Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

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Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
League	Pacific League
Location	Fukuoka
Ballpark	Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome
Year Founded	1938
Nickname(s)	SoftBank (ソフトバンク), Hawks (ホークス), Taka (鷹, hawk), SB
League championships	1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1999, 2000, 2003
Japan Series championships	1959, 1964, 1999, 2003
Former name(s)	Nankai (1938-1944), Kinki Nihon (1944), Kinki Great Ring (1946-1947), Nankai Hawks (1947-1988), Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (1989-2004)
Colors	Yellow and black
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (福岡ソフトバンクホークス, Fukuoka Sofutobanku Hōkusu^?) are a Japanese baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. The team was bought on January 28, 2005 by SoftBank Corporation.

It was formerly known as Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. In 1988, Daiei bought the team from Osaka's Nankai Electric Railway Co., and its headquarters was moved to Fukuoka. The Daiei Hawks won the Pacific League championship in 1999, 2000 and 2003 and won the Japan Series in 1999 and 2003.

Contents 1 News 1.1 2003 1.2 2004 2 Players of Note 2.1 Current Manager 2.2 Current Stars 2.3 Former Players 2.3.1 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2.3.2 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 2.3.3 Nankai Hawks 2.4 Retired numbers 2.4.1 Honored numbers 3 External link

[edit] News

[edit] 2003

Daiei Inc of Japan had a 60% ownership stake in the team. Daiei Inc., under financial pressure, agreed to sell the team as well as the Fukuoka Dome and the Sea Hawk Hotel.

[edit] 2004

In August, Daiei's was in discussion with its primary lenders, including UFJ Bank, to avoid having to sell the Daiei Hawks.

[edit] Players of Note

[edit] Current Manager

• 89 Sadaharu Oh

[edit] Current Stars

• 18 Nagisa Arakaki - P
• 00 Brian Buchanan - OF
• 43 Rick Guttormson - P
•  4 Adam Hyzdu- IF
• 52 Munenori Kawasaki - SS
•  9 Hiroki Kokubo - 3B
• 14 Takahiro Mahara - P
•  3 Nobuhiko Matsunaka - 1B
• 35 Christopher Nitkowski - P
•  7 Naoyuki Ohmura - CF
• 66 Kazumi Saitoh - P
•  1 Hiroshi Shibahara - RF
• 47 Toshiya Sugiuchi - P
•  6 Hitoshi Tamura - LF
• 21 Tsuyoshi Wada - P

[edit] Former Players

[edit] Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

• Tony Batista
• Jolbert Cabrera - 2B
• Kenji Johjima - C (Currently with Seattle Mariners MLB)
• Julio Zuleta - DH

[edit] Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

• Koji Akiyama
• Morgan Burkhart
• Rich Gossage
• Lindsay Gulin
• Chris Haney
• Tadahito Iguchi
• Kimiyasu Kudoh
• Kevin Mitchell
• Brady Raggio
• Bobby Thigpen
• Willie Upshaw

[edit] Nankai Hawks

• Tony Bernazard
• Don Blasingame
• Katsuya Nomura
• Joe Stanka
• Tadashi Sugiura

[edit] Retired numbers

[edit] Honored numbers

• 15 Masao Fujii

[edit] External link

• (Japanese) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks official web site

Nippon Professional Baseball
Central League			Pacific League
Yomiuri Giants	Chunichi Dragons	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters	Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	Chiba Lotte Marines
Hiroshima Toyo Carp	Hanshin Tigers	Yokohama BayStars	Seibu Lions	Orix Buffaloes	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
Japan Series - Japanese Baseball League (former) - Eastern League - Western League- edit table