Hankyu Braves

Japan Series Titles: 3 (1975, 1976, 1977)

Pacific League Pennants: 10 (1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1984)

Franchise Players: Tetsuya Yoneda, Yutaka Fukumoto, Daryl Spencer, Tokuji Nagaike, Hideji Kato, Hisashi Yamada, Boomer Wells

The Hankyu club, originally formed by the parent railroad company in 1936, was called simply Hankyu until 1947 when they were briefly called the Hankyu Bears before settling on the Hankyu Braves name they would use for four decades.

They were charter member of the Pacific League in 1950. The team was the top PL team in the late '60s and throughout the '70s. They faded in the '80s and in 1988 were sold to Orix and became the Orix Braves.

The Braves were the doormat for the Yomiuri Giants during the period when the Giants won nine straight Japan Series - they beat Hankyu in 5 of those 9 post-seasons. After the Giants faded, Hankyu won their first Japan Series - and the next one, and the one after that to boot. Throughout its history, Hankyu played its home games in Nishinomiya Stadium.

Managers

• 1936-1937: Daisuke Miyake
• 1937: Minoru Murakami
• 1938-1939: Minoru Yamashita
• 1939: Minoru Murakami
• 1940-1942: Toshiharu Inokawa
• 1943-1947: Masao Nishimura
• 1948-1953: Shinji Hamazaki
• 1954-1956: Masao Nishimura
• 1957-1959: Sadayoshi Fujimoto
• 1959: Giichi Hayashi
• 1959-1962: Katsuki Tokura
• 1963-1973: Yukio Nishimoto
• 1974-1978: Toshiharu Ueda
• 1979-1980: Takao Kajimoto
• 1981-1988: Toshiharu Ueda

New Team

Orix BlueWave 1947 - 1988 Hankyu Bears 1947 (preseason) Hankyu 1936 - 1946

Succeeded by Orix Braves