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Saitama Seibu Lions
League	Pacific League
Location	Tokorozawa, Saitama
Ballpark	Seibu Dome(Goodwill Dome)
Year Founded	1950
Nickname(s)	Seibu (西武), Lions (ライオンズ), Leo (レオ), Shishi (獅子, which means lion)
League championships	1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004
Japan Series championships	1956, 1957, 1958, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2004
Former name(s)	Nishitetsu Clippers (1950), Nishitetsu Lions (1951-1972), Taiheiyo Club Lions (1973–1976), Crown Lighter Lions (1977–1978), Seibu Lions (1979–2007), Saitama Seibu Lions (2008–)
Colors	Blue, white and green
Logo Design	A white lions's head on a green field.[1]
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Saitama Seibu Lions (埼玉西武ライオンズ, Saitama Seibu Raionzu^?) are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League. As a company, it is a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, belonging to Seibu Group. Recently, the team has stood on shaky financial ground, a standing that may be remedied now that the Lions' superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has signed with the Boston Red Sox. With the Red Sox signing Matsuzaka, the Lions will get the 6 billion Japanese yen (about $51.11 million USD) posting fee. Since 1978, the team logo and mascot is based on the adult Kimba the White Lion, a famous classic anime series by Osamu Tezuka.^[2]

In 2004, former Seibu Lions player Kazuo Matsui became the first Japanese infielder to play in Major League Baseball.

Contents 1 Franchise history 1.1 Nishitetsu Clippers (1950) 1.2 Nishitetsu Lions (1951-1972) 1.3 Taiheiyo Club Lions (1973-1976) 1.4 Crown Lighter Lions (1977-1978) 1.5 Seibu Lions (1979-2007) 1.6 The "Golden Age" of Seibu Lions(1982-1994) 1.6.1 Stars in their "Golden Age" 1.7 Saitama Seibu Lions (2008-) 2 Season-by-season records 3 Current roster 3.1 Pitcher 3.2 Catcher 3.3 Infielder 3.4 Outfielder 3.5 Coaches/Other 3.5.1 Manager 3.5.2 Coaches 4 Managers 5 Former players of note 5.1 Honored numbers 6 External links 7 Notes and references

In 1950, the team became a founding member of the Pacific League, and was owned by Nishi-Nippon Railroad based in Fukuoka. The team finished sixth that year, and at the end of the season the team was merged with the Nishi-Nippon Pirates to form the Nishitetsu Lions.

In 1951, the Nishi-Nippon Pirates and Nishitetsu Clippers merged to form the Nishitetsu Lions. They were one of the top Pacific League teams of the decade, winning four pennants and winning three straight Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants. Osamu Mihara managed the team throughout their 1950s success period. The team was not as successful in the following decade and in 1973 was sold and became the Taiheiyo Club Lions. The Nishitetsu Lions called Heiwadai Stadium home for their entire existence.

In November, 1972, the Nishitetsu Lions were bought by the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation from Nishi-Nippon Railroad. The company was founded by Nagayoshi Nakamura, owner of the Lotte and the Orions. The team's sponsorship rights were then sold to Taiheiyo Club, a golf course and resort developer, and the team was renamed. The team remained as the Taiheiyo Club Lions until after the 1976 season. Through the course of the 1970s, the Lions finished no higher than third.

At the end of the 1976 season, the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation announced that the team's new sponsor was Crown Gas Lighter. With this, the team's name for the upcoming season was changed to the Crown Lighter Lions. At the end of the 1978 season the team was sold to Kokudo Keikaku (later Kokudo, then merged into Prince Hotels), a Seibu Railway Group company.

The Crown Lighter Lions were sold to Seibu Group in 1978, and since then have used the name Seibu Lions, and relocated to a new ballpark in Tokorozawa, Saitama.

Seibu Lions started their history in the last place in 1979. But with new manager Tatsuro Hirooka and starplayers such as Osamu Higashio, Koichi Tabuchi, they started their Golden Age with two-year straight Japan Series winning in 1982-1983 and 1985 league champion. In the years with next manager Masaaki Mori, Lions had neary dominated the Japanese professional baseball scene over ten years with devastating batters and pichers. Lions had various type of batters- sluggers such as Kouji Akiyama, Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Orestes Destrade, skilled players such as Hiromichi Ishige, Hatsuhiko Tsuji, and smart catcher Tsutomu Ito. And they also had great pichers- starting pichers: "The Oriental Express" Taigen Kaku, Kimiyasu Kudo, Hisanobu Watanabe, bullpen pichers: Yoshitaka Katori, Testuya Shiozaki. Mori won 8 league championship(1986-1988,1990-1994) and 6 Japan Series championship(1986-1988,1990-1992) in his nine-year managing career. Seibu Lions was called "Invincible Seibu" because of their accomplishment in those days.

Name	position	Title and accomplishment	Note
Kouji Akiyama	CF	Home Run Title 1987, Stolen Base Title 1990, Golden Glove 1987-1996,1999 437 HR and 303 SB in career	Belonged to Daiei Hawks from 1994
Kazuhiro Kiyohara	1B	Rookie of the year 1986, Golden Glove (1988,1990,1992-1994), 525HR and 1527 RBIs in career
Orestes Destrade	DH	Home Run Title 1990-1992, RBI Title 1990-1991
Hiromichi Ishige	3B	Rookie of the year, Golden Glove 1981-1983,1985-1988,1991-1993), MVP 1986
Hatsuhiko Tuji	2B	Batting Title 1993, Golden Glove 1986, 1988-1994
Tsutomu Ito	C	Golden Glove 1985-1988, 1990-1992, 1994-1995 1997-1998
Hisanobu Watanabe	P	Winning Percentage Title 1986, 1988, 1990, ERA Title 1986, Strikeout Title 1986, Golden Glove 1990, No-hitter 1996
Osamu Higashio	P	Wins Champion 1975,1983, ERA Title 1983, Strikeout Title 1975, MVP 1983,1987, Golden Glove 1983-1987
Taigen Kaku	P	MVP1991, Golden Grove 1991-1992, No-hitter 1985
Kimiyasu Kudo	P	ERA Title 1985,1987,1993,1999, Winning Percentage Title1987,1991,1993,2000, Strikeout Title 1996,1999, Golden Glove 1994-1995,2000, MVP 1999	Belonged to Daiei Hawks from 1994, Yomiuri Giants from 2000

In order to reinforce relationship with their hometown, the Lions added their region (prefecture) name "Saitama" to their team name.