Orix Buffaloes 1145207 216020736 2008-05-30T18:48:45Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{Infobox baseball team | Name = Orix Buffaloes | Logo = [[Image:Orixbuffaloeslogo.png]] | Founded = [[2004]]| League = [[Pacific League]] | Location = [[Osaka]], [[Kobe]] | Stadium = [[Kyocera Dome Osaka]] and [[Skymark Stadium]] | Nickname = Orix (オリックス),<br/>Buffaloes (バファローズ),<br/>Bs | Colors = White, yellow and dark blue | LogoDesign = "Buffaloes" written in yellow and blue | FormerNames= '''[[Orix BlueWave]]''':<br />'''Hankyu Professional Baseball Club''' (1936–1946), '''Hankyu Braves''' (1947–1988), '''Orix Braves''' (1989–1990), '''[[Orix BlueWave]]''' (1991–2004)<br />'''[[Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes]] (Pearls)''':<br/>'''Kintetsu Pearls''' (1950-1958), '''Kintetsu Buffalo''' (1959-1961), '''Kintetsu Buffaloes''' (1962-1998), '''[[Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes]]''' (1999-2004) | LeagueChamps= Hankyu/Orix:[[1967]], [[1968]], [[1969]], [[1971]], [[1972]], [[1975]], [[1976]], [[1977]], [[1978]], [[1979]], [[1980]], [[1984]], [[1989]], [[1995]], [[1996]]<br /> Kintetsu: [[1979]], [[1980]], [[1989]], [[2001]] | Series =[[Japan Series]]| SeriesChamps=Hankyu/Orix: [[1975]], [[1976]], [[1977]], [[1996]] | h_title=Home (Osaka)| h_cap=000066| h_leftarm=000066| h_pattern_la=| h_body=000066| h_pattern_b=_shouldersonwhite| h_rightarm=000066| h_pattern_ra=| h_pants=ffffff| h_socks=000066| a_cap=000066| a_leftarm=000066| a_pattern_la=| a_body=000066| a_pattern_b=| a_rightarm=000066| a_pattern_ra=| a_pants=999999| a_socks=000066| }} The {{Nihongo|'''Orix Buffaloes'''|オリックス・バファローズ|Orikkusu Bafarōzu}} are a [[Nippon Professional Baseball]] team based in [[Osaka]] and [[Kobe]], [[Japan]]. They play in the [[Pacific League]]. The team is owned by the [[Orix Group]], a leading diversified financial services company based in [[Tokyo]]. The team was formed after the [[2004]] NPB season by the merger of the [[Orix Blue Wave|Orix BlueWave]] and the [[Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes]]. The merged team began play in the [[2005]] NPB season, splitting its home games between the [[Skymark Stadium]], the former home of the BlueWave, in Kobe and the [[Kyocera Dome Osaka]], that of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, in Osaka. ==Franchise history== ===Hankyu Professional Baseball Club, 1936-1946=== In 1936, the club was formed by {{nihongo|[[Hankyu Railway|Hanshin Kyuko Railway Company]]|阪神急行電鐵||Present: [[Hankyu Hanshin Holdings]], Inc.