Baseball Challenge League
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| First season | 2007 |
| President | Murayama Tetsuji |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Japan |
| Most recent champion(s) | Tochigi Golden Braves (2019) |
| Most titles | Gunma Diamond Pegasus, Ishikawa Million Stars (4) |
| Official website | http://www.bc-l.jp/ |
The Route Inn BCL, formerly known as the Baseball Challenge League (ベースボール・チャレンジ・リーグ, Bēsubōru Charenji Rīgu), is an independent minor baseball league in Japan. The league's abbreviated designation is "BC League (BCリーグ)."
League structure
[edit]The 72-game season runs from April–October, split into two half-terms, with the division champion from each half-term meeting in a playoff at the end of the year to determine which two teams compete for the league championship. Each team carries 27 players.[1]
Typically, players earn 150,000 yen (c. U.S. $2,000) per month, with another 50,000 yen in potential bonuses.[2] The league imposes a 7.2 million yen (c. U.S. $60,600) salary limit for team managers.[3]
Not every team has a permanent home stadium. Instead, the team travels around its home prefecture, playing in different stadiums, each one called "home” for that game.[4]
History
[edit]The BC League began play in 2007 as the Hokushinestu Baseball Challenge League. It originally consisted of four teams based in the Hokuriku region: the Ishikawa Million Stars, the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club, the Shinano Grandserows, and the Toyama Thunderbirds. In 2008 the league added two teams, Gunma Diamond Pegasus and the Fukui Miracle Elephants, and split into two divisions, Jōshin'etsu (Gunma, Shinano, and Niigata) and Hokuriku (Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama).
Ishikawa Million Stars Infielder Kensuke Uchimura led the league in steals in 2007, which led to him being drafted by Nippon Professional Baseball's Rakuten Golden Eagles. In 2008, he became the first player to reach NPB after playing in the BC League.
In February 2014, the league agreed to a naming rights deal with Route Inn Group, becoming the Route Inn BC League.[5]
That same month, it was announced that a new team, the Musashi Heat Bears, based out of Saitama Prefecture, would join the league in time for the 2015 season.[5] In July 2014, it was announced that a second new team, the Fukushima Hopes, would also join the league for the 2015 season.[6]
Late in the summer of 2014, along with the Shikoku Island League Plus, the Route Inn BCL formed the Japan Independent Baseball League Organization.[7]
With the addition of two new teams, in 2015 the league realigned and renamed its divisions, replacing the previous divisions Jōshin'etsu and Hokuriku with Future—East and Advance—West.[8][9] The team adopted a three-division alignment in 2020.
In September 2021, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, and Shiga (the West division) announced that they would leave the league in 2022 and form a new league, the Nihonkai Ocean League.[10]
Teams
[edit]| Division | Team Name | Founded | Location | League
Championships |
Division Titles | Half Term
Titles |
Team Colour | Home Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | Kanagawa Future Dreams | 2019 | Kanagawa Prefecture | 1 | 1 | 0 | Hiratsuka Studium | |
| Ibaraki Astro Planets | 2017 | Ibaraki Prefecture | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kanakubo Athletic Park Baseball Stadium | ||
| Tochigi Golden Braves | 2016 | Tochigi Prefecture | 1 | 1 | 1 | Oyama Athlete Park Baseball Stadium | ||
| Saitama Musashi Heat Bears | 2014 | Saitama Prefecture | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kumagaya Park Stadium | ||
| North | Fukushima RedHopes | 2014 | Fukushima Prefecture | 0 | 1 | 1 | Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium | |
| Gunma Diamond Pegasus | 2008 | Gunma Prefecture | 4 | 7 | 14 | Takasaka City Jonan Baseball Stadium | ||
| Yamanashi Firewinds | 2025 | Yamanashi Prefecture | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Shinano Grