Project Yakyu (Japanese baseball) FINISHED 12/1

[Discrim]

Hiroshima Carp

Almsot five years after the atomic bombing, the Japanese Baseball League was preparing to split into two leagues. Hiroshima Prefecture* decided it'd be a good idea to get in on the action and enter a new team into one of the leagues as a symbol of the rebuilding effort. To that end, the Carp began play in the Central League in 1950. And for about a quarter century, that was the high point. The Carp's lack of funds meant their original manager had trouble just scrounging up a passable starting lineup. Their state of brokenness meant they usually fielded horrible teams, and after the CL wound up rolling with 7 teams in the '52 season, making for a scheduling nightmare, it was decided that whatever team(s) finished below .300 would be either disbanded or merged with another team. As the Carp had finished last the years before, this was blatantly aimed at them. Though they still sucked, finishing with 37 wins that year, the Carp were saved as someone DID finish below .300-the Shochiku Robins. However, the Carp were still in the poorhouse, at one point only being able to afford one uniform per player. Until the mid 70s, finishing above .500 was a struggle, but then the Carp began winning, starting with the 75 CL pennant. By 1991, the Carp had won six pennants and three Japan Series. However, partially due to the lack of financial support from its sponsors, the Carp are unwilling to shell out for free agents, and often let star players go due to higher salary demands than ownership is willing to pay. In an attempt to circumvent this problem, the Carp were the first Japanese team to open a baseball academy outside of Japan. After narrowly missing the postseason last year, however, things might be looking up for the Carp again. An interesting fact: every August 6, the Carp's home field, Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, is closed in memory of the atomic bombing. Thus, even if the Carp have a home game scheduled, they play elsewhere.

*a prefecture is Japan's equivalent to a state or province.

And now, I present the identity sheet:

Raise your hand if you've heard of koi fish. Koi are...drumroll please...carp! Thus, a team-colored koi seemed fitting. The circle logo is the de jure main logo, however the intent would be for the fish alone to be the de facto primary. And while I know koi are usually kept in manmade ponds, the fishbowl beckoned.

[raysox]

Alright, I've been lurking since the beginning of this project, and this last concept is the final straw.

This is one of the best series i have ever seen.

Your style of concepts works perfectly for the Japanese league. I love what you made for the Carp. I like the reds style C, and the font is awesome(what's the name of the font anyway?)

SO keep up the fantastic work, I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Discrim]

you mean what I used for the Hiroshima lettering? I made those letters. Same with the BayStars' Yokohama wm. Only made the letters I needed, I hadn't really given much thought to making numbers (here I used NBA Celtics for the NOB and numbers) or a full blown font. Maybe I should one of these days.

[mets2k]

Looks good. How about a Marine jersey with Valentine #2 & Benny #50?

[Discrim]

that'll be coming mets2k...it'll take a little while cus I plan on a new logo for the Marines. Anyways, onward!

Hanshin Tigers

The Hanshin Tigers just might have the most fiercely loyal fans in Japan. Their rivalry with the Giants is on par with Barca-Madrid or Yanks-Red Sox. Like Cubs road games, you'll likely see a lot of black and gold wherever the Tigers roam. And their venerated home park, Koshien Stadium, plays host to the legendary high school tournaments that put such men as Sadaharu Oh, Hideki Matsui and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the map. Hell, each season from 05 to 07 they drew over 3 million fans to their home games, something not even the Giants were able to pull off. Without further ado, the Tigers:

home and away

alternate golds

yes, I have two gold jerseys.

[JH42XCC]

Great work on the Japanese baseball concepts.

By the way, the Giants play in the Bunkyō ward of Tokyo.

[spamspamspamspam]

As much as you can say that the logo is "Classic, the Hanshin tigers should have a better primary than that. The tiger looks like its in pain more than anything else.

[Discrim]

Saitama Seibu Lions

The Lions have historically been the Giants of the Pacific League, having won 21 pennants in their history, as well as 13 Japan Series (including last season's). And they also have nice new bathrooms. The team had a humble start as the Ni :censored:etsu Clippers in 1950, and after playing about as poorly as a certain other squad of Clippers, were merged with the Nishi-Nippon Pirates to create the Ni :censored:etsu Lions (the unis they adopted this season are an homage to the Ni :censored:etsu era). During the 50s, the Lions won their first four pennants, and won the 56, 57 and 58 Japan Series, which looks even more impressive than it usually would due to who they beat all three times(take a wild guess). However, after winning one more pennant in 63, the Lions fell off a bit, and were eventually sold to a group headed by the owner of the Lotte Orions. The Lions' sponsorship rights were then sold to resort developing firm Taiheiyo Club, and later, to Crown Lighter, but the team still struggled on the field.

