67:. After the injunctions were denied, the players association decided that the players would refuse to play in all scheduled Saturday and Sunday games for the final three weekends in September unless three conditions were met by September 10: suspension of the BlueWave/Buffaloes merger for at least one year, assurance that there would be no further team mergers, and reduction of the fees required for setting up a new NPB team. Days later, the owners voted to approve the team merger. The Friday before the first planned weekend strike, the two parties reached a last-minute agreement that allowed the players to play through the weekend. The following week, team officials definitively told the JPBPA that a one-year freeze on the merger was impossible. Negotiations continued into Friday, however, no agreement was reached. A two-day strike occurred on Saturday and Sunday, September 18–19, 2004. All twelve games scheduled for that weekend were cancelled as a result of the strike. The following Thursday, with the strike set to continue during the upcoming weekend, players and team management came to an agreement. Players agreed not to stage a strike for the second straight weekend after team representatives eased the rules of entry for new teams into the professional leagues and that one would be allowed to join the following season.
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Central League chairman Hajime
Toyokura and the head officials of the Yomiuri Giants, the Yokohama BayStars, the Seibu Lions and the Chiba Lotte Marines. The screening standards include the adequacy of the applications, the prospective continuity and stability of the planned baseball teams, the prospective financial standings of the applicants and planned teams, their planned baseball facilities, and what their plans were to bring Miyagi Stadium to NPB standards, and how fast said plans would take, as at the time, the stadium only sat 23,000. Rakuten's plans were to focus on said renovations offseason, and keep the capacity at 23,000 for the meantime, allocating 3.2 billion yen to do said renovations, with it to be completed before the 2006 season. Livedoor, meanwhile, claimed they only needed 2.5 billion yen and could finish it in the middle of the 2005 season.
432:, who represented the players of Kintetsu and Orix, respectively. The association decided to take legal action after NPB officials either turned down or ignored a series of demands made by the JPBPA. These demands included establishing a special committee to handle contractual issues for the players affected by the merger, including club management and players’ representatives in any decision-making processes of such a committee, and to postpone the merger for at least one year to reassess its advisability. The documents filed with the court outlined the association's demands to establish a special committee that would meet and adopt resolutions before any decisions were made and to allow the JPBPA to conduct collective negotiations on a range of merger-related issues, as a large number of players would be expected to lose their jobs should the merger go through.
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Japanese baseball teams in the wake of the professional leagues losing a team, however NPB representatives maintained that the 2006 season would be the earliest a new team could enter. The players wanted any new teams ready for the next season. Negotiations continued into Friday and lasted four hours past the 5 pm deadline, however, no agreement was reached and the players proceeded to stage the first and only strike in
Japanese professional baseball history. The two-day strike occurred on Saturday and Sunday, September 18–19, 2004. All twelve games scheduled for that weekend were cancelled as a result of the strike. In place of these games, players instead staged a variety of events at stadiums and other venues. These events included autograph sessions, on-field baseball training, and opportunities for fans to meet players.
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assurance that there would be no further team mergers, and reduction of the fees required for setting up a new NPB team. Despite this ultimatum, owners went ahead and approved the merger two days later. The next day, team management and players met for six hours in Osaka looking to agree on a compromise deal in an attempt to avert a strike the next day, but failed to reach an agreement. On Friday, the next day and the final day before the proposed strike, a last-minute agreement was reach between the two parties that allowed the players to play through the weekend. The JBLPA conceded some demands once team representatives assured the players that there would be no further mergers and that negotiations on the other two issues would continue until
September 17, the next day the players could strike under the association's plans.
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District Court's decision, the association immediately appealed to the Tokyo High Court, however this appeal was also rejected several days later. The same day the association lost their injunction appeal, NPB executives met to discuss the merger and league realignment. The twelve owners voted and approved the
Buffaloes and BlueWave merger plan, leaving the PL with five teams instead of six for the 2005 season. They also agreed to maintain the two-league format but would explore the idea of introducing interleague games for the next season. And finally, while they also agreed to reconsider the requirements for new teams to enter the leagues, they decided that they could not put off the merger plans for another season because of the dire financial circumstances of the Buffaloes, thus setting the stage for a player strike.