}} as the fifth oldest in Japan. ===Hankyu Braves, 1947-1988=== ===Orix Braves, 1989-1990=== ===Orix BlueWave, 1991-2004=== {{main|Orix BlueWave}} ===Kintetsu, 1950-2004=== {{main|Kintetsu Buffaloes}} ====Kintetsu Pearls, 1950-1958==== ====Kintetsu Buffalo, 1959-1961==== The Kintetsu Buffalo were the first Japanese team to sign an American player. They signed former major league pitcher Glenn Mickens and catcher Ron Bottler for the 1959 season. Mickens had played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953 and Bottler had been a career minor league catcher in the United States. ====Kintetsu Buffaloes, 1962-1998==== ====Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, 1999-2004==== ===2005 to present=== {{Sectstub|date=May 2008}} ==Current roster== {{Orix Buffaloes roster}} ==Baseball Hall of Famers== Elected mainly for Hankyu Braves service *[[Takao Kajimoto]], P, 1954-1973 (inducted 2007) *[[Yutaka Fukumoto]], CF, 1969-1988 (inducted 2002) Elected for service with other teams, as well as Hankyu and Orix *[[Hisashi Yamada]], P, 1969-1988 (inducted 2006) *[[Hiromitsu Kadota]], DH, 1989-1990 (inducted 2006) *[[Akira Ōgi]], MGR 1988-1992†, 1994-2001, 2005 (inducted 2004) *[[Toshiharu Ueda]], MGR, 1974-1978, 1981-1990 (inducted 2003) *[[Tetsuya Yoneda]], P, 1956-1975 (inducted 2000) *[[Futoshi Nakanishi]], Head coach / Hitting coach, 1985-1990†, 1995-1997 (inducted 1999) †For Kintetsu Buffaloes Elected mainly for Kintetsu Buffaloes service *[[Keishi Suzuki]], P, 1966-1985 (inducted 2002) *[[Yukio Nishimoto]], MGR 1974-1981 (inducted 1988) ===Former players and managers=== as Orix Buffaloes * {{player||JPN|[[Akira Ogi]] (仰木 彬) - manager, deceased}} * {{player||JPN|[[Norihiro Nakamura]] (中村 紀洋) - IF}} * {{player||JPN|[[Yoshitomo Tani]] (谷 佳知) - OF}} * {{player||MEX|[[Karim García]] - OF}} * {{player||USA|[[Cliff Brumbaugh]] - RF}} as Orix BlueWave * {{player||JPN|Akira Ogi (仰木 彬) - manager}} * {{player||USA|[[Greg Wells (baseball player)|Gregory DeWayne Boomer Wells]](Greg Wells) - as known as "Boomer", IF}} * {{player||JPN|[[Shigetoshi Hasegawa]] (長谷川 滋利) - P}} * {{player||JPN|[[Hiromitsu Kadota]] - OF}} * {{player||KOR|[[Dae-Sung Koo]] - P}} * {{player||JPN|[[Takahito Nomura]] (野村 空生) - P}} * {{player||JPN|[[Kazuhiro Sato]] (佐藤 和弘) - as known as "Punch" Sato (パンチ佐藤), OF}} * {{player|51|JPN|[[Ichiro Suzuki]] (鈴木 一朗, イチロー) - OF}} * {{player||JPN|[[So Taguchi]] (田口 壮) - OF}} as Kintestu Buffaloes * {{player||JPN|Norihiro Nakamura (中村 紀洋) - IF}} * {{player||JPN|[[Hideo Nomo]] (野茂 英雄) - P}} as Hankyu (and Orix) Braves * {{player||CUB|[[Roberto Barbon]] - IF}} * {{player||JPN|[[Tetsuya Yoneda]] (米田 哲也) - P}} * {{player||JPN|[[Yutaka Fukumoto]] (福本 豊) - OF}} * {{player||JPN|[[Hisashi Yamada]] (山田 久志) - P}} * {{player||JPN|[[Hideji Kato]] (加藤 英司) - 1B}} * {{player||JPN|[[Hiromi Matsunaga]] (松永 浩美) - 3B}} * {{player||VEN|[[Roberto Marcano]] - IF}} ==Retired numbers== * none ==Mascots== Neppie #111, a young boy Ripsea #222, a young girl ==External links== *{{ja icon}} [http://www.buffaloes.co.jp/ Orix Buffaloes] {{Japanese Professional Baseball}} {{Orix Buffaloes}} [[Category:Baseball teams in Japan]] [[Category:Orix Buffaloes|*O]] [[fr:Orix Buffaloes]] [[ko:오릭스 버펄로스]] [[ja:オリックス・バファローズ]] [[zh:歐力士野牛]]