Yomiuri Giants facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yomiuri Giants
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League	Nippon Professional Baseball Central League (1950–present) Japanese Baseball League (1936–1949) Independent (1934–1935)
Location	Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
Ballpark	Tokyo Dome
Year founded	December 26, 1934; 90 years ago (1934-12-26)
Nickname(s)	Kyojin (巨人, giant)
CL pennants	39 (1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2024)
Japan Series championships	22 (1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1981, 1989, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2012)
JBL championships	9 (1936 Fall, 1937 Spring, 1938 Fall, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949)
Former name(s)	Tokyo Kyojin (1941-1946) Tokyo Giants (1935–1940) Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club (1934)
Former ballparks	Korakuen Stadium (1937–1987)
Colors	Orange, Black, White
Mascot	Giabbit
Playoff berths	14 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024)
Retired numbers	1 3 4 14 16 34
Ownership	Legally as KK Yomiuri Kyojingun (株式会社読売巨人軍) 100% owned by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings
Management	Toshikazu Yamaguchi
Manager	Shinnosuke Abe
Uniforms

The Yomiuri Giants are a famous Japanese professional baseball team. They play in the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. The team is based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. They share Tokyo with another team, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Since 1988, the Giants have played their home games at the Tokyo Dome. The team is owned by Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, a large media company in Japan. This company also owns newspapers and a TV network.

The Giants are the oldest professional sports team in Japan. They are also the most successful. They have won 22 Japan Series titles. They also won nine titles before NPB started, in the Japanese Baseball League. Their biggest rival is the Hanshin Tigers. Many people call the Yomiuri Giants "The New York Yankees of Japan." This is because they are very popular and have won many games. Some fans love them, while others dislike them, especially if they support a different local team.

Sometimes, English news calls them the Tokyo Giants. But this name has not been used in Japan for a long time. The team is officially known by its owner's name, like other Japanese teams. Fans often call them Kyojin, which means "giant(s)" in Japanese.

The Yomiuri Giants got their name and uniforms from the New York Giants baseball team. Their team colors, orange and black, are the same as the New York Giants. The letters on their jerseys and caps look like the style used by the New York Giants in the 1930s.

Discovering the Giants' History

How the Team Started

The team began in 1934. It was called The Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club. This team was made of all-star players. A media leader named Matsutarō Shōriki created it. They toured the United States and played against American all-stars. Famous players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were on the American team. Shōriki decided to make this group a professional team.

In 1935, the team went to the United States again. They played many games against college and minor league teams. They played 109 games in 128 days! They won 75 games.

When they played the San Francisco Seals, the Seals' manager, Lefty O'Doul, suggested a new name. He said Tokyo was like New York in Japan. So, they should be like one of New York's baseball teams. He suggested "Giants," and the team became the Tokyo Giants during that tour.

Becoming the Tokyo Kyojin

In 1936, the Japanese Baseball League was formed. The team changed its name to the Tokyo Kyojin. This name is often translated as Tokyo Giants. They won eight league championships from 1936 to 1943. This included six championships in a row!

Victor Starffin, a pitcher born in Russia, was a star player until 1944. He won many games and awards. In 1939, he won a record 42 games! Another great pitcher was Eiji Sawamura. He threw the first no-hitter in Japanese professional baseball in 1936. He threw two more no-hitters later. Sawamura was a soldier in World War II and sadly died in battle.

Haruyasu Nakajima was a key hitter for the team. He also led the team as a player-manager to a championship in 1941. Tetsuharu Kawakami played for the team for many years. He won the batting title five times. He was the first Japanese player to get 2,000 hits. Shosei Go was a fast player, nicknamed "The Human Locomotive."

Pitcher Hideo Fujimoto played for 12 seasons. He holds records for the lowest career ERA (1.90) and best seasonal ERA (0.73 in 1943). He also threw the first perfect game in Japanese professional baseball.