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proposals, however no agreement could be reached. The issue was again discussed during a meeting in mid-August, though again the twelve teams could not agree on a solution. During the meeting, all six PL teams reaffirmed that they were looking to move forward with their one-league plan if a second team merger occurred and ultimately brought the PL's team count from six to four, though no details of a second merger were disclosed. Most of the
Central League teams requested that the Pacific League teams draw up a concrete timetable that explained the details of their plan to shift NPB into a one-league system so the issue could be further discussed during the next owners meeting on September 8.
297:, who was manager of the club when they won the CL championship the previous year, argued to keep the current two-league format. He heavily criticized team owners for ignoring the voices of the players and fans, and it is believed that this criticism helped cause some team owners to abandon the movement toward one league. Not long after Hoshino's comments, Tigers team president Katsuyoshi Nozaki suddenly declared he was in favor of keeping the Central and Pacific League set-up and the team became the biggest supporter of the idea. Soon, the majority of the other CL teams also favored the current two-league system. After garnering the support of fellow CL teams the
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them preferential signing rights. Included in this list were all free agents and foreign players. Rakuten was then allowed to select 20 unprotected players, not including any first- or second-year players. After that, the first- and second-year players were unprotected and Orix and
Rakuten alternating selecting 20 more players for the last round of the draft. Any player that was not selected during the draft defaulted back to Orix, guaranteeing that all players would play the next season. Of the 40 players the Eagles selected, 17 were pitchers and 23 were position players. On Orix's list of protected players was
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668:, the Kintetsu Buffaloes' pitcher who led the league in wins the previous season. Iwakuma, however, had wished to be left off of the list as he had no intention of playing for the newly formed team because of their involvement in the merger. He insisted that Orix team president Takashi Koizumi live up to his pledge that he would sincerely listen to the players involved in the merger regarding their futures. After four rounds of talks between Iwakuma and Koizumi, negotiations broke down and the JPBPA was brought in to mediate. Eventually, Orix agreed to trade Iwakuma to the Eagles in exchange for cash.
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teams in each league. Commissioner Negoro addressed these statements, saying that NPB was not considering having the Giants switch leagues. He also stated that no decision had been made concerning whether
Japanese baseball would contract to one league or keep the two-league system in some form, but that both options were being explored. Lions owner Tsutsumi, who had first revealed plans of a second PL team merger plan back in July, then denied recent reports that his club would merge with the Marines but offered no other details about the rumored second merger.
131:, the teams with the most money could offer amateur players money under the table in exchange for their pledge. Traditionally, NPB teams existed to advertise their parent company, unlike MLB teams that are businesses attempting to maximize their profits. With prime-time advertising spots being expensive in Japan, corporations bought NPB teams for the primary purpose of keeping themselves in the public eye for the entirety of a baseball season. For years, potential profits were secondary. The recession of the 1990s and 2000s started to change this mentality.
231:(PL). The CL is the more popular of the two leagues thanks largely to the popularity of the Yomiuri Giants. In 2004, each league had six teams; both the Buffaloes and the BlueWave were Pacific League teams. The potential merger between the two clubs would drop the number of PL teams from six to five, which would then create a team imbalance between the two leagues. During a July 7 owners' meeting where the twelve team owners approved the Orix-Kintetsu merger, talk of a second pair of PL teams merging arose. At the meeting,
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78:, submitted applications to form a new team based in Sendai that would fill the void left by the merger. As the selection process progressed, both companies were given time to discuss their team and budget propositions before a panel of NPB executives. Livedoor, who had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase the Buffaloes from Kintetsu earlier in the year, announced that their new baseball club would be named the "Sendai Livedoor Phoenix", with former MLB and NPB player
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48:(CL). Soon, it was announced that a second merger was being explored between two of the remaining four PL teams. With the possibility of the PL losing a second team, discussion about possibly restructuring NPB's two-league system into one ten-team league began. PL and CL executives continued to discuss the merits of both systems until it was finally decided that the two-league system would remain intact and
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was estimated that up to 100 players and team personnel could lose their jobs as a result of the merger. Furuta claimed that "Japanese baseball at a crossroads” and it was "the most important time in 70-year history". In addition to submitting a court injunction to block the proposed merger, the association received the support of the
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this sentiment at a press conference by categorically refusing to sell the
Buffaloes to Livedoor. Even though the team's players favored the proposed purchase, Yamaguchi refused to even meet with Horie to discuss the proposal and stated that, “I wouldn’t accept such an idea” and “There isn’t even a 1% ."
