Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Year Founded: 1950

Home Stadium: Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, Hiroshima

Previously Known As: Hiroshima Carp (1950-67)

2024 Record vs. Hanshin: 12 wins 12 losses 1 tie

Playoffs vs. Hanshin: 2013 (won Climax Series First Stage 2-0); 2014 (lost Climax Series First Stage 0-1-1); 2023 (lost Climax Series Final Stage 0-3)

Players in Common with Hanshin: Kazuhiro Yamauchi (Hanshin 1964-67, Hiroshima 1968-70); Yutaka Enatsu (Hanshin 1967-75, Hiroshima 1978-80); Tomoaki Kanemoto (Hiroshima 1992-2002, Hanshin 2003-2012); Andy Sheets (Hiroshima 2003-04, Hanshin 2005-07), Takahiro Arai (Hiroshima 1999-2007, 2015-18, Hanshin 2008-14)

Championships Won:

Central League: 9 (1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1991, 2016, 2017, 2018)

Japan Series: 3 (1979, 1980, 1984)

Current Uniforms:

Away – Home – 

Key Players in Team History:

* # 3  Sachio Kinugasa (1965-87), 3B/1B – Ironman (Games) Record (NPB), 5th All-Time Hits, T-7th All-Time Home Runs

* # 8 Koji Yamamoto (1969-86), OF – 4th All-Time Home Runs

* #20 Manabu Kitabeppu (1976-94), SP – 2 Sawamura Awards, 19th All-Time Wins

* #24 Yutaka Ohno (1977-98), SP – 1 Sawamura Award

* # 1 Tomonori Maeda (1990-2013), OF – 4x Best Nine Award (1992 – 1994, 1998); 4x Golden Glove Award (1991 – 1994); 3x JCB, MEP Award (1992, 1997, 1998); Comeback Player of the Year (2002); 7x NPB All-Star (1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008); NPB All-Star MVP (2005)

* #15 Hiroki Kuroda (1997-2007, 2015-16), SP – Success in MLB, Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

* #18 Kenta Maeda (2008-15), SP – 2 Sawamura Awards, Move to MLB

Most Famous Manager: Takeshi Koba, 1974-85, 4 CL including 3 Nippon Series Titles

Current Manager: Takahiro Arai (since 2023)

Current Top Hitter: Shogo Sakakura (25, C): .266/.347/.410, 12 HR, 44 RBI, 48 R in 2023

Current Top Pitchers: Hiroki Tokoda (29, LHP): 156 IP, 11 W 7 L, 2.19 ERA, 86 K in 2023

Brief History:

The Hiroshima Carp were founded in 1949 as a part of a project for Hiroshima Prefecture to restructure after the atomic bomb. The team’s first few seasons were on such a small budget that they struggled to form a lineup, and in 1951, fans had to donate to keep them from merging with the Taiyo Whales or just disbanding altogether. In 1952, they finished with a .312 winning percentage, just beating out the .300 threshold they needed to stay over to avoid disbandment. In 1973, the team started wearing their iconic Reds-esque logo and switched uniforms.

In 1975, their first foreign-born manager, Joe Lutz, ordered the team change their caps to red as a display of their fighting spirit. He left halfway through the season, although they still won the Central League pennant that year for the first time in team history. This started their first wave of success, as their “Akaheru” (Red Helmet) lineup led the team to two consecutive CL pennants and league championships again in 1979 and 1980. They won a championship in 1984, and renowned manager Takeshi Koba retired in 1985. They were able to win the pennant again in 1986, and legendary player Koji Yamamoto became manager in 1989. He helped the team win a pennant in 1991, which would be their last for 25 seasons.

The 90s were a decade of disappointment for the Carp. They had star players such as Yutaka Ohno, Tomonori Maeda and Tomoaki Kanemoto, but the team was not able to live up to expectations. The 2000s were similar to the 90s for the Carp, as they were not able to make the playoffs until 2013. A core group of talented young players including 2B Ryosuke Kikuchi, CF Yoshihiro Maru, RF Seiya Suzuki, and P Kenta Maeda mixed in with veterans like 1B Takahiro Arai and P Hiroki Kuroda vaulted the Carp into Central League prominence.  They won the Central League championship in 2016 by a whopping 17.5 games.  Despite losing Maeda to the LA Dodgers of Major League Baseball (2015 offseason) and Kuroda to retirement (2016 offseason), the Carp used their depth to reload their pitching staff and repeated as Central League champions in 2017. Despite a Climax Series loss to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, the Carp continued to flex their muscle around the Central by three-peating and advancing to the Nippon Series in 2018. Unfortunately, they also fell to the SoftBank Hawks in six games.

The departure of Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) in the 2018 offseason was too big of a gap for the team to overcome, and the Carp’s pennant run ended at three. They finished out of the playoffs from 2019-22, but made a sudden return to the playoffs, finishing in second place in 2023.

About the Author: My name is Nate Hemerly and I’ve been following the Carp since 2013 when I came to Japan with the US Navy.  We’ve been to every NPB stadium in Japan, but Mazda Stadium will always be our favorite. My Twitter handle is @natehemerly.

CL: Chunichi Dragons / Tokyo Yakult Swallows / Yokohama DeNA BayStars / Yomiuri Giants

PL: Chiba Lotte Marines / Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks / Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters / Orix Buffaloes / Saitama Seibu Lions / Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

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