Hanshin Tigers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hanshin Tigers |
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| 阪神タイガース | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| League | Nippon Professional Baseball
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| Location | HQ in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo, Japan | ||||
| Ballpark | Hanshin Koshien Stadium (1936–present) Kyocera Dome Osaka (interim) |
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| Year founded | December 10, 1935 | ||||
| Nickname(s) |
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| CL pennants | 7 (1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005, 2023, 2025) | ||||
| Japan Series championships | 2 (1985, 2023) | ||||
| JBL championships | 4 (1937 Fall, 1938 Spring, 1944, 1947) | ||||
| Former name(s) |
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| Colors | Yellow, Black, White |
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| Mascot | To-Lucky, Lucky, and Kita | ||||
| Playoff berths | 13 (2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) | ||||
| Retired numbers |
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| Ownership | Takaoki Fujiwara | ||||
| Management | Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. | ||||
| Manager | Kyuji Fujikawa | ||||
| Uniforms | |||||
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The Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース, Hanshin Taigāsu) are a super popular baseball team from Japan! They play in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is based in Nishinomiya, a city in Hyōgo, Japan. Their home stadium is the famous Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
The team is owned by Hanshin Electric Railway, a big company that is part of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings. The Hanshin Tigers are one of Japan's oldest professional baseball teams. They started playing way back in 1936 as the Osaka Tigers and got their current name in 1961.
Contents
Team History and Wins
The Hanshin Tigers started on December 10, 1935, and played their first games in 1936. They were first known as the Ōsaka Tigers. For a short time in 1940, they were called Hanshin. Then, in 1947, they became the Ōsaka Tigers again. Finally, in 1961, they changed their name to Hanshin Tigers because their home city is Nishinomiya, not Osaka.
Before 1950, when Japan's baseball league split into two, the Tigers won four championships! After that, they won the Central League seven times (in 1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005, 2023, and 2025). They also won the Japan Series, the big championship, twice, in 1985 and 2023.
The Tigers even played against famous American teams! In 2004, they beat the New York Yankees 11-7 in an exhibition game in Tokyo. In 2025, the Tigers played exhibition games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, two big teams from America. The Tigers won both games without letting the other team score!
The Tigers are super popular! In several years (like 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009), over three million fans came to their games. No other Japanese team had so many fans!
Their home stadium, Koshien, is also used for big high school baseball tournaments in spring and summer. When the summer tournament happens, the Tigers have to play their 'home' games at Kyocera Dome Osaka. Fans sometimes call this tough travel period "The Road of Death". Many amazing players have been part of the Hanshin Tigers, like Fumio Fujimura, Minoru Murayama, and Randy Bass.
Hanshin Koshien Stadium
Hanshin Koshien Stadium is the Tigers' home field. It's one of Japan's special baseball stadiums with natural grass. Koshien is unique because it has an all-dirt infield, unlike many other stadiums.
Koshien Stadium is the oldest baseball park in Japan, built in 1924. Even the famous American baseball player Babe Ruth visited it in 1934! You can find a special monument there to remember his visit.
Many people see Koshien as a "sacred" place for baseball. Players often bow when they enter and leave the field. This stadium also hosts big high school baseball championships every spring and summer. It's a tradition for losing high school teams to collect some of the dirt from the field as a special memory.
The Legend of the Colonel's Curse
For a long time, some fans believed the Tigers had a 'curse' on them! This started in 1985 when the Tigers won the Central League. Fans celebrated by jumping into the Dōtonbori Canal. Legend says that because no one looked like their star player, Randy Bass, they threw a statue of Colonel Sanders from KFC into the river instead! After this, the Tigers won the 1985 Japan Series. But then, for many years, they didn't win another championship. People said it was because of the 'Curse of the Colonel' and that they wouldn't win again until the statue was found.
In 2003, when the Tigers made it to the Japan Series again, some KFC restaurants even moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside to keep them safe from excited fans! They also reached the Japan Series in 2005 but didn't win.
Good news! Parts of the Colonel Sanders statue were found in the canal in 2009 by construction workers. It was missing a hand and glasses, but it was found! The statue is now kept at KFC headquarters. After this, the Tigers reached the Japan Series in 2014, but didn't win. Finally, the 'curse' was broken in 2023 when the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series by beating the Orix Buffaloes!
Amazing Tigers Fans
Hanshin Tigers fans are some of the most excited and loyal fans in all of Japanese baseball! They often travel to away games and cheer so loudly that they seem to outnumber the home team's fans!
A fun tradition for Tigers fans is releasing hundreds of air-filled balloons after the seventh inning, while singing their team's fight song. They do this at almost every game, both home and away!
The Tigers have a big rivalry with the Yomiuri Giants. It's one of the most famous rivalries in Japanese sports, like some of the biggest rivalries in American baseball!
The Hanshin Tigers' Fight Song
The Tigers have a very famous fight song called "The Hanshin Tigers' Song (阪神タイガースの歌, Hanshin Tigers no Uta)", also known as "Rokko Oroshi (六甲颪, 六甲おろし, lit. The (Downward) Wind of Mount Rokko)". It's super popular in the Kansai area and is played at all their games. The song talks about the strong wind from Mount Rokko, symbolizing the Tigers' brave spirit! You can even find this song in karaoke boxes!
Current Team Roster
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Hanshin Tigers roster
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| First squad | Second squad | ||||||
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Pitchers
Catchers
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Infielders
Outfielders
Manager
Coaches
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Pitchers
Catchers
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Infielders
Outfielders
Manager
Coaches
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| Development Players | |||||||
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| Updated 2022-12-13 | → All NPB rosters | ||||||
Famous Players and Retired Numbers
Former Players
Many talented players have played for the Hanshin Tigers. Some well-known names include:
Fumio Fujimura- Minoru Murayama
- Yoshio Yoshida
Randy Bass- Masayuki Kakefu
- Tomoaki Kanemoto
- Kyuji Fujikawa
Retired Numbers
The Hanshin Tigers honor some of their greatest players by retiring their jersey numbers. This means no other player on the team will ever wear that number again!
| Number | Player | Position | Years Played |
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| 10 | Fumio Fujimura |
Infielder / Pitcher Manager |
1936–1958 |
| 11 | Minoru Murayama |
Pitcher Manager |
1959–1972 |
| 23 | Yoshio Yoshida |
Shortstop Manager |
1953–1969 |
Players Who Played in MLB
Some Hanshin Tigers players have also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States:
- Kenji Johjima
- Ryan Vogelsong
- Tsuyoshi Shinjo
- Kei Igawa
- Cecil Fielder
- Kyuji Fujikawa
- Oh Seung-hwan
- Shintaro Fujinami
- Koyo Aoyagi
Team Mascots
The To-Lucky (トラッキー, Torakkii) is a mascot character of the Tigers. He entertains spectators at team games with his girlfriend, Lucky. To-Lucky's uniform number is 1985, because that's the year he first appeared. His name means "lucky tiger" in Japanese!
To-Lucky first appeared on the screen at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in 1985 and became a live mascot in 1987. His design was updated in 1992.
Besides To-Lucky, there's also Lucky (ラッキー Rakkii), his girlfriend, and the most recent addition, Keeta (キー太), Lucky's younger brother. Keeta joined the team in 2011 and wears a cool backwards cap!
Images for kids
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Kōshien Stadium in 2009
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Tigers fans at a home game at Koshien Stadium
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Tigers fans release balloons at the Kyocera Dome, the home stadium of the Orix Buffaloes
See also
In Spanish: Hanshin Tigers para niños
- Central League
- Western League
- Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group – Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
- Tampere Tigers
