Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Year Founded: 2005

Home Stadium: Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi (previously known as Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Rakuten Kobo Stadium Miyagi, Kleenex Stadium Miyagi, and Fullcast Stadium Miyagi)

Photo courtesy of Jase Hill

Also Known As: Inuwashi (“golden eagle” in Japanese).

Championships Won: 1 Pacific League title (2013), 1 Japan Series title (2013)

Away –   Home – 

Top 5 Players in Team History:

 1) Masahiro Tanaka, Pitcher (2007-2013, 2021-present)

There was little he didn’t win in his time with Tohoku. the 2007 Rookie-of-the-Year, plus the 2011 & 2013 Sawamura Awards with a minuscule 1.27 ERA both years. He became pro baseball’s first undefeated 20-game-winner in 2013 (24-0) which earned him the PL MVP. He saved Game 7 of the Japan Series that year after pitching complete games in Game 2, a 2-1 win, and in Game 6, a 160-pitch herculean effort in a 4-2 loss.

 2) Hisashi Iwakuma, Pitcher (2005-2011)

The first ace of the Eagles’ rotation, he endeared himself to Tohoku fans by signing with Rakuten instead of staying with Kintetsu as they merged with Orix. He peaked in 2008 with a 21-4 record and 1.87 ERA (both league highs) and was awarded the Sawamura Award and PL MVP. In 2012, he successfully made the jump to MLB.

 3) Takahiro Norimoto, Pitcher (2013-present)

He has adroitly ascended into the mantle of staff “ace” that Tanaka left him. He won PL Rookie-of-the-Year in 2013 and has followed that up with four straight PL strikeout and innings pitched titles. With a mid/hi-90s fastball and a career 2.94 ERA, he was one of the PL’s most dominant starters. In 2024, he was moved into the closer’s role to replace Yuki Matsui, who signed with MLB’s San Diego Padres.

4) Ginji Akaminai, 1B, 2B, and 3B (2010-present)

Neither a slugger (28 career HR) nor a rabbit, Ginji will do anything else he can to beat you. He has a slick, versatile glove, gap power, and ability to hit (.297 career BA). He has earned PL “Best 9” honors twice (3B 2014 & 1B 2017). Signed in 2006 as a catcher, but converted to the infield, which changed the direction of his career, this Tohoku native fan-favorite is Rakuten’s heart, soul, and lineup glue. Truly “Mr. Golden Eagle”. He is bestowed the venerable (and rare) NPB honor of having his first name on his uniform.

5) Takeshi Yamasaki 1B, Designated Hitter (2005-2011)

Supposedly past the salad days of his 25-year career, which saw him reach 17th on the NPB all time HR list with 403 big flies, Yamasaki was a constant and still dangerous presence in the heart of the Tohoku lineup. His 2007 (PL leading 43 HR, 108 RBI, .936 OPS) and 2009 (39 HR, 107 RBI, .515 SLG) seasons were among the best in his storied career.

Most Famous Manager:  Senichi Hoshino (2011-2014)

NPB legend Hoshino made his mark as a Chunichi Dragons pitcher (146W 34 SV), manager (3 CL titles), and sportscaster. He took the Eagles’ reins in 2011 and led them to their first PL and NPB titles in 2013. The team throwing him in the air for the traditional “do-age” after clinching the Japan series is the franchise’s seminal moment.

Current Manager: Toshiaki Imae (new in 2024)

Current Best Pitcher: Takahiro Norimoto (33, RHP): 155 IP, 8 W 8 L, 111 K, 2.61 ERA in 2023

Current Best Hitter: Hideto Asamura (33, INF): .274/.368/.462, 26 HR, 78 RBI, Best Nine in 2023

Brief Team History:

In 2004, a small revolution started rumbling in Japanese pro baseball. The Nippon Ham Fighters left Tokyo for the northern city of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido. Tohoku citizens, excited about NPB’s maiden foray into Japan’s “snow country”, started to tentatively follow them with a slight feeling of affiliation. Later that year, financial insolvency forced the Kintetsu Buffaloes and Orix Blue Wave to merge at season’s end. The players’ union, perturbed about losing over a hundred jobs, forced NPB’s hand by striking on September 18th and 19th, a first for Japanese pro baseball. With public opinion in a baseball-crazy country also solidly against contraction and for the prospect of expansion and more baseball, NPB caved, and an expansion franchise was granted.

