From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chunichi Dragons
League	Central League
Location	Nagoya
Ballpark	Nagoya Dome
Year Founded	1936
Nickname(s)	Chunichi (中日), Dragons (ドラゴンズ), Ryu (竜, dragon)
League championships	1954, 1974, 1982, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2006
Japan Series championships	1954
Former name(s)	Nagoya Club (1936-1943), Sangyo (1944), Chubu Nihon (1946), Chunichi Dragons (1947-1950), Nagoya Dragons (1951-1953)
Colors	Blue and white
Logo Design	"Dragons" written in blue with a "C" interlocking with the letter D
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Chunichi Dragons (中日ドラゴンズ, Chūnichi Doragonzu^?) are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu ("Middle of Japan") region of Japan. The team is in the Central League.

The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant seven times (including 2006), and won the Japan Series in 1954. In 1974, the team won the league title for the first time in 20 years, and this victory stopped the Yomiuri Giants from winning the league for their tenth consecutive year. Another league title came in 1999, and in that year, Dragons set a record by winning 11 consecutive games at the opening of the season.

It is said that the Dragons are difficult team to score runs against because of the strong throwing arms of outfielders Kosuke Fukudome and Alex Ochoa, and an excellent closer Hitoki Iwase. In the 2004 season they reached the Japan Series, but lost to the Seibu Lions, the Pacific League Champions.

The Dragons won the Central League Pennant for the seventh time in 2006, but after taking the first game of the Japan Series in Nagoya, lost 4 straight games to the champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. That series loss made the Dragons the first team to ever lose in six consecutive trips to the Japan Series, breaking a tie they had held with the Seibu Lions and the former Hankyu Braves. [1]

Contents 1 Players of note 1.1 Current stars 1.2 Former famous stars 1.3 Retired numbers 2 Trivia 3 External links

•  1 Kosuke Fukudome (福留 孝介)
•  2 Masahiro Araki (荒木 雅博)
•  3 Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (立浪 和義)
•  4 Alex Ochoa(アレックス)
•  6 Hirokazu Ibata (井端 弘和)
•  7 Masahiro Kawai (川相 昌弘)
•  9 Inoue Kazuki (井上 一樹)(team leader, 2006, 選手会長)
• 11 Kenshin Kawakami (川上 憲伸)
• 13 Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬 仁紀)
• 27 Motonobu Tanishige (谷繁 元信)
• 31 Morino Masahiko (森野 将彦)
• 34 Masahiro Yamamoto (山本 昌広) (Playing as 山本昌, the oldest no-hitter recorded on September 16, 2006)
• 44 Tyrone Woods (T. ウッズ)
• 49 Martinez (マルティネス)
• 66 Hiromitsu Ochiai (落合 博満) (Manager)

• Willie Davis
• Larry Doby
• Genji Kaku
• Leo Gómez
• Mel Hall
• Masahiro Kawai (川相 昌弘) - a player who broke the world record of sacrifice bunt held by Eddie Collins
• Vance Law
• Omar Linares
• Ken Macha
• Don Newcombe
• Michio Nishizawa (西澤 道夫)
• Alonzo Powell
• Dong-Yol Sun

• 10 Tsuguhiro Hattori (服部 受弘)
• 15 Michio Nishizawa (西澤 道夫)

The Dragons were featured in the 1992 movie Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. Their logo at the time, which they used for many years, was "Dragons" written in script which resembled the logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The oldest pitcher in NPB to throw a no-hitter is Dragons veteran Masahiro Yamamoto. He performed the feat on September 16, 2006, at 41 years of age.

• (Japanese) Chunichi Dragons 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