Finally, Seibu Group bought the Lions after the 78 season and moved them to Tokorozawa, Saitama prefecture. After struggling in the first few seasons, the Lions finally tasted success again, winning 6 pennants and 3 Japan Series titles in the 80s, adding 5 more pennants and 3 JS crowns in the early 90s for good measure. Yes, if you recall an issue of Sports Illustrated with a powder blue-clad Japanese batter on the cover, that was them. Indeed, since finishing in 4th in 1981, the Lions have only finished lower than third once, in 2007.

A couple former Lions you might have heard of are Astros infielder Kazuo Matsui and some guy named Daisuke. Among the current Lions, you may remember Kaz Ishii and Hiram Bocachica (or then again, you might not). Without further ado, here's the set:

Home and Away

I like the old English Lions lettering, so I kept that around for the home jersey. However, I aint a huge fan of the paw on the ball thing they were aiming for, so I brought back the white lion. The roads are reminiscent of those old powder blues from the 80s.

Alternates

The home vest was my way of keeping the Detroit-style English L jersey around somehow (and for some reason I keep thinking of L from Death Note every time I look at it). The road alt jersey is only green because a second powder blue jersey seemed redundant. And I only designated it as a road only jersey cus it seems to go with the road pants better. The placket striping's there so this doesn't look too plain.

[spamspamspamspam]

Saitama Seibu Lions

Home and Away

As much as I like the use of Kimba as their logo, I think that the new logo the Lions have is a lot better.

[Discrim]

The Eternal War Against Pork

When Nippon Ham bought the Toei Flyers after the 1973 season, they were open to suggestions for a new name. A high school girl, reasoning that a Flyers standout had guts, suggested Fighters. That player, Katsuo Osugi, wasn't a Fighter for long, however, as he was shipped off to the Swallows soon after the name change. That might've been a sign of things to come, as aside from a few competitive seasons, during which they managed to win the 81 PL pennant, they were frequently in the back end of the standings. How bad did things get for the Fighters? Well, the manager of the 81 pennant winners came out of retirement in 93, presided over a crap season, and after the final game, knelt down and begged the fans for forgiveness. By 96, they'd hired a new manager who figured the middle of a pennant race was as good a time as any to walk out on the team, turning a shot at the pennant into another lost season.

Of course, things are different now. With the efforts of now-ex manager Trey Hillman, ace Yu Darvish and Tsuyoshi Shinjo (he of the huge orange armbands during his stint in MLB), among others, the Fighters took home the 2006 PL pennant and Japan Series, after which Shinjo hung up his spikes. They also won the 07 PL pennant, and currently hold the top spot again this year. Without further ado, here go the concepts.

home and away

I wanted to keep some form of the assymetry the real uniforms have going on. A seven-pointed star serves as Hokkaido's symbol, thus, these stars are used extensively in the entire set. The small katakana characters that appear on the road jersey's placket translate to "Nippon Ham."

alternates

the gold alts have a large star on each sleeve, as well as the "Nippon Ham" katakana. The blue jerseys were designed to go with the blue caps, and basically use a star-studded wraparound stripe.

[Discrim]

Finally, it is over. And nobody made any ham jokes. Anyways, the final team...

We Love Love Love the Marines

They began life in the dawn of the two-league era, as the Orions. Under the ownership of Mainichi Shimbun, the club defeated the Shochiku Robins to win the first Japan Series, and were mostly competitive for the rest of the 50s. Due to the PL's odd number of teams (7), however, the Orions merged with the Daiei Unions to create the Daimai Orions (Daiei + Mainichi). The still strong Orions won the 1960 PL pennant, but then faded. From 64 to 68, they went by Tokyo Orions, though they were by this point only semi-competitive, never falling to last but never finishing first either. Then in time for the 1969 season, the Korean company Lotte bought the Orions, and the players responded by winning the PL pennant in 1970. Another pennant in 74 was followed by a Japan Series victory, but then the Orions began struggling, as this proved to be the last title they would win under this name. Though 1992 saw the Orions name retired in favor of the Chiba Lotte Marines, the team's fortunes remained largely the same until the 2005 campaign, when the Bobby Valentine-led squad took home the PL pennant and the Japan Series, sweeping the Hanshin Tigers with such apparent ease that the Central League decided to adopt a playoff series (the Pacific League had been using one for a few years prior). Of course, I must mention those crazy ass uniforms, which Bobby V didn't just give the go-ahead, he oversaw their design.

Honestly, if I tried to top that , I'd basically have had these look exactly the same as the real . I want one of their jerseys, I want that hat...but I'll settle for my own design. Honestly, I meant to have a seagull of some sort to tie into the RL identity, but I couldn't decide whether to do realistic or mascotish, so I decided on an anchor instead.

I've wanted to hit yall with some River City Rascal for a while now. The home jersey didn't seem like the right place to do so, but the black jersey did.

[spamspamspamspam]

Well done. I was beginning to think you might never complete this.

PS. I take it that you're not going to do the flags like you said you might?

[Discrim]

the flags, i'm not sure on yet. i might do em, I might not, it's up in the air.