Takafumi Horie, internet portal Livedoor mogul, who had previously attempted to purchase the financially troubled Kintetsu franchise, only to be soundly rebuffed, put together a proposal to found an expansion team. This move spurred Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani to throw his hat in the ring and make a bid for a new franchise. Screenings were held for a panel of five NPB executives, one league president and four influential league owners, to hear the bids.

After careful consideration, NPB decided that the well-connected Mikitani, who had the additional experience of owning a J-League soccer franchise (Vissel Kobe) had the stronger and more stable proposal. Mikitani was granted rights to a franchise, which he and his advisors decided to place in Sendai. For a payment of 2.5 billion yen (returned after completing 10 years in the league), the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were born and came to roost in Sendai, Miyagi.

It did not take the Harvard-educated Mikitani too long to set the Japanese baseball world on its ear. The freshly monikered Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ first General Manager was to be NPB’s first foreign GM: Marty Kuehnert, a longtime Japan sports expert and former U.S. minor league baseball executive (Birmingham Barons AA) who had made a name for himself by shepherding Hall of Famer Frank Thomas’ and Michael Jordan’s baseball careers, and assisting Bo Jackson’s comeback, as part of the Chicago White Sox organization in the early 1990s.

The debut on the field for the fledgling Eagles was not exactly auspicious. In 2005 and 2006, they did exactly what expansion franchises are supposed to do. Lose. A lot. In fact, they lost games at a near historical pace for managers Yasushi Tao (2005) and Katsuya Nomura (2006). Among the few bright spots on those embryonic Golden Eagle squads were P Hisashi Iwakuma, 1B-DH Takeshi Yamasaki, and imports IF Jose Fernandez and OF-IF Rick Short.

Katsuya Nomura was hired in 2006 to take over the managerial reins, making him the oldest manager in NPB history. Under his stewardship the club started improving, finishing fourth in 2007 and fifth in 2008.  A Rookie-of-the-Year Award for Masahiro Tanaka in 2007 (11-7, 196 K), and a PL MVP/Sawamura Award campaign from Iwakuma (21-4, 1.87 ERA), a banner year for Yamasaki (43 HR, 108 RBI), and Short winning the PL batting crown (.332 BA) in 2008 gave fans and pundits reason for optimism going into 2009.

In his final season before retiring, Nomura skippered a team that gelled, rewarded that optimism, and had the inaugural winning season in Eagles history, placing Rakuten in the postseason. The team defeated Fukuoka handily in the first round of the Climax Series before losing to first place Nippon Ham in the second round, three games to one.

2010 saw the team regress a bit, with former Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown taking the reins. Performance was down across the board, and Brown was given the axe. The Eagles management returned to the “venerable Japanese baseball lifer” cupboard again, hiring Senichi Hoshino.

But 2011 brought so much more than a developmental “hiccup” to the Eagles. The Great Eastern Japan Disaster wrought havoc and unprecedented damage to the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and baseball had to take a back seat to recovery. The stadium, like much of the Sendai plain, was damaged, and unable to host professional games at the start of the season, with the whole league delayed initially. So the Eagles took to the road and played six “home” games at Hotto Motto field in Kobe. Thanks to great efforts by the Sendai stadium workers, real home games resumed on April 29th. The team, led by Tanaka (19-5, 1.27 ERA), Iwakuma (2.42 ERA) and Ryo Hijirisawa (.288, 52 SBs) finished fifth, which was yeoman’s work for a team that had to contend with one of history’s worst natural disasters.

The next season saw the team hit the .500 mark, finish fourth and just miss a spot in the playoffs. Stability seemed to be returning to a young franchise still absorbing the disaster plus the loss of their “ace” and cornerstone, Iwakuma, to the Seattle Mariners.