The Yomiuri Giants Era

In 1947, the team became the Yomiuri Giants. They won the last JBL championship in 1949. From 1938 to 1987, the Giants played at Korakuen Stadium. Then, in 1988, they moved to their current home, the Tokyo Dome.

In 1950, the Giants helped start Nippon Professional Baseball. They joined the Central League.

Noboru Aota was a great slugger for the Giants. He helped them win their first NPB championship in the 1951 Japan Series. They beat the Nankai Hawks. The Giants also won the Japan Series in 1952, 1953, and 1955. They were the Central League champions every year from 1955 to 1959.

Sadaharu Oh, who holds the world record for career home runs, played for the Giants from 1959 to 1980. Shigeo Nagashima, another famous player, played from 1958 to 1974. These two players were known as the ON Hou ("Oh-Nagashima Cannon") because they were such powerful hitters. Their manager, Tetsuharu Kawakami, led the Giants to win nine straight Japan Series championships from 1965 to 1973! During this time, Oh and Nagashima won many batting titles.

After retiring, Shigeo Nagashima became the Giants' manager. He managed the team from 1974 to 1980. Later, Sadaharu Oh also managed the team. Nagashima returned as manager from 1993 to 2001. He led the team to win Japan Series championships in 1994, 1996, and 2000.

Hideki Matsui was a star outfielder for the Giants in the 1990s and early 2000s. He later played in Major League Baseball in the US. He won the NPB MVP award three times. He helped his team win three Japan Series titles. Fans called him "Godzilla" because of his powerful hitting.

Giants' Managers Through the Years

Name	Nationality	From	To	Games	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win %
Sadayoshi Fujimoto	Japan	1936	1942	604	422	168	14	.715
Haruyasu Nakajima	Japan	1943	1943	84	54	27	3	.667
Hideo Fujimoto	Japan	1944	1944	35	19	14	2	.576
Hideo Fujimoto (2)	Japan	1946	1946	25	15	9	1	.625
Haruyasu Nakajima (2)	Japan	1946	1947	171	96	74	1	.564
Osamu Mihara	Japan	1947	1949	302	177	118	7	.600
Shigeru Mizuhara	Japan	1950	1960	1407	881	497	29	.639
Tetsuharu Kawakami	Japan	1961	1974	1868	1066	741	61	.590
Shigeo Nagashima	Japan	1975	1980	780	387	386	55	.533
Motoshi Fujita	Japan	1981	1983	390	211	148	31	.588
Sadaharu Oh	Taiwan	1984	1988	650	347	264	39	.568
Motoshi Fujita (2)	Japan	1989	1992	520	305	213	2	.587
Shigeo Nagashima (2)	Japan	1993	2001	1202	647	551	4	.538
Tatsunori Hara	Japan	2002	2003	280	147	138	5	.535
Tsuneo Horiuchi	Japan	2004	2005	284	133	144	7	.480
Tatsunori Hara (2)	Japan	2006	2015	1441	795	595	51	.572
Yoshinobu Takahashi	Japan	2016	2018	429	210	208	11	.502
Tatsunori Hara (3)	Japan	2019	2023	657	344	313	35	.524
Shinnosuke Abe	Japan	2024	ongoing	143	77	59	7	.566

Giants' Biggest Rivals

The Giants have strong rivalries with other teams in the Central League. Their main rivals are the Hanshin Tigers from Nishinomiya, the Chunichi Dragons from Nagoya, and their city rivals, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Facing the Hanshin Tigers

The rivalry between the Giants and Tigers is the most exciting in Japanese team sports.

This feud started on July 15, 1936. That day, Haruyasu Nakajima hit the first home run for the Giants. But the Tigers still won the game. Later, on September 25, 1936, Giants pitcher Eiji Sawamura threw the first no-hitter in Japanese pro baseball against the Tigers.

The Giants have often had more success than the Tigers. From 1956 to 1959, the Giants won the Central League pennant four times. In 1959, a special game was played. Emperor Hirohito watched the game between the Tigers and Giants. Giants legend Shigeo Nagashima hit a walk-off home run to win the game! During the Giants' "V9 dynasty" (nine straight Japan Series wins from 1965 to 1973), the Tigers often finished second.

