuke Masuda.

2005: Nippon Ham outfielder Kazuteru Shimada announces his retirement.

2003: Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara resigns due to interference in the composition of his coaching staff by owner Tsuneo Watanabe.

2002: Yokohama manager Masahiko Mori is fired and is replaced by his head coach interim skipper Yukinobu Kuroe.

2001: Kintetsu clinches the Pacific League pennant when, down by three runs, Hirotoshi Kitagawa blasts a grand slam homer to win it.

2001: Hiroshima releases pitcher Tim Young.

2001: Daiei's attendance surpasses three million.

2000: In the semi-final of the Sydney Olympic baseball tournament, Cuba downs Japan 3-0 and the U.S. edges Korea 3-2.

2000: Yomiuri outfielder Hideki Matsui homers off of the 35th different pitcher that season, tying a record.

2000: Chunichi releases pitchers Takeshi Shimazaki and Katsushi Shirasaka.

2000: Lotte releases pitcher Eric Knott.

1999: Daiei ties a Pacific League record with its 12th sayonara win of the season.

1998: Orix pitxher Yoshinori Sato appears in his 500th game.

1998: Hiroshima releases pitchers Shinichi Kato and Tsutomu Yamada.

1998: Yomiuri outfielder Koichi Ogata announces his retirement.

1998: Yakult's minor league team wins the Eastern League pennant.

1998: The Western League schedule ends with Hanshin's affiliate on top.

1997: Yomiuri outfielder Katsumi Hirosawa hits for the cycle.

1997: It comes to light that Hiroshima outfielder Kaoru Nihei will be sold to Chunichi once the season ends.

1997: Yamato and Yomiuri outfielder Hiroshi Hagiwara dies at age 73.

1993: Orix plays the 7000th game in team history.

1992: Kintetsu infielder Dick Davis, who was arrested for possession of drugs, is released.

1991: Chunichi announces that next season's manager will be Morimichi Takagi.

1991: The Pacific League draws more than nine million for the first time in its history.

1990: Lotte pitcher Choji Murata announces that he will retire.

1990: Daiei outfielder Masataka Hironaga cracks homer number 60,000 in Japanese baseball annals.

1990: Lotte pitchers Osamu Fukuma and Kazuhiko Kudoh both announce that they will retire.

1986: Yomiuri centerfielder Warren Cromartie slugs his 100th homer in Japan.

1985: For the fourth time in Japanese annals, an umpire had the wrong count and allowed a batter to walk on just three balls.

1985: Taiyo announces the acquisition of outfielder Doug Loman.

1985: Hankyu pitcher Yoshinori Sato wins his 20th game of the season. That will be the last time that was pulled off in the PL until Daiei's Kazumi Saito did it in 2003.

1985: Yakult pitcher Daisuke Araki throws a shutout against Yomiuri.

1984: Hanshin third baseman Masayuki Kakefu homers in his fourth straight game.

1984: Yomiuri pitcher Wilfin Obispo is born.

1983: Kintetsu wins a lawsuit over night games at Fujiidera Stadium.

1974: Lotte wins the second half PL title.

1972: Hankyu clinches the Pacific League pennant.

1972: Hankyu centerfielder Yutaka Fukumoto sets a new world record with his 105th stolen base of the season, breaking Maury Wills old mark of 104.

1972: Seibu pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi is born.

1968: Kintetsu pitcher Brian Shouse is born.

1967: Daiei infielder Brian Traxler is born.

1965: Nankai wins the Pacific League title.

1964: Lotte pitcher Kiyokazu Seki is born.

1964: Taiyo needs to win one of its last two games to grab the pennant, but drops both ends of the doubleheader by 5-0 and 3-2 margins to Hanshin, who eventually go on to the Japan Series.

1962: Taiyo pitcher Noboru Akiyama thorws shutouts on consecutive days. Note that the Whales finished FIFTH that season, making Akiyama's heroics both unnecessary and potentially injurious.

1955: Chunichi outfielder Akio Ishii is born.

1951: Hanshin and Kintetsu infielder Koji Kawamoto is born.

1946: Nishitetsu outfielder Yasutoshi Ono is born.

1946: Nishitetsu outfielder Tokio Komatsu is born.