There were high hopes for success going into the 2013 season, but even the most ardent believers could not have envisioned what was about to unfold. Following the lead of Masahiro Tanaka’s historical season (24-0, 1.27 ERA), they breezed to the PL regular-season title, and then made easy work of Lotte in the final stage of the playoffs to clinch a berth in the Japan Series. Whereupon they toppled the Yomiuri Giants, in a tense seven-game series, with Tanaka getting the Game 7 save after starting and completing Game 6 – almost inconceivable in light of the 160 pitches he had thrown the day before in a 4-2 loss.

The championship, for a beleaguered city in the face of calamity, was much more than mere success; it was the symbiosis of team, city, and region in response to traumatizing events. The title was more than a victory; it was validation to the people of the region and catharsis of the emotions so many held in as they persevered while trying to piece their lives and Tohoku together.

Imports Casey McGehee (.292, 28 HR, 93 RBI) and Andruw Jones (.243, 26 HR, 94 RBI) had excellent campaigns with OPS% above .840. Ginji Akaminai hit .317, Ryo Hijirisawa chipped in with a .280 BA and pilfered 21 bases. Kazuo Matsui was also solid (.248, 11 HR, 58 RBI). Rookie of the Year Takahiro Norimoto had a stellar debut campaign (15-8 3.34 ERA) to bolster the rotation, and Manabu Mima came out of relative obscurity to win two Japan Series games and earn the Series MVP award. However, the year truly belonged to manager Hoshino, who called the shots, entertained the region as he held court with his opinionated press briefings, and cemented his legacy by skippering a third team to a league title, finally garnering his first NPB crown in the process.

2014 brought the “hangover” that many championship teams encounter. First to worst. Last place in the Pacific League for two consecutive seasons. It started in the 2014 offseason when Masahiro Tanaka moved to the New York Yankees and MLB riches. The hangover cost the Eagles two managers. Senichi Hoshino retired after the 2014 season due to health concerns, and Hiromoto Okubo was perfunctorily shown the door after the 2015 campaign. Beyond the consistent stalwart efforts of Ginji Akaminai and Takahiro Norimoto, few players other than closer Yuki Matsui (33 SV) and 3B Zelous Wheeler contributed much that was noteworthy.

2016 saw the start of a resurgence under the leadership of veteran manager Masataka Nashida, who had previously won PL championships with Osaka Kintetsu and Hokkaido Nippon Ham. Wheeler, Ginji, and newcomer SS Eigoro Mogi all had solid seasons at the plate. Norimoto chipped in with an 11-11 record, 2.91 ERA, and league-leading 216 K’s. Closer Yuki Matsui added 30 saves. The Eagles also avoided the cellar, finishing fifth.

The resurgence continued in 2017. The Eagles got off to a strong start, holding first place in the PL as late as July, then faded late, but still managed to finish third and enter the postseason for the third time in team history. They then defeated the Saitama Seibu Lions two games to one in the first stage of the Climax Series. They succumbed to the eventual Japan Series Champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in the final stage, four games to two, but acquitted themselves very well along the way.

Then after a forgettable 2018, they repeated their 2017 season in 2019, finishing in third place and winning a game against the SoftBank Hawks before dropping the next four. Unfortunately, they were unable to get enough of a dividend on their free-agent spending in 2020, as the team finished out of the top-3 in the PL. They last reached the playoffs in 2021, and are looking to return to their 2013 glory under new manager Toshiaki Imae in 2024.

About the Author:

Dean Ruetzler is a long-term Tohoku and Iwate ex-pat Austrian-American from Vermont. A huge sports nerd (BS Sports Science, Univ. of Colorado), he is a die-hard Red Sox supporter who added the Golden Eagles as his NPB favorite in 2005. When not at his day job this former FCS d-lineman (Bethany/Marist)’s hobbies include writing, alpine skiing, cricket, and sumo. He can be reached on Facebook or at rudean77@yahoo.com.

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

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