533:. Estimated attendance at the 12 games would have generated 1.68 billion yen through ticket, food and drink sales. Additionally, an estimated 200 million yen in broadcast revenue was lost from the two cancelled Yomiuri Giants games. Players received salary cuts totaling 190 million yen.
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In early
October, the public screening process to select one of the two companies and allow them form a new NPB team began. Both Livedoor and Rakuten were given an hour and a half to discuss their team and budget propositions before a panel of five Japanese baseball executives. The panel consisted of
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NPB officials agreed to postpone the official merger vote that was planned to occur on
September 8 pending a judgement on the JPBA's injunction request, however the Tokyo District Court rejected the association's request one week after it was submitted and the vote proceeded as planned. Following the
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The results of a nationwide telephone survey conducted by Kyodo News showed that 61.6 percent of respondents believed Japanese baseball would become more interesting with the addition the new Sendai-based Golden Eagles while 26.1 percent said they were unconvinced that the addition of the team would
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constructed their rosters from the 107 players left over from the dissolved Kintetsu and original Orix teams during a special distribution draft held on November 8. Before the draft, Orix was allowed to select 25 players that would be protected from the distribution process and thus giving
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for their name, Rakuten learned that Livedoor had registered an "eagles" trademark one day earlier, as Horie, in retaliation of Rakuten winning the bid over his company, trademarked it to avoid them using it. This led to a legal battle that ended quickly, as Rakuten would end up just paying Horie to
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When the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes announced their merger plans in June, JPBPA head and then-Yakult Swallows catcher Furuta vowed that his organization would do everything possible to block the merger in order to protect the rights of the 752 professional players in NPB. It
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Meanwhile, Pacific League President Koike quoted Giants president Watanabe as telling him that if the number of teams in the PL was reduced to four through team mergers, both the Central League and Pacific League should have five teams each, with the Giants moving to the PL to equalize the number of
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at some time in the future if the owners refused to talk with the players. Buffaloes and BlueWave fans also assembled near the stadiums hosting the All-Star Series to collect signatures, with the intention of presenting petitions opposing the Kintetsu-Orix merger to baseball officials. By the end of
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A week later, CL President Hajime Toyokura acknowledged that PL officials had informed him that they were working on specific plans for a second merger to present at a meeting a week later, however commissioner Yasuchika Negoro confirmed that nothing had yet been presented about a second merger plan
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Another public examination screening, this time targeting both companies' morals, was held on the 14th of October, where both companies, this time, were questioned on how they would prevent minors from accessing pornographic sites hosted on both companies' web hosting services. Livedoor's response,
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While NPB team owners and officials were discussing the possibility of a second team merger, fans and players were still opposing the first planned merger between the Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave. After the merger plans were first announced in June, a group of supporters of the BlueWave
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baseball reporter Jim Allen, for example, estimates that the Giants account for 40% of all NPB television broadcasting revenue, while the eleven remaining teams account for the other 60%. Compounding this issue, NPB employs a "reverse designation" draft system. Instead of teams choosing players, as
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indicated that Livedoor was the early fan favorite to win the right to start a new team in Sendai. In the survey, forty percent of the respondents supported Livedoor's bid compared to only seven percent supporting Rakuten. Rakuten, however, was considered the more likely of the two companies to be
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The following Thursday, with the strike set to continue the during the upcoming weekend, players and management came to an agreement. Players agreed not to stage a strike for the second straight weekend after team representatives eased the rules of entry for new teams into the professional leagues
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Furuta was skeptical of the losses reported by the teams but conceded that if the losses were accurate then player salaries would have to be adjusted accordingly. The players' association made several suggestions to improve the teams' financial situations, including relaxing the rules on how much
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On August 10, Kintetsu and Orix advanced merger plans by officially signing an agreement that outlined the basic details of the planned team merger, including that the new merged club would be run by a new company jointly owned by the parent companies of the two teams, 80% by Orix and the rest by
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and other lawmakers to discuss the state of Japanese professional baseball. Sengoku himself also opposed the shift to a single league and was leading a campaign to put forward a proposal to keep the two-league system. Public support also seemed to favor keeping the current system. In a nationwide