1944: The fall segment of the schedule is canceled due to the war going badly. Hanshin is thus given the pennant.

1940: Daimai outfielder Takahiro Kamijo is born.

1939: Nankai infielder Shozo Higuchi is born.

1934: Hanshin catcher Tetsuya Yamamoto is born.

1920: Osaka Tigers pitcher Tadayoshi Kajioka is born.

2006: Nippon Ham clinches its first Pacific League pennant in 25 years with a 4-1 victory over Softbank at Sapporo Dome.

2006: Orix manager Katsuhiro Nakamura resigns after a fifth place finish.

2005: Rakuten releases catchers Hisahiko Irino, Koji Takahashi and Masashi Chikazawa as well as infielder Osamu Hoshino and outfielder Masaya Kojima.

2005: An investors group lead by Yoshiaki Murakami buys controlling shares in Hanshin Electric Railways, the parent firm of the Hanshin Tigers. This would lead to speculation of shares in the team being put up for sale on the Tokyo stock exchange.

2005: It is leaked that Yomiuri utilityman Daisuke Motoki will get his walking papers at the end of the season.

2001: Yakult releases pitcher Jonathan Hurst.

2001: Hiroshima pitcher Shinji Sasaoka suffers a dislocated shoulder and is expected to be out for three weeks.

2001: Yokohama releases outfielder Anthony Sanders.

2001: Hiroshima releases pitcher Erick Ludwick.

2001: Yomiuri and Kintetsu outfielder Keishi Totoki dies at age 65.

2000: In the bronze medla game at the Sydney Olympics, Korea edges Japan 3-1.

2000: Hanshin outfielder Tony Tarrasco is tossed after syaing the magic word to an umpire. The league office reprimanded him and fined him 100,000 yen.

2000: Hiroshima releases pitchers Shintaro Yamazaki, Atsushi Kobayashi and Takinori Yoshitoshi, infielders Jun Yamada, Takanobu Wakabayashi, Tomotaka Tamaki and Satoshi Iwasaki as well as outfielder Tomoshi Aoki.

2000: Seattle closer Kazuhiro Sasaki sets a record for rookies with his 36th save.

1999: Seibu infielder Yoshiaki Kanemura retires.

1999: Seibu releases pitcher Barry Manuel and outfielders Greg Blosser and Alan Zinter.

1999: Hiroshima releases pitcher Rick DeHart and infielder Felix Perdomo.

1998: Yomiuri outfielder Sadaaki Yoshimura retires.

1998: St. Louis first baseman Mark McGwire slugs his 70th homer of the year.

1998: Hiroshima pitcher Yutaka Ono makes the final appearance of his career, striking out the one man he faced, Yokohama pinch hitter Hitoshi Nakane, in the top of the eighth before coming out in favor of Kanei Kobayashi.

1997: Yomiuri first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara cracks his 1000th career hit.

1996: Daiei pitchers Takayoshi Eguchi, Ikuo Takayama and Eiichi Kasahara all retire.

1995: Yomiuri pitcher Kazuhisa Kawaguchi strikes out his 2000th man.

1995: Yokohama pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki racks up his 100th career save.

1995: Hanshin infielder Akinobu Mayumi is released.

1994: Nippon Ham pitcher Yasumitsu Shibata retires.

1992: Daiei pitcher Yutaro Imai and outfielder Koju Hirohashi retire.

1990: Kintetsu pitcher Hideo Nomo ties a record with his 20th game of the year where he has struckout ten or more.

1990: Yokohama releases outfielder Carlos Ponce.

1989: Yakult first baseman Katsumi Hirosawa hammers his 100th career homer.

1989: Hiroshima pitcher Yutaka Ono wins his 100th game.

1986: Hanshin outfielder Sumio Hirota registers his 1500th lifetime hit.

1986: Hanshin and Nankai pitcher Hiroshi Nakahara dies at age 65.

1986: Seibu first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara blasts his 29th homer of the year, a new record for rookies right out of high school.

1985: Hiroshima manager Takeshi Koba resigns.

1984: Yomiuri finishes construction of an indoor practice facility within the grounds of the Yomiuri Land amusemant park.

1984: Rakuten pitcher Satoshi Nagai is born.

1978: Hankyu wins the second half Pacific League title.

