The Lions went from worst to first between 2007 and 2008, beating the Giants in the Series in dramatic fashion to win it all.

Apparently, since the change in name from Seibu Lions to Saitama Seibu Lions between 2007 and 2008 was so lucky they have decided to change their long-standing logo in 2009. The old logo featured Kimba (and can be seen here). The prior logo based on Kimba, the White Lion, an Osamu Tezuka creation, lasted for 30 years. I’m sad to see it go. The new logo is nothing spectacular.

Baseball people tend to be very superstitious. I’m not one of them, but changing things after going all the way doesn’t sound lucky or wise to me.

Posted on January 20th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: baseball, seibu lions, tokorozawa. Comments Off on Saitama Seibu gets a logo change

They did it! I can’t believe it. Down 3 games to 2 with two away games to go, the Lions were able to win both on the road to capture the 2008 Japanese Baseball Championship.

Hopefully they can do it again next year when I’m there.

Posted on November 9th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, seibu lions, tokorozawa. Comments Off on 勝った！

Seibu won game 6 to force a 7th and deciding game on Sunday for the Japan Series. It doesn’t get any more exciting than this baseball fans!

Each year in Japan, each team picks a new slogan (I guess you would call it). Some are in English, or more commonly Engrish, but others are in Japanese. Last year the Lions had one in Japanese as you can see above: 心を,ひとつに。力を,ひとつに。 That translates into something like “With one heart, with one power… (let’s do this thing!)” And that’s what they need to do tomorrow night!

I went to the official website of the Lions to see what their slogan or motto was for this year. It looks like they chose the classic Engrish phrase “i believe lions.” for 2008. Oh well, last year’s wasn’t bad.

While on the site I learned that they have renamed the team from simply the Seibu Lions to the Saitama Seibu Lions. Saitama is the prefecture (sort of like the state or county if you are wondering what a prefecture is) where the Lions play their home games. I wonder if this was something like what we had with the Angels in the states going from being the California Angels to the Los Angeles Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim within a few years.

Maybe they will be called the Saitama Lions of Tokorozawa next year. I used to live in Tokorozawa (near the 西所沢駅), a mere 10 minute bike ride from the stadium. Oh, the memories…

Posted on November 8th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, japan pictures, people, seibu lions, tokorozawa. Comments Off on It all comes down to this

With Thursday’s victory the Tokyo Giants have taken a 3 games to 2 lead in the Japan Series. The final two games move back to the heart of Tokyo and will be held on Saturday and Sunday. The Seibu Lions have to win both to win the series.

Let’s all hope that the Giants can lose two in a row at home and not crush the above little boy’s hopes and dreams.

Posted on November 6th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, japan pictures, tokorozawa. Comments Off on Lions on brink of elimination

The Seibu Lions have advanced to the Japanese World Series. They are playing against the Tokyo Giants for the championship. Currently the series is even at a game a piece. If you can read a bit of Japanese then check out the latest here. Play resumes on Tuesday at Seibu Dome where the above picture was taken last year. Female cheerleaders come out and do their thing in the seventh or eighth inning in Japan. Then the fans fire off thousands of balloons. And this was for a regular old game, not the playoffs. I can’t imagine what happens when they turn things up a notch for the Japan Series.

Posted on November 3rd, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, japan pictures, seibu lions, tokorozawa. Comments: 2