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denied these rumors, however he made it clear that his team was open to the possibility. Eventually, it was revealed that Daiei had explored merger possibilities with both Seibu and Lotte and talks advanced with Lotte, however no agreement was ever reached. Eventually, Daiei struck up a deal with
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confirmed that if Livedoor was to purchase the team, the Buffaloes would be kept independent in order to leave the current 12-team, two-league system intact. Kintetsu quickly issued a statement, however, stating that they had turned down the proposal from Livedoor. Days later, Kintetsu emphasized
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left the team to play in MLB in 2001, and the team finished the previous two seasons in last place. In June 2004, believing no one had any interest in purchasing the team, Buffaloes officials announced plans to merge with the BlueWave for the 2005 season. Yamaguchi saw the merger with Orix as the
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On the following Thursday, during on-going negotiations, team officials definitively told the JPBPA that a one-year freeze on the BlueWave/Buffaloes merger, one of the three demands set by the association to avoid a strike, was impossible. Two Internet service companies had applied to start new
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After Livedoor had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase the Buffaloes from Kintetsu earlier in the year, Livedoor President Takafumi Horie indicated that he intended to start a new professional baseball team that would fill the void left by the merger of the Orix BlueWave and the Buffaloes. On
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if NPB was contracted to one league. His idea involved reducing the number of regular-season games to allow for a tournament that would pit teams against each other based on their geographic location. The regular-season winner and the tournament winner would then play each other to determine a
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Days before the planned merger vote, the players' association decided that they would refuse to play all games scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of September unless three conditions were met by September 10: suspension of the BlueWave/Buffaloes merger for at least one year,
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PL executives then came out strongly in favor of the Giants' one-league system with Pacific League President Tadao Koike citing the difficulty in operating a league consisting of only five or even four teams. On July 26, NPB held a seven-hour meeting in order to talk about the merits of both
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district. Days later, JPBPA members voted overwhelmingly for the right to strike as part of a bid to maintain the two-league system and prevent team mergers. Of about 750 members of the players’ union, 98% voted in favor of strike rights. Fewer than ten members opposed striking. The
256:, who purchased all 14,432,000 of Daiei's shares in the team (accounting for approximately 98% of the team's shares) on November 30, 2004, for 15 billion yen. This purchase was approved at an NPB owners meeting on December 24, 2004, and came into effect on January 28, 2005.
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July, the Giants' players association joined the Buffaloes', the Dragons', the BayStars', the Swallows' and the Tigers' to become the sixth team of twelve to hold a signature drive to oppose a move to a one-league format and the planned BlueWave and Buffaloes merger.
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and the Japan Series could be saved. In the past, interleague play had been rejected by the CL teams because they did not want the PL teams to cut into the money they would receive from games played against the hugely popular Giants. Soon the last two CL teams, the
215:($ 27.5M in 2004), Horie expressed interest in starting a new team if he was unable to complete the purchase. He acknowledged how difficult it was for a new owner to break into Japanese professional baseball but he vowed to do "whatever could" to make it happen.
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after the probable merger with the Kintetsu Buffaloes next season. Not long after, Buffaloes players began voicing opposition to the plans as well, stressing that all possibilities of keeping the team intact should be explored before a merger is decided upon.
386:. The two largest banners in the front display "我らのチームバファローズ 球団合併断固反対!" and "選手・ファンを無視した合併を許せない". These translate to, "The Buffaloes are our team. strongly oppose a team merger!" and "A merger that ignores players and fans is unforgivable", respectively.
110:(NPB) does not require teams to participate in any revenue sharing strategies that would help correct revenue imbalances between teams because of game attendance and television broadcasting contracts. These issues are problematic because the
501:(JFTC) leading up to the merger vote. The JFTC called on NPB to offer up a clear explanation as to why Livedoor's bid to buy the Buffaloes wasn't considered. Anticipating the possibility of a player strike, the JPBPA also consulted with the
652:. On November 2, NPB selected Rakuten over Livedoor to create a new Pacific League team to be based in Sendai. It was the first time a new team, excluding cases of mergers or acquisitions, joined NPB since the creation of the now-defunct
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September 17, Livedoor established a new professional team and applied for team ownership with NPB. Horie said that the team would be composed of players who were left jobless after the Buffaloes/BlueWave merger and would be based in
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denied Kintetsu's request and the plan was abandoned. Later that year, Masanori Yamaguchi, president of Kintetsu, stated that the team had "no prospect of paying dividends (to the parent company)" in its current state. Meanwhile, the
94:" baseball club. In November, NPB selected Rakuten over Livedoor to create a new Pacific League team to be based in Sendai. It was the first time a new team, excluding cases of mergers or acquisitions, joined NPB since 1954.