1978: Umpire Yoshida suddenly goes to the locker room in the middle of a game. He is supended for the rest of the year and his pay is reduced by the league.

1978: Kintetsu and Rakuten pitcher Kanehisa Arime is born.

1976: Hiroshima pitcher Antonio Guzman is born.

1973: Kintetsu outfielder Daisuke Matsuda is born.

1971: Lotte outfielder Zaijiro Onodera is born.

1969: Kintetsu pitcher Hiroshi Nishioka is born.

1966: Taiyo pitcher Joe Stanka becomes the first foreigner to ever win 100 games in Japan.

1966: Yomiuri, Orix and Yokohama outfielder Minoru Yojo is born.

1964: Chunichi and Yomiuri infielder Masahiro Kawai is born.

1962: Orix pitcher Don Schulze is born.

1961: Orix pitcher Atsumi Kobayashi is born.

1960: Hankyu and Daiei infielder Hiromi Matsunaga is born.

1957: Nippon Ham pitcher Akira Okawa is born.

1954: Hanshin and Hankyu pitcher Norikazu Miyata is born.

1951: Kintetsu, Yomiuri and Daiei catcher Shuzo Arita is born.

1951: Chunichi catcher Yoshiaki Katagai is born.

1946: The Tokyo Senators assume a game will be rained out due to a storm near their dormitory and don't even head to the ballpark. But the weather around the stadium was more amiable and it is never called, thus handing Goldstar a forfeit win. It was the first forfeit in Japanese pro history.

1942: Former Meiji University pitcher Hideo Fujimoto signs with the Tokyo Giants.

1941: Nishitetsu, Yomiuri and Hiroshima pitcher Yoshio Inoue is born.

1934: Chunichi pitcher Toshiro Ashiki is born.

1934: Chunichi infielder Toru Harada is born.

1906: Tokyo Senators outfielder Jiro Moriguchi is born.

2005: Yomiuri infielder Koji Goto announces his retirement.

2005: The Pacific League schedule ends. Nippon Ham finishes with its hitters fanning 1151 times, a new pro yakyu record.

2004: Orix manager Haruki Ihara is fired.

2001: Yomiuri manager Shigeo Nagashima steps down and head coach Tatsunori Hara is announced as the new skipper.

2001: Yomiuri pitcher Hiromi Makihara retires.

2001: Orix manager Akira Ogi announces he will quit.

2001: Yokohama only gets one hit in a game and wins anyway.

2001: Hanshin releases pitchers Shin Nakagomi, Toyohiko Yoshida, Hiroki Sakai, Takao Inoue and Takehiro Okumura as well as infielders Osamu Hoshino, Yuya Terada and Tomoyuki Takayama.

2001: The Western League schedule ends.

2000: Yakult pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii throws his 1000th career innings.

2000: Orix pitcher Hiroshi Kobayashi has surgery to remove bone spurs in his right elbow.

1999: Yomiuri pitcher Koji Uehara's 15 game winning streak ends.

1999: Nippon Ham manager Toshiharu Ueda resigns.

1999: Daiei releases pitcher Shintaro Yamazaki.

1999: Hanshin's minor league team clinches the Western league title.

1999: Kintetsu pitcher Ayahito Shinada has surgery to remove a bone spur in his left shoulder.

1999: The Taiwan Major League schedule resumes after being interrupted by the big earthquake there.

1997: Yakult clinches the pennant with a 16-1 wipeout of Hanshin at Meiji Jingu Stadium. The become just the fifth team in history to lead the league wire to wire and the first in 35 seasons.

1997: Keio University outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi drills his 23rd career homer, setting a new Tokyo Big Six University League record.

1996: Kintetsu infielder Chris Donnels fractures his left hand.

1995: Yomiuri pitcher Jimmy Jones is released.

1994: For only the fourth time in Central League history, two teams have the same winning percentage at the top of the circuit with less than ten games left in the schedule. In this case, it was Chunichi and Yomiuri.

1994: Nippon Ham infielder Yasunori Oshima decides to retire.

1992: The consecutive games rained out streak in the Central League grows to 33.

1991: A typhoon knocks out power at Heiwadai Stadium.

1988: Hankyu signs outfielder Todd Brown.

