History of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

The history of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) began in 2004 when two Pacific League (PL) teams, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, merged to create the Orix Buffaloes. After the league's first and only players strike on September 18–19, team representatives agreed to ease the rules of entry for new teams into NPB and that one would be allowed to join the following season to fill the void left by the merger. Beating out Livedoor, Hiroshi Mikitani's internet services company Rakuten was selected to create a new PL team to be based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The new club was named the "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" and they would play in the newly-renovated Miyagi Stadium.

History of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

The history of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) began in 2004 when two Pacific League (PL) teams, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, merged to create the Orix Buffaloes. After the league's first and only players strike on September 18–19, team representatives agreed to ease the rules of entry for new teams into NPB and that one would be allowed to join the following season to fill the void left by the merger. Beating out Livedoor, Hiroshi Mikitani's internet services company Rakuten was selected to create a new PL team to be based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The new club was named the "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" and they would play in the newly-renovated Miyagi Stadium.