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As screenings were held weekly through October, more details about each potential new team emerged. Livedoor announced that their baseball club would be named the "Sendai Livedoor Phoenix", with former MLB and NPB player
305:, Tigers' executives planned a meeting with all of the Central League teams excluding the Giants to attempt to draft an agreement against the move to a one-league system. Tigers' president Katsuyoshi Nozaki proposed
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as a possible solution. He claimed that interleague play would allow Central and Pacific League teams to play each other an equal number of times so that it would seem that it was a one-league system, however the
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and that one would be allowed to join the following season. The two-day strike caused economic losses totaling approximately 1.89 billion yen (17.2 million in 2004), according to researchers from
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and that he knew nothing about it. Citing history and tradition, Negoro also went on record to say that maintaining the two-league system was a priority for him. These comments came after meeting with
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favored the idea of combining the Central and Pacific Leagues into one league. Watanabe even outlined a plan for a new championship competition he dubbed the "Emperor’s Cup" that would replace the
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that would result in the reduction of player salaries. Furthermore, the JPBPA supported the two-league system, proposed interleague play and a fairer distribution of television broadcast revenue.
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in the Pacific League in 1954. The choice of Rakuten over Livedoor was a smart one for NPB, as after Horie's arrest in 2006 over securities and accounting fraud, Livedoor also went down with it.
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where they said they had no control over who can access their sites and who could not, eventually contributed to their downfall. Rakuten, meanwhile, stated they were able to do that.
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With the possibility of the PL losing a second team, discussion about possibly restructuring NPB's two-league system into one ten-team league began. Tsutsumi and Yomiuri Giants owner
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reported yearly losses of approximately $ 40 million due to a drop in home-game attendance, rising player salaries and an annual $ 10 million charge for the use of the
413:(RENGO) also supported the association by giving advice on how to set up a strike as well as labor-management negotiation strategies and how to effectively circulate petitions.
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59:(JPBPA) pledged to do everything possible to block the merger in order to protect the rights of NPB players. Leading up to a merger vote by team owners, the JPBPA filed two
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chosen by NPB. Rakuten president Mikitani had extensive connections in established Japanese business circles and already operated another sports team, the soccer club
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stated that another merger between two of the remaining four PL teams was being explored. Rumors then surfaced about an ongoing merger plan between the
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Days after the players' strike, owners met on September 2 and approved a plan to hold interleague regular-season games during the 2005 season.
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because the Japanese players had the support of their fans. By September, close to one million fans had signed petitions opposing the merger.
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The Kintetsu and Orix merger plan was finalized in late August when the two teams signed a formal contract. That same day, JPBPA filed for an
344:, around 74% of people in Japan were in favor of maintaining the current two six-team leagues with only 12% supporting a shift to one league.
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151:, the railway company that owned the Buffaloes, announced in January 2004 that it was planning to put the team's name up for sale after the
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most realistic solution to both teams' financial problems. Later that same month, a panel of NPB executives accepted the proposed merger.
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Kintetsu. The next day, approximately 300 fans protested the merger by marching with signs and chantings slogans in Tokyo's
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on how to proceed. According to Furuta, however, Japanese baseball's possible strike situation was different from MLB's
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was also struggling to post a profit. The BlueWave's home-game attendance had been steadily declining after star player
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714:. On the flipside, it took the Buffaloes 18 years to win their first Japan Series since the merger, taking home the
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fans in the right field bleachers display signs expressing their unhappiness with the planned team merger with the
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The Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes ended their 55-year history when the team merged with the Orix BlueWave to form the
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announced that, due to financial difficulties, the two teams planned to merge into one for the start of the
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A month later, as Livedoor continued to struggle to buy the Buffaloes for reportedly up to 3 billion
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A telephone survey conducted by Kyodo News during the selection period of 300 people living in the
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44:(PL), and a merger between the two would result in a team imbalance with the PL's opposing league, the
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on December 1. The new team used both Kintetsu's former home stadium, the Osaka Dome, and Orix's, the
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Shortly after Kintetsu and Orix announced their plans to merge their two clubs, details emerged that
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turned in a petition signed by 17,800 fans who were in favor of maintaining the team's base in
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in an attempt to block the proposed merger and also began making preparations in anticipation of a
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attached as manager and Katsunori Kojima as general manager. Rakuten's new team planned to employ
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against the planned merger with the Tokyo District Court. The suit was filed by the JPBPA head
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1125:"Concerning an Acquisition of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and a Basic Agreement with Hawks Town"
1100:"Concerning an Acquisition of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and a Basic Agreement with Hawks Town"
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2492:[ 2004 - Rakuten is in trouble!? "Eagles" had been applied for as a trademark.].
