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Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB)

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Organization

The Resume

    (1950- )
    Two leagues (Central and Pacific)
    Six teams per league
    League champions compete in the Japan Series

Why Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB) might be annoying:

    Though baseball was introduced to Japan in the mid-1930s, the leagues were not organized until 1950.
    Twenty of their championships have been won by the Yomiuri Giants.
    Major corporations own and place their name on every team.
    League members are often heavily biased towards Japanese players.
    Two foreign players, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera, were denied the chance to break Sadaharu Oh's single-season home run record by Japanese players.
    There is a four foreign-player limit on a team.
    Foreign players take the blame for teams' failures.
    Many people accuse the league of nationalism.
    Games can end in ties after 12 innings.
    Before 2006, teams were allowed to use their own baseballs.
    Also before 2006, pitchers in the league were allowed to pause twice in their pitching delivery. This threw off foreign players and hurt their own chances in international competition.
    They want to preserve Sadaharu Oh's records when he, ironically, is not a Japanese citizen.
    Their Spring Training is far more rigorous than that of Major League Baseball.

Why Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB) might not be annoying:

    They saw the MLB bias in the World Baseball Cup, and voted against participating (July 2005).
    American fans tend to underestimate the top talent in the league.
    A Major League Baseball season opening series between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took place in the Tokyo Dome (2003).
    Every November, Japanese stars meet MLB stars in an eight-game series in Japan.
    Former MLB players, such as Tuffy Rhodes, Benny Agbayani, Matt Franco, Tony Batista, and Alex Cabrera play there.
    Former MLB manager Bobby Valentine is the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines.
    Their all-time home run king, Sadaharu Oh, holds the official world home run record with 868.
    They started the careers of such players as Ichiro, Hideki Matsui and Hideo Nomo.
    The Yomiuri Giants won nine consecutive Japan Series titles (1965-1973).

Credit: Freedom Rock


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 60.87% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 57 Votes: 71.93% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 32 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 130 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 112 Votes: 66.96% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 133 Votes: 58.65% Annoying