| Prefecture | Miyagi |
|---|---|
| Stadium/Arena | Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi |
The Rakuten Golden Eagles were born in 2004, partly due to the merger of Orix and Kintetsu.Based in Sendai in the Tohoku region of Japan, the Rakuten Golden Eagles struggled in its early years due to the gap in player depth between the team and other teams, and in its first year, the team's final record was a dismal 38(win)-97(loss)-1(draw).
In 2006, Katsuya Nomura took over as manager of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, and in that year's draft, he acquired pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Nomura took charge until 2009, and perfected the team enough to advance it to the playoffs.
Then, in 2011, Senichi Hoshino took over as manager, and in 2013, the weak Eagles finally won the Japan championship. This year, Masahiro Tanaka became the first pitcher in the history of Japanese professional baseball to win the most games in a season without losing a game.
Rakuten is actively converting its stadium into a ballpark, offering a stadium experience like no other, including a Ferris wheel inside the stadium.
Team Information
Team: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Location: Miyagi
Ballpark: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi
Year founded: 2004
Management: Rakuten, Inc.
Titles:Japan Series(1), Pacific League(1)
Retired numbers: 77 Senichi Hoshino
Former players related to MLB:
Masahiro Tanaka (New York Yankees)
Hisashi Iwakuma (to Seattle Mariners)
Andruw Jones (Atlanta Braves)
Kevin Youkilis (Boston Red Sox)