Today, the Giants still lead in Japan Series championships (22-2) and Central League pennants (39-6) against the Tigers.

Competing with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows

This rivalry is about two teams from Tokyo. The Swallows started in 1950. But the rivalry became more intense around 2006. That's when the Swallows added "Tokyo" to their name. Games between them are now called the "Tokyo Series."

Since 2006, the Giants have won more regular season games against the Swallows. Overall, since 1950, the Giants lead the Swallows in head-to-head games.

Battling the Chunichi Dragons

The Giants-Dragons rivalry is said to be the oldest in Japanese professional team sports.

The Giants and an early version of the Dragons first played on February 5, 1936. This was the very first game in the history of the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Like with the Tigers, the Giants have often had more success against the Dragons. This has created strong feelings among Dragons fans. A famous game was in 1994. The Giants and Dragons were tied for first place. The Giants won that final game, 6-3. This game is known as the "10.8 Showdown." The Giants then went on to win the 1994 Japan Series.

The Giants still lead the Dragons in Japan Series championships (22-2) and Central League pennants (39-9).

Famous Giants Players

Former Stars of the Team

Honored Retired Numbers

The Giants have retired numbers for some of their most legendary players:

• 1 – Sadaharu Oh
• 3 – Shigeo Nagashima
• 4 – Toshio Kurosawa
• 14 – Eiji Sawamura
• 16 – Tetsuharu Kawakami
• 34 – Masaichi Kaneda

"Japan's Team"

Tokyo Dome is the Giants' home field since 1988

The Yomiuri company is very powerful in Japan. Because of this, the Giants have long been called "Japan's Team." For some years, the Giants' uniforms even said "Tokyo" instead of "Yomiuri" or "Giants." This made it seem like they represented all of Tokyo and Japan. This is even though other teams play in Tokyo.

Many people compare the Giants' popularity to teams like the New York Yankees in the US. The Giants have a huge number of fans. However, fans of other Japanese baseball teams often dislike the Giants' marketing. There's even an "anti-Giants" movement.

Many Japanese fans are proud of a time from 1958 to 1974. During these years, the Giants won many championships (13 pennants). They did this without any foreign players on the team.

Giants Players in MLB

Some players who played for the Yomiuri Giants have also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.

Currently Playing in MLB

• Miles Mikolas (2015–2017 with Giants)
• Matt Andriese (2022 with Giants)
• Rougned Odor (2024–present with Giants)

Retired from MLB

• Hideki Matsui (2003–2012 in MLB)
• Koji Uehara (2009–2017 in MLB)
• Masumi Kuwata (2007 in MLB)
• Hideki Okajima (2007–2011, 2013 in MLB)

Meet the Giabbits: Team Mascots

The Giants have six mascots called the Giabbits. They are based on an old Giants logo. There are two adult male mascots, Giabyi and Giabba. Their jersey numbers are 333 and 555. There's also an adult female mascot named Vicky. Two child mascots, Tsuppy (a boy) and Chappy (a girl), are also part of the group. The newest mascot is Grandpa Giabbit, who joined in 2014 for the team's 80th anniversary. His jersey number is 1934, the year the team started.

Minor League Team

The Giants also have a farm team. This is a team where younger players develop their skills. They play in the Eastern League. This team was started in 1949.

Images for kids

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  Tetsuharu Kawakami in 1946

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  Three Giants stars of the 1950s: Tetsuharu Kawakami, Shigeru Chiba, and Noboru Aota

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  Suguru Egawa after 1981

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  Tatsunori Hara in 2012

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  A celebration with Giants supporters for the NPB championship parade in November 2009

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  A celebration for Shigeo Nagashima in Tokyo Dome, May 2013

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  A main Giants pitcher, Tomoyuki Sugano

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  Main Giants player, Kazuma Okamoto

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  Hideki Matsui

See also

In Spanish: Yomiuri Giants para niños