| Chunichi Dragons |
 |
| League |
Central League |
| Location |
Nagoya |
| Ballpark |
Nagoya Dome |
| Year Founded |
1936 |
| Nickname(s) |
Chunichi (中日), Dragons (ドラゴンズ), Ryu (竜, dragon) |
| League championships |
1954, 1974, 1982, 1988, 1999, 2004, 2006
2007(climax) |
| Konami Cup championships |
2007 |
| Former name(s) |
Nagoya Club (1936-1943), Sangyo (1944), Chubu Nihon (1946), Chunichi Dragons (1947-1950), Nagoya Dragons (1951-1953) |
| Colors |
Blue and white |
| Logo Design |
"Dragons" written in blue with a "C" interlocking with the letter D |
| Uniforms |
|
|
|
The Chunichi Dragons (中日ドラゴンズ, Chūnichi Doragonzu?) are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu ("Middle of Japan") region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and Konami Cup Asia Series 2007. The Chunichi Dragons had won the Central League pennant seven times until 2006, but until 2007 their last Japan Series victory was in 1954, the longest such drought in NPB. In 1974, the team won the league title for the first time in 20 years, and this victory stopped the Yomiuri Giants from winning the league for their tenth consecutive year. Another league title came in 1999, and in that year, Dragons set a record by winning 11 consecutive games at the opening of the season. It is said that the Dragons are a difficult team to score runs against because of the strong throwing arm of outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, and an excellent closer Hitoki Iwase. In the 2004 season they reached the Japan Series, but lost to the Seibu Lions, the Pacific League Champions. 2007 was the first year in Central League history where the league winner did not automatically advance to the Japan Series. The Dragons took advantage of the new playoff system, and after finishing second in the season standings, swept the Hanshin Tigers in a best of 3 series, then swept the Yomiuri Giants in a best of 5 series to advance to the Japan Series against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. In an exact reversal of the 2006 Japan Series, Hokkaido won game 1 of the series, but the Dragons won the next four straight games, including a combined perfect game from Daisuke Yamai and star closer Hitoki Iwase in the deciding Game 5, to become the 2007 Japan Series Champions.
Current Roster
Pitcher
- 0
Kongoh Hiroki (金剛 弘樹)
- 11 Kenshin Kawakami (川上 憲伸)
- 12 Shinya Okamoto (岡本 真也)
- 13 Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬 仁紀)
- 14 Kenta Asakura (朝倉 健太)
- 16 Mitsuru Satoh (佐藤 充)
- 17 Susumu Kawai (川井 進)
- 18 Atsushi Nakazato (中里 篤史)
- 19 Kazuki Yoshimi (吉見 一起)
- 20 Kenichi Nakata (中田 賢一)
- 21 Tatsumi Higuchi (樋口 龍美)
- 23 Yoshihiro Suzuki (鈴木 義広)
- 26 Sohma Yamauchi (山内 壮馬)
- 29 Daisuke Yamai (山井 大介)
- 30 Yuya Ishii (石井 裕也)
- 33 Masahumi Hirai (平井 正史)
- 34 Masahiro Yamamoto (山本 昌広) (Playing as 山本昌, the oldest no-hitter recorded on September 16, 2006)
- 36 Tomori Denney (デニー 友利)
- 38 Shinsuke Saitoh (斉藤 信介)
- 41 Takuya Asao (浅尾 拓也)
- 42
Rafael Cruz (ラファエル・クルス)
- 42 Santiago Ramirez (サンティアゴ・ラミレス)
- 43 Takashi Ogasawara (小笠原 孝)
- 47 Masanori Kikuchi (菊地 正法)
- 49 Franklyn Gracesqui (フランクリン・グラセスキー)
- 50 Ryouta Satoh (佐藤 亮太)
- 54 Kazuyuki Akasaka (赤坂 和幸)
- 58 Ken Higuchi (樋口 賢)
- 58 Masaru Ishii (石川 賢)
- 60 Takuya Takaesu (高江洲 拓哉)
- 61 Yuichi Hisamoto (久本 祐一)
- 64 Akinobu Shimizu (清水 昭信)
- 67 Akihumi Takahashi (高橋 聡文)
- 68 Syozi Nagamine (長峰 昌司)
- 69 Masato Kobayashi (小林 正人)
- 70 Kohichi Misawa (三澤 興一)
Catcher
- 00 Akihiro Maeda (前田 章宏)
- 22 Daisuke Tanaka (田中 大輔)
- 27 Motonobu Tanishige (谷繁 元信)
- 28 Kouhei Oda (小田 幸平)
- 37 Yoshio Koyama (小山 良男)
- 39 Masaumi Shimizu (清水 将海)
- 55 Nobumasa Fukuda (福田 永将)
- 59 Masatoshi Ogawa (小川 将俊)
Infielder
- 1 Naomichi Donoue (堂上 直倫)
- 2 Masahiro Araki (荒木 雅博)
- 3 Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (立浪 和義)
- 5 Hiroyuki Watanabe (渡邉 博幸)
- 6 Hirokazu Ibata (井端 弘和)
- 25 Ryouta Arai (新井 良太)
- 31 Morino Masahiko (森野 将彦)
- 32 Hiroki Nakagawa (中川 裕貴)
- 36 Tetsuya Tani (谷哲 也)
- 40 Akira Nishikawa (西川 明)
- 44
Tyrone Woods (T. ウッズ)
- 45 Ryousuke Morioka (森岡 良介)
- 46 Tatsurou Iwasaki (岩崎 達郎)
- 48 Michihisa Iwai (澤井 道久)
- 52 Tsuyoshi Haruta (春田 剛)
- 53 Shigeo Yanagida (柳田 殖生)
- 54 Keizi Kamada (鎌田 圭司)
- 65 Akihiro Kanemoto (金本 明博)
- 99 Norihiro Nakamura (中村 紀洋)
Outfielder
- 4 Atsushi Fujii (藤井 淳志)
- 4 Kazuhiro Wada (和田 一浩)
- 7
Byung-Gyu Lee (李 炳圭)
- 8 Ryousuke Hirata (平田 良介)
- 9 Inoue Kazuki (井上 一樹)(team leader, 2007, 選手会長)
- 24 Hidenori (英智)
- 35 Yoshinori Ueda (上田 佳範)
- 51 Issei Nakamura (中村 一生)
- 56 Koji Nakamura (中村 公治)
- 62 Zyunichi Fukuhara (普久原 淳一)
- 63 Takehiro Donoue (堂上 剛裕)
Manager
Coaches
Former famous stars
Retired numbers
Trivia
The Dragons were featured in the 1992 movie Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. Their logo at the time, which they used for many years, was "Dragons" written in script which resembled the logo of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The oldest pitcher in NPB to throw a no-hitter is Dragons veteran Masahiro Yamamoto. He performed the feat on September 16, 2006, at 41 years of age. Daisuke Yamai (8 innings) and Hitoki Iwase (1 inning) combined for the first perfect game in Japan Series history on November 1, 2007. The 1-0 victory came in Game 5, which clinched the series for the Dragons.
External links
Genji Kaku
Leo Gomez(ゴメス)
Omar Linares(リナレス)
Matt Stairs
