Daiei Stars


The Daiei Stars were a Japanese professional baseball team that was founded in 1946, and played in various incarnations until 1957. Overall, the franchise only had three winning seasons, never rising higher than third place. They were in the second division, or B-class, for seven seasons, including their last four years. The Stars played in Korakuen Stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Franchise history

Japanese Baseball League

The franchise was founded in 1946 as Gold Star, a new post-war team in the Japanese Baseball League. They were owned by textile manufacturer and Lucky Gold Star Telephones owner Komajiro Tamura, who also owned Pacific. Gold Star consisted mostly of former Asahi Baseball Club players, and was managed by Asahi's former manager Michinori Tubouchi. In the team's inaugural season, they won 43 games and lost 60, finishing 22 games out of first place.
In 1947 the team became the Kinsei Stars and signed long-time Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants pitcher Victor Starffin. Starffin pitched for the franchise for six seasons, winning 80 games and losing 70. 1948 was also when the team hired Sadayoshi Fujimoto as manager.
In 1949, after being bought by Masaichi Nagata/Daiei Film, the team changed its name to the Daiei Stars, with Nagata serving as team president.

Nippon Professional Baseball

In 1950 the Stars became charter members of the Pacific League when the JBL reorganized into Nippon Professional Baseball and split into two distinct entities. Outfielder Shigeya Iijima was a league Best Nine Award-winner in 1950–1951. He led the Pacific League in batting in 1952, hitting.336, while his teammate Giichi Hayashi led the league in innings pitched, with 269-2⁄3.

Merger

In 1957, the Stars merged with the Takahashi Unions to form the Daiei Unions. The Unions existed for a single season, finishing last in the Pacific League, at 41-89-2, 43-1/2 games out of first. Pitcher Masayoshi Miura led the Pacific League in losses, with 21.
In 1958, the Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions to form the Daimai Orions. This enabled the Pacific League to shrink from the ungainly seven-team arrangement to six teams.

Managers

Nippon Professional Baseball season-by-season records