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1074:["Merger talks with Lotte, Seibu" Kotsuka Takeshi dismissed from Hawks Town].
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in MLB, players can choose what team they would like to play for. According to former
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During the All-Star Series in mid-July, the Japanese baseball players' union, the
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Since its creation in 1950, NPB teams had been divided into two leagues: the
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When the BlueWave and the Buffaloes first announced their merger plans, the
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in Kobe, as their home stadiums. It was the first team merger since the
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2159:. September 19, 2004. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017
2117:. September 24, 2004. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017
806:"Does proposed Buffaloes-BlueWave merger talk signal doom or reform?"
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as general manager and manager, respectively, of their newly named "
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applied for and won the opportunity to start a new baseball club in
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as general manager and manager, respectively, of their newly named "
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575:. One week later a second Internet services company, Tokyo-based
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The Orix-Kintetsu Merger - The Story of the 2004 NPB Realignment
1467:"Japanese baseball commissioner wants to keep two-league system"
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1739:"Japan pro ballplayers seek injunction against planned merger"
1229:"Reversal by owners likely to keep two-league system in place"
395:(JPBPA), gathered and discussed the possibility of a players'
2706:
Growing the Game: The Globalization of Major League Baseball
2078:"Fan power prevails as crisis in Japanese baseball subsides"
1259:"Tigers boss calls for CL clubs to resist contraction plans"
1010:. July 8, 2004. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014
879:"Livedoor tries for debt-laden Buffaloes; offer turned down"
602:
was one of 107 players distributed between the two new teams
1197:"Giants owner eyes new competition to replace Japan Series"
939:"Livedoor boss may create new team if Buffaloes bid fails"
583:
also expressed a desire to locate his new team in Sendai.
767:"Buffaloes, BlueWave owners reach basic merger agreement"
2518:"Livedoor emerges as early fan favorite to own new team"
513:
player salaries could be reduced as well as proposing a
155:
in an effort to make the team more profitable. However,
706:
championship after their founding in 2004, winning the
1985:"Baseball deal proposed; strike talks set to continue"
2550:"New teams choose 107 players in distribution draft"
1679:"98% of pro baseball ranks vote for right to strike"
971:"Swallows, BayStars state opposition to contraction"
70:
In late September, two Internet services companies,
2614:"Japanese baseball owners approve interleague plan"
1923:"Furuta: Players ready to strike if merger happens"
702:It would take only 8 years for the Eagles to win a
286:
team owners to fight to keep the two-league system.
619:. Rakuten, likewise, announced Marty Kuehnert and
2202:. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017
1555:"Kintetsu players protest against planned merger"
627:" baseball club. Both clubs planned play out of
20:was a series of events that occurred during the
2490:"【10月23日】2004年(平16) 楽天困った!?「イーグルス」は商標登録申請されていた"
2271:"NPB begins hearings on Rakuten, Livedoor bids"
1379:"Officials fail to bridge gap over realignment"
393:Japan Professional Baseball Players Association
57:Japan Professional Baseball Players Association
1767:"Baseball chief denies Giants will move to PL"
1163:. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014
814:. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014
2452:
2450:
2322:
2320:
2105:"Baseball players reach deal with management"
18:2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment
8:
2417:
2415:
2265:
2263:
2151:"Baseball strike could cost 1.9 billion yen"
1953:"Players' concessions avert baseball strike"
1795:"Lions owner Tsutsumi denies merger reports"
1319:"Yomiuri, Hanshin disagree over realignment"
848:"Buffaloes-BlueWave merger gets green light"
543:History of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
176:Livedoor attempts to purchase the Buffaloes
1947:
1945:
1253:
1251:
1222:
1220:
745:
743:
139:For several years leading up to 2004, the
1916:
1914:
1887:"Owners OK merger; baseball strike looms"
996:
994:
796:
794:
761:
759:
757:
755:
503:Major League Baseball Players Association
195:, but Kintetsu refused to hear the offer.
52:would be introduced in the 2005 season.