1985: 26 Hiroshima players go to the U.S. to take part in a fall instructional league.

1984: The president of the parent company of the Taiyo Whales asks Sadao Kondo to become manager of the ballclub.

1982: Nippon Ham wins the Pacific League second half title.

1978: Hiroshima sets a new record with 195 homers.

1977: Nankai announces the firing of manager Katsuya Nomura.

1977: Orix and Hanshin outfielder Ikuro Katsuragi is born.

1974: Nankai pitcher Yoshio Sato sets a new record by closing out his 58th game of the season.

1972: Nankai catcher Katsuya Nomura becomes the first man to eclipse the 550 homers mark.

1971: Hankyu clinches the Pacific League pennant.

1971: Daiei infielder Brian Banks is born.

1969: Hanshin pitcher Keiichi Yabu is born.

1968: Hanshin pitcher Keiichi Yabu is born.

1966: Chunichi infielder Susumu Aikawa homers in his first pro at bat.

1959: Hankyu outfielder Katsuhiko Tajima is born.

1954: Hanshin outfielder Masahiro Tanaka is born.

1951: Hiroshima pitcher Dave Rajsich is born.

1949: The Hiroshima Carp formally apply to be admitted to the pro leagues.

1948: Daiei Stars outfielder Michinori Tsubouchi becomes the first man ever in Japan to 1000 hits.

1947: Nippon Ham outfielder Mikio Sendo is born.

1947: Kintetsu pitcher Keishi Suzuki is born.

1942: Tokyo Orions outfielder Kunihiro Ishitani is born.

1938: Yomiuri pitcher Minoru Nakamura is born.

1936: Kokutetsu Swallows outfielder Kenichi Akagi is born.

1927: Hankyu infielder Noriaki Kawashima is born.

1920: Nankai pitcher Susumu Yuki is born.

1916: Tokyo Senators and Tsubasa outfielder Bunichi Yamazaki is born.

1915: Chunichi infielder Chuji Hamasaki is born.

29

2006: Rakuten outfielder Tetsuya Iida announces his retirement. In addition, Rakuten announces that pitcher Cedrick Bowers, infielder Yasuo Nagaike and outfielder Manabu Satake have been released. Catcher Katsunori Nomura also retired.

2006: Nippon Ham releases pitchers Yukiya Yokoyama, Tomokazu Iba, Kiyoshi Sasaki, Shuichi Iwashita and Satoshi Yano as well as outfielder Shogo Mori.

2006: Yokohama releases pitchers Daisuke Mori and Tetsuyuki Muranishi, infielder Makoto Fukumoto and outfielder Kazunori Tanaka.

2006: Pitcher Futoshi Yamabe and infielder Katsuyuki Dobashi were both informed that they would be released at the end of the season.

2005: Hanshin clinches the Central League pennant by beating Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium 5-1. Tigers reliever Kyuji Fujikawa sets a new pro yakyu record with his 79th appearance.

2005: Orix manager Akira Ogi resigns due to health concerns and becomes a special adviser for the team.

2001: Nippon Ham manager Yasunori Oshima was ejected while protesting a call by the umpire at Tokyo Dome

2001: Kintetsu pitcher Jeremy Powell smacks a hit, a rare occurrence since the Pacific League uses the DH.

2001: Yomiuri pitcher Masaaki Saito and catcher Shinichi Murata announce their retirements.

2001: Yokohama releases infielder Jon Zuber.

2001: Orix releases pitcher Carlos Pulido.

2001: Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki's 234 hits is a new rookie record.

2000: It is announced that Yokohama manager Hiroshi Gondo will step down effective at the end of the season.

2000: The Pacific League changes its off day from Monday to Thursday and announces that the following season will open on March 24th.

2000: Seibu releases pitchers Hisanori Yokota, Eiji Kimura and Rafael Diaz as well as infielders Hiroyuki Maebara and Shoichi Kida.

1999: Hiroshima pitcher Koji Hiroike homers in his first pro at bat.

1999: Nippon Ham releases pitcher Erik Schullstrom.

1999: Hiroshima releases pitchers Masahito Yamane, Kikuo Yamada, Masami Uno and Hideki Takahashi as well as outfielder Koichi Inoue.

