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**Chiba Lotte Marines**
	Chiba Lotte Marines
League	Pacific League
Location	Chiba
Ballpark	Chiba Marine Stadium
Year Founded	1950
Nickname(s)	Lotte (ロッテ), Marines (マリーンズ), Kamome (鴎, gull)
League championships	1950, 1960, 1970, 1974, 2005
Japan Series championships	1950, 1974, 2005
Former name(s)	Mainichi Orions (1950-1957), Mainichi Daimai Orions (1958-1963), Tokyo Orions (1964-1968), Lotte Orions (1969-1991)
Colors	Black and white
Manager	Norifumi Nishimura
	Uniforms
Home	Away

The Chiba Lotte Marines (千葉ロッテマリーンズ, Chiba Rotte Marīnzu^?) are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League, based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region.

[edit] History

The Chiba Lotte Marines franchise began in 1950 with the birth of the Pacific League. The Marines were founded as the Mainichi Orions, and they won the inaugural Japan Series in 1950. In 1958, they were renamed the Daimai Orions; the Tokyo Orions in 1964; the Lotte Orions in 1969; and finally, since 1992, they have been the Chiba Lotte Marines.

The franchise was slow to duplicate its initial success: the Orions made the Japan Series in 1960 and 1970, only to lose both years. In 1974, they beat the Chunichi Dragons, becoming the first Pacific League team to win the Series in 10 years as the Yomiuri Giants had claimed the prior nine titles behind the Oh-Nagashima attack. After that the team failed to reach the Japan Series again until 2005. They had started the 2005 season in first place, then fell behind the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as the year progressed, but came back to beat SoftBank three games to two in the Pacific League championship. In the final game, they trailed 2-1 entering the 8th inning.

After a 31-year absence, the team returned to the Japan Series for the first time as the Chiba Lotte Marines, after 14 seasons with that name. In a one-sided series the Marines swept the more popular Hanshin Tigers in four games, including scoring ten runs in each of the first three games. The apparent ease with which the Marines defeated the Tigers added fuel to the ongoing debate concerning the need for a playoff system in the Central League, which was finally added in 2007.^{[citation needed]} The Marines went on to defeat South Korea's Samsung Lions in the finals of the Konami Cup Championships.

[edit] Players of note

[edit] Retired numbers

none

[edit] Honored number

26 - This number is considered the number of the fan, the '26th player' on the bench. (NPB teams have 25 players on their active roster.)

Kazuya Kamenashi (亀梨和也, Kamenashi Kazuya^?), also known as Kame[4] and K² (his pen name)[5], Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, actor, producer, television personality, radio host and member of the group KAT-TUN, was the honored guest, having #26 on his baseball uniform, to throw the first pitch at the Pacific League opening ceremony for the 2009 baseball season at a match in Chiba City featuring the team against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on July 19, 2009.^[2]^[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ [1], Breitbart.com; retrieved on October 8, 2009.
^ (JAPANESE) ＫＡＴ－ＴＵＮ・亀梨、始球式で西岡と対決, Sankei Sports; retrieved on July 20, 2009.
^ (JAPANESE) [2], Tsuyoshi Nishioka's official blog; entry dated 2009-07-19; retrieved on July 22, 2009.[3]

[edit] External links

(Japanese) Chiba Lotte Marines official web site

[0] [1], Breitbart.com; retrieved on October 8, 2009.

[1] (JAPANESE) ＫＡＴ－ＴＵＮ・亀梨、始球式で西岡と対決, Sankei Sports; retrieved on July 20, 2009.

[2] (JAPANESE) [2], Tsuyoshi Nishioka's official blog; entry dated 2009-07-19; retrieved on July 22, 2009.[3]

[1]

[2]

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