2742:2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season
2194:"Livedoor establishes pro baseball club"
1495:"Majority in favor of two-league system"
1407:"Jury still out on baseball realignment"
873:
871:
22:2004 Nippon Professional Baseball season
2356:"Livedoor appoints O'Malley as manager"
730:
374:During a home game in July 2004 at the
2213:
2170:
2128:
1615:"Orix, Kintetsu sign merger agreement"
1174:
1021:
825:
2582:"Golden Eagles get their ace Iwakuma"
2298:
2296:
2294:
2192:Uranaka, Taiga (September 17, 2004).
2076:Graczyk, Wayne (September 29, 2004).
7:
2236:"Rakuten applies to create new club"
1921:Armstrong, Jim (September 3, 2004).
907:"Kintetsu again says no to Livedoor"
2458:"Rakuten awarded pro baseball team"
2017:"Chance of player strike increases"
28:(NPB). In June of that season, the
2422:Armstrong, Jim (October 6, 2004).
1291:"Nozaki proposes interleague play"
14:
2704:Klein, Alan M. (September 2006).
290:Meanwhile, senior adviser to the
1227:Graczyk, Wayne (July 21, 2004).
1149:Armstrong, Jim (July 11, 2004).
1002:"Baseball merger crisis deepens"
659:The Eagles and the newly merged
461:
452:
363:
2737:2004 labor disputes and strikes
2642:"Orix Buffaloes up and running"
2498:(in Japanese). October 21, 2008
2424:"Kuehnert to head Rakuten team"
411:Japan Trade Union Confederation
340:telephone survey conducted by
24:that changed the landscape of
1:
636:allow them to use the name.
625:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
482:team representatives of the
123:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
108:Nippon Professional Baseball
92:Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
26:Nippon Professional Baseball
1072:"「ロッテ、西武と合併話」ホークスタウン解任の高塚氏"
699:not increase fan interest.
531:Osaka Prefecture University
499:Japan Fair Trade Commission
252:multinational conglomerate
2773:
540:
278:, a senior adviser to the
219:One-league system proposed
191:attempted to purchase the
2220:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
2177:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
2135:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
1181:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
1151:"Players to fight merger"
1028:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
832:: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
333:Democratic Party of Japan
135:BlueWave/Buffaloes merger
40:. Both teams were in the
2757:Baseball labor relations
615:and Katsunori Kojima as
141:Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
30:Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
2747:Labor disputes in Japan
1855:"Court rejects request"
1435:"Merger talks continue"
737:Klein 2006, pp. 148–149
631:. Upon registering the
1707:"Deal formally signed"
603:
563:
537:Creation of a new team
287:
196:
2752:Sports labor disputes
2710:Yale University Press
2674:"Results encouraging"
1587:"Giants join protest"
1347:"PL wants one league"
720:Tokyo Yakult Swallows
691:were absorbed by the
597:
550:
282:, helped to convince
274:
183:
104:Major League Baseball
2622:. September 30, 2004
2400:. September 14, 2004
2368:. September 15, 2004
2248:. September 25, 2004
2057:. September 18, 2004
2029:. September 17, 2004
1997:. September 10, 2004
1965:. September 11, 2004
718:in 7 games over the
710:in 7 games over the
149:Kintetsu Corporation
147:, their home field.
2594:. December 23, 2004
2388:"Livedoor names GM"
1899:. September 9, 2004
1867:. September 9, 2004
1835:. September 4, 2004
1823:"Injunction denied"
1803:. September 8, 2004
1775:. September 4, 2004
245:Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
241:Chiba Lotte Marines
2682:. November 5, 2004
2654:. December 2, 2004
2562:. November 9, 2004
2470:. November 3, 2004
2336:. October 27, 2004
2328:"Livedoor Phoenix"
1647:"Fans slam merger"
749:Klein 2006, p. 152
695:in November 1957.
604:
564:
484:Kintetsu Buffaloes
380:Kintetsu Buffaloes
288:
197:
193:Kintetsu Buffaloes
2530:. October 3, 2004
2279:. October 7, 2004
1747:. August 28, 2004
1719:. August 28, 2004
1687:. August 13, 2004
1659:. August 12, 2004
1627:. August 11, 2004
1523:"Wave of protest"
1503:. August 30, 2004
1475:. August 28, 2004
1447:. August 25, 2004
1415:. August 18, 2004
1127:(Press release).
1102:(Press release).
1080:. October 4, 2004
1077:The Asahi Shimbun
804:(June 16, 2004).