1998: Hiroshima pitcher Eiji Kiyokawa retires.

1998: Hanshin pitchers Tetsuya Shimada and Yoshitake Ueda and infielder Kunji Yonesaki are released.

1998: Hiroshima infielder Kozo Shoda plays in his last game before retiring.

1998: Chunichi pitcher Ken Kadokura tosses a 1-0 shutout.

1998: Lotte pitcher Tomohiro Kuroki throws the first walkless shutout of his career in a two hitter.

1997: Seibu pitcher Takashi Ishii throws the first complete game of his career, a shutout. The game was highlighted by back to back to back jacks in the fourth inning by the Lions.

1994: Yokohama manager Akihito Kondo is ejected from a game.

1991: Hankyu infielder Kiyomitsu Nogami dies at age 76.

1989: Hanshin decides to hire Katshiro Nakamura as its manager for next season.

1988: Sadaharu Oh resigns as Yomiuri manager and is replaced by Motoshi Fujita.

1987: Hiroshima pitcher Manabu Kitabeppu wins his 150th game.

1984: Hiroshima's magic number to clinch is 4.

1984: Yomiuri pitcher Akira Nishimoto wins his 15th, tying him for tops in the league.

1984: Yomiuri sets a new team record with 183 homers.

1984: Seibu catcher Koichi Tabuchi has his retirement game.

1983: Taiyo pitcher Kazuhiko Endo is best in wins in the Central League with 15 wins while a similar nunber of victories by Seibu pitcher Masayuki Matsunuma leads the Pacific League.

1981: Nippon Ham catcher Daisuke Fujisaki is born.

1977: Hiroshima catcher Yuki Suzue is born.

1974: Nippon Ham catcher Hiroshi Takahashi plays every position during the game.

1971: Hiroshima infielder Eddy Diaz is born.

1970: Lotte pitcher Atsushi Yoshida is born.

1964: San Francisco pitcher Masanori Murakami picks up his first MLB win, also the first ever by a Japanese pitcher there.

1964: Lotte pitcher Eijiro Ai is born.

1960: Yomiuri pitcher Takehiko Bessho wins his 310th game.

1960: Hanshin outfielder Rob Deer is born.

1953: Yomiuri outfielder Warren Cromartie is born.

1952: Seibu pitcher Hirohisa Matsunuma is born.

1951: Nankai wins the Pacific League pennant.

1950: Chunichi infielder Ken Macha is born.

1950: Crown Lighter infielder Takahiro Nishida is born.

1935: Daiei Stars pitcher Takeshi Akiyama is born.

1935: Lotte outfielder Shigeru Arai is born.

1935: Hiroshima first baseman Hiromu Fujii is born.

2006: Seibu released pitchers Chang Chia-chiah, Masahiro Tazaki, Harumi Sugiyama, Go Ono and Mitsutaka Goto as well as catcher Takumi Shigi, infielder Kazuaki Miyazaki and outfielder Fumikazu Takanami.

2005: Seibu releases pitchers Tomoki Sato, Ryu Mayama, Kenichi Toriyabe, Kazuhiro Shibasaki and Hisaki Tomioka.

2005: Softbank releases infielders Mizuki Tanaka, Akihiko Kato and Naoki Tanaka. In addition, they also let outfielders Yudai Deguchi and Kazuyuki Takahashi go.

2005: Orix releases pitchers Makoto Suzuki, Akira Okamoto, Eiji Taniguchi and Daisuke Shioya along with infielders Yuji Goshima and Hiroki Fukutome as well as outfielder Nobutoshi Ido.

2005: Yomiuri catcher Shuji Nishiyama announces his retirement.

2002: Nippon Ham announces the signing of Texas Farm Director Trey Hillman as its new mana

2001: It is announced that manager Osamu Higashio will step down.

2001: Kintetsu leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes, chasing Sadaharu Oh's single season homer record, is pitched around by the Daiei Hawks, who are managed by Oh. Bullpen coach Yoshiharu Wakana would claim it was all his idea, but most of the foreign press blame Oh for it.

2001: Orix infielder Yasuo Fujii connects for a pinch hit sayonara grand slam to right at Kobe Green Stadium against Lotte off of closer Masahide Kobayashi to win it 7-6, the fourth slam of the season for him and the second pinch hitting, a new record for a single campaign. He is also only the third person in history to launch a pinch sayonara slam three runs behind.

