Central League 379657 222362091 2008-06-28T23:12:11Z Thumperward 545027 hatnote {{two other uses|the Japanese baseball league|the English association football league|Central League (football)|the defunct Scottish leagues|Central Football League}} [[Image:Central League Logo.gif|200px|thumb|Logo of the Central League]] The {{Nihongo|'''Central League'''|セントラル・リーグ|Sentoraru Rīgu}} or {{Nihongo|'''Se League'''|セリーグ|Se Rīgu}} is one of [[Japan]]'s two major professional [[baseball]] leagues, the winner of which plays the [[Japan Series]] against the winner of the other league, the [[Pacific League]]. The Central League was founded in [[1949 in sports|1949]] with eight teams. [[Designated hitter]]s are not used during Central League home games. In 2007 a new Climax Series was introduced. This is a play off series inspired by the stepladder playoff used in [[Pacific League]] for the top three teams of the league to determine who progresses to the Japan Series. Under the previous system, there was no post-season playoff and the winner of the pennant automatically qualified for the Japan Series. ==Current teams== *[[Chunichi Dragons]] ([[Nagoya]]) *[[Hanshin Tigers]] ([[Nishinomiya]]) *[[Hiroshima Toyo Carp]] ([[Hiroshima]]) *[[Tokyo Yakult Swallows]] ([[Tokyo]]) *[[Yokohama BayStars]] ([[Yokohama]]) *[[Yomiuri Giants]] ([[Tokyo]]) ==Central League pennant winners== *2007 Yomiuri Giants (but lost play-offs) *2006 Chunichi Dragons *2005 Hanshin Tigers *2004 Chunichi Dragons *2003 Hanshin Tigers *2002 Yomiuri Giants *2001 Yakult Swallows *2000 Yomiuri Giants *1999 Chunichi Dragons *1998 Yokohama BayStars *1997 Yakult Swallows *1996 Yomiuri Giants *1995 Yakult Swallows *1994 Yomiuri Giants *1993 Yakult Swallows *1992 Yakult Swallows *1991 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1990 Yomiuri Giants *1989 Yomiuri Giants *1988 Chunichi Dragons *1987 Yomiuri Giants *1986 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1985 Hanshin Tigers *1984 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1983 Yomiuri Giants *1982 Chunichi Dragons *1981 Yomiuri Giants *1980 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1979 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1978 Yakult Swallows *1977 Yomiuri Giants *1976 Yomiuri Giants *1975 Hiroshima Toyo Carp *1974 Chunichi Dragons *1973 Yomiuri Giants *1972 Yomiuri Giants *1971 Yomiuri Giants *1970 Yomiuri Giants *1969 Yomiuri Giants *1968 Yomiuri Giants *1967 Yomiuri Giants *1966 Yomiuri Giants *1965 Yomiuri Giants *1964 Hanshin Tigers *1963 Yomiuri Giants *1962 Hanshin Tigers *1961 Yomiuri Giants *1960 [[Taiyō Whales]] *1959 Yomiuri Giants *1958 Yomiuri Giants *1957 Yomiuri Giants *1956 Yomiuri Giants *1955 Yomiuri Giants *1954 Chunichi Dragons *1953 Yomiuri Giants *1952 Yomiuri Giants *1951 Yomiuri Giants *1950 [[Shochiku Robins]] ==Central League Climax Series winners== *2007 Chunichi Dragons ==Central League statistics== {| class="wikitable" !Team !Winners !Runners-up |- |[[Yomiuri Giants]]||30||10 |- |[[Chunichi Dragons]]||7||21 |- |[[Hiroshima Toyo Carp]]||6||6 |- |[[Yakult Swallows]]||6||3 |- |[[Hanshin Tigers]]||5||14 |- |[[Yokohama BayStars]]||2||4 |- |[[Shochiku Robins]]||1||0 |- |} ==See also== * [[Nippon Professional Baseball]] ==External links== * {{ja icon}} [http://www.npb.or.jp/cl/ Official website] * [http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/stats.html Japanese Baseball Data Archive at ''The Baseball Guru''] * [http://japanesebaseball.com/players/index.jsp List of players at ''Japanese Baseball''] {{Japanese Professional Baseball}} {{Professional Baseball}} [[Category:Asian baseball leagues|Japan]] [[Category:Baseball in Japan]] [[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball]] [[ko:센트럴 리그]] [[ja:セントラル・リーグ]] [[zh:中央聯盟]]