Japanese Industrial Baseball League

Zitofan75 · 03-30-2019, 08:20 PM

I'm looking to add more depth to my historic league by adding more leagues that have or currently exist. I've searched online for info, stats, names, etc. for the Japanese Industrial Leagues which seem to be an independent minor league that plays apparently at a high level, contributing amateurs to events like the Olympic team and other similar events. A few stars even break out into the ***. Apparently Hideki Nomo got his start here as well. I've gleamed a few things that may or may not be totally true:

A) They play a 70-80 game schedule.
B) There are multiple teams (one NY Times article from 1985 said there were 320 teams in existence!).
C) All the teams mentioned seem to be identified solely by the corporation they represent, but so far I've found no reference to any team nicknames.
D) The players are all employees of the corporations that sponsor the teams although some debate how much work they do outside of baseball.
E) Occasionally foreigners are recruited to play, usually promising amateurs.
F) This league (leagues?) is also part of a broader federation called the Japanese Amateur Baseball Association that includes High School and College leagues.

I find all this utterly fascinating and a bit bewildering. So, I'm looking for advice. Does anyone have any favorite resources about Japanese Baseball and, in particular, the Industrial Leagues? Maybe a great book or website that would help. I couldn't find anything on Baseball-Reference.com and just googling "Japanese Industrial Leagues" hasn't led me to much more than the above list. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

italyprof · 04-01-2019, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zitofan75

I'm looking to add more depth to my historic league by adding more leagues that have or currently exist. I've searched online for info, stats, names, etc. for the Japanese Industrial Leagues which seem to be an independent minor league that plays apparently at a high level, contributing amateurs to events like the Olympic team and other similar events. A few stars even break out into the ***. Apparently Hideki Nomo got his start here as well. I've gleamed a few things that may or may not be totally true:

A) They play a 70-80 game schedule.
B) There are multiple teams (one NY Times article from 1985 said there were 320 teams in existence!).
C) All the teams mentioned seem to be identified solely by the corporation they represent, but so far I've found no reference to any team nicknames.
D) The players are all employees of the corporations that sponsor the teams although some debate how much work they do outside of baseball.
E) Occasionally foreigners are recruited to play, usually promising amateurs.
F) This league (leagues?) is also part of a broader federation called the Japanese Amateur Baseball Association that includes High School and College leagues.

I find all this utterly fascinating and a bit bewildering. So, I'm looking for advice. Does anyone have any favorite resources about Japanese Baseball and, in particular, the Industrial Leagues? Maybe a great book or website that would help. I couldn't find anything on Baseball-Reference.com and just googling "Japanese Industrial Leagues" hasn't led me to much more than the above list. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Really interesting. During WWI and WWII there were similar leagues in the US and probably informally in peacetime. GE or Westinghouse, can't recall which, had organized one whole league I think. Don't recall where I saw this, will look it up. Know nothing about Japan, sorry, and thanks for the great info. I bet the players in E) are great, um, software writers, or accountants from overseas. Yeah, sure. Ringers. Corporate honor at stake.

jerichoalar · 04-03-2019, 11:14 PM

https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/社会人野球チーム一覧

Is a list of all the current teams. JIB is made of a mix of “company teams” and “club teams”, both are amateur. Club teams are just that, clubs.

League is organized by geography and there are multiple tournaments (All Japan intercity tournament is one of the big ones) yearly, most of which are multiple round affairs similar to a large cup-series.

Hopefully that helps with your exploration!

03-30-2019, 08:20 PM	#1
Zitofan75 All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: California Posts: 1,413	Japanese Industrial Baseball League I'm looking to add more depth to my historic league by adding more leagues that have or currently exist. I've searched online for info, stats, names, etc. for the Japanese Industrial Leagues which seem to be an independent minor league that plays apparently at a high level, contributing amateurs to events like the Olympic team and other similar events. A few stars even break out into the ***. Apparently Hideki Nomo got his start here as well. I've gleamed a few things that may or may not be totally true: A) They play a 70-80 game schedule. B) There are multiple teams (one NY Times article from 1985 said there were 320 teams in existence!). C) All the teams mentioned seem to be identified solely by the corporation they represent, but so far I've found no reference to any team nicknames. D) The players are all employees of the corporations that sponsor the teams although some debate how much work they do outside of baseball. E) Occasionally foreigners are recruited to play, usually promising amateurs. F) This league (leagues?) is also part of a broader federation called the Japanese Amateur Baseball Association that includes High School and College leagues. I find all this utterly fascinating and a bit bewildering. So, I'm looking for advice. Does anyone have any favorite resources about Japanese Baseball and, in particular, the Industrial Leagues? Maybe a great book or website that would help. I couldn't find anything on Baseball-Reference.com and just googling "Japanese Industrial Leagues" hasn't led me to much more than the above list. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

04-03-2019, 11:14 PM	#3
jerichoalar Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 14	https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/社会人野球チーム一覧 Is a list of all the current teams. JIB is made of a mix of “company teams” and “club teams”, both are amateur. Club teams are just that, clubs. League is organized by geography and there are multiple tournaments (All Japan intercity tournament is one of the big ones) yearly, most of which are multiple round affairs similar to a large cup-series. Hopefully that helps with your exploration!