2000: Seibu rookie pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is caught staying out into the early morning hours and is reprimanded by his team.

2000: Seibu releases pitcher Koichi Taira and infielder Yuji Kishikawa.

1999: Chunichi clinches the Central League pennant.

1999: Chunichi first baseman Takeshi Yamasaki fractures his left hand and will be out the rest of the season.

1999: Daiei pitcher Takayuki Shinohara's 14 game winning streak ends.

1999: Kintetsu outfielder Kazunori Yamamoto retires.

1998: Hanshin releases pitchers Masaaki Esaka and Akinori Takahashi.

1997: Yokohama closer Kazuhiro Sasaki ties a Japan reocrd with his 37th save.

1997: Yomiuri pitcher Junichi Kawahara buzzes one by a hitter's head and gets tossed.

1997: Chunichi outfielder Yonetoshi Kawamata announces that he will retire.

1996: It is announced that NPB will goto a 135 game schedule for at least the next two seasons. Also, with regards to a player's image rights for use by vodeo game makers, 70% of the royalties will go to the team and 30% to the player's association.

1995: Yakult clinches the Central League pennant with a victory over Yomiuri at Meiji Jingu Stadium.

1995: Kintetsu's minor league team wins the Western League title.

1994: Central League chairman Hiromi Kawashima issues a reprimand and a 500,000 yen fine to Yokohama manager Akihito Kondo.

1992: Seibu clinches the Pacific League pennant by routing Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.

1989: Hiroshima outfielder Kiyoyuki Nagashima plays in his 1000th game.

1989: Nippon Ham outfielder Makoto Shimada reaches 350 career steals.

1989: Kintetsu outfielder Ralph Bryant takes home his fourth golden sombrero of the campaign (four strikeouts in a game).

1986: The first domed stadium in Japanese history will be called Tokyo Dome, the Big Egg, it is announced.

1984: Hiroshima's magic number to clinch is two.

1984: Hiroshima infielder Tsubasa Nakatani is born.

1984: Yomiuri sets a new team record with a total attendance of 2.97 million.

1984: The Pacific League season ends with Hankyu in the top slot. The league's total attendance is 5,162,300.

1984: Hankyu infielder Boomer Wells wins the Triple Crown.

1983: Yakult infielder Katsuo Osugi is hospitalized with a circulatory problem.

1978: Lotte manager Masaichi Kaneda turns in his resignation.

1976: Hankyu wins the second half title. They had taken the first half as well.

1974: Yakult pitcher Mikio Tamba is born.

1974: Yokohama pitcher Masahiro Tasaki is born.

1971: Hiroshima pitcher Takashi Maema is born.

1970: Yakult catcher Takefumi Amano is born.

1965: The NPB rules committee announces that teams will be allowed up to two foreign players starting in 1966.

1964: Hanshin wins the Central League pennant on the last day of the season.

1964: Orix outfielder Doug Jennings is born.

1964: The Central League schedule ends.

1962: Toei wins its first pennant.

1962: Nankai catcher Katsuya Nomura sets a new Pacififc League record with 44 homers.

1960: Kokutetsu pitcher Masaichi Kaneda wins 20 games for the tenth year in a row in a game against Chunichi at Korakuen Stadium.

1960: Nippon Ham pitcher Mikio Kudoh is born.

1953: Taiyo outfielder Jim Peters is born.

1953: Hanshin outfielder Dan Gonzalez is born.

1951: Nippon Ham infielder Kenichi Yaezawa is born.

1946: Yomiuri infielder Kazuo Yamamoto is born.

1942: Hankyu pitcher Yukio Sasaki is born.

1937: Hanshin catcher Toshio Iwasaki is born.

1934: Nankai, Daiei Stars, Toei and Hankyu pitcher Yoshiji Yamamoto is born.

1933: Mainichi, Taiyo and Chunichi pitcher Shoichi Ono is born.

1918: Kintetsu infielder Takatsugu Nagata is born.

1917: Osaka Tigers catcher Toshio Iwasaki is born.

1914: Hankyu infielder Kiyomitsu Nogami is born.