716:2022 Japan Series
708:2013 Japan Series
685:Yahoo! BB Stadium
573:Miyagi Prefecture
303:Yokohama BayStars
237:Yoshiaki Tsutsumi
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2115:Associated Press
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2049:"Players strike"
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2027:Associated Press
2013:
2007:
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1359:. August 5, 2004
1343:
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1161:Associated Press
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951:. August 6, 2004
935:
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735:
654:Takahashi Unions
581:Hiroshi Mikitani
556:Hiroshi Mikitani
465:
456:
367:
317:Chunichi Dragons
307:interleague play
247:. Marines owner
201:Livedoor Company
160:Yasuchika Negoro
157:NPB commissioner
50:interleague play
2772:
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2679:The Japan Times
2672:
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2647:The Japan Times
2640:
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2619:The Japan Times
2612:
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2597:
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2587:The Japan Times
2580:
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2555:The Japan Times
2548:
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2523:The Japan Times
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2463:The Japan Times
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2429:The Japan Times
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2393:The Japan Times
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2015:
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1645:
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1620:The Japan Times
1613:
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1608:
1598:
1596:
1595:. July 30, 2004
1592:The Japan Times
1585:
1584:
1580:
1570:
1568:
1560:The Japan Times
1553:
1552:
1548:
1538:
1536:
1535:. June 30, 2004
1528:The Japan Times
1521:
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1516:
1506:
1504:
1500:The Japan Times
1493:
1492:
1488:
1478:
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1472:The Japan Times
1465:
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1440:The Japan Times
1433:
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1428:
1418:
1416:
1412:The Japan Times
1405:
1404:
1400:
1390:
1388:
1387:. July 27, 2004
1384:The Japan Times
1377:
1376:
1372:
1362:
1360:
1352:The Japan Times
1345:
1344:
1340:
1330:
1328:
1327:. July 24, 2004
1324:The Japan Times
1317:
1316:
1312:
1302:
1300:
1299:. July 29, 2004
1296:The Japan Times
1289:
1288:
1284:
1274:
1272:
1271:. July 16, 2004
1264:The Japan Times
1257:
1256:
1249:
1239:
1237:
1234:The Japan Times
1226:
1225:
1218:
1208:
1206:
1205:. July 10, 2004
1202:The Japan Times
1195:
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1173:
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1156:The Japan Times
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1007:The Japan Times
1000:
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992:
982:
980:
979:. July 15, 2004
976:The Japan Times
969:
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944:The Japan Times
937:
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912:The Japan Times
905:
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900:
890:
888:
884:The Japan Times
877:
876:
869:
859:
857:
856:. June 22, 2004
853:The Japan Times
846:
845:
841:
824:
817:
815:
811:The Japan Times
802:Kuehnert, Marty
800:
799:
792:
782:
780:
779:. June 15, 2004
772:The Japan Times
765:
764:
753:
748:
741:
736:
732:
728:
693:Mainichi Orions
674:
666:Hisashi Iwakuma
617:general manager
600:Hisashi Iwakuma
545:
539:
494:
493:
492:
491:
490:, respectively.
468:
467:
466:
458:
457:
446:
389:
388:
387:
373:
368:
350:
348:Merger approved
337:Yoshito Sengoku
312:All-Star Series
299:Yakult Swallows
295:Senichi Hoshino
276:Senichi Hoshino
261:Tsuneo Watanabe
249:Akio Shigemitsu
221:
178:
137:
126:general manager
100:
12:
11:
5:
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1910:
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1814:
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1698:
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1567:. July 5, 2004
1546:
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1310:
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1247:
1216:
1188:
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1129:SoftBank Group
1116:
1104:SoftBank Group
1091:
1063:
1052:. July 9, 2004
1044:"Merger plans"
1035:
990:
962:
930:
919:. July 6, 2004
898:
887:. July 1, 2004
867:
839:
790:
751:
739:
729:
727:
724:
712:Yomiuri Giants
681:Orix Buffaloes
673:
670:
661:Orix Buffaloes
629:Miyagi Stadium
541:Main article:
538:
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444:Players strike
442:
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349:
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321:Hiroshima Carp
292:Hanshin Tigers
284:Central League
280:Hanshin Tigers
254:SoftBank Group
229:Pacific League
225:Central League
220:
217:
205:Takafumi Horie
189:Takafumi Horie
177:
174:
136:
133:
129:Marty Kuehnert
112:Yomiuri Giants
99:
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84:Marty Kuehnert
46:Central League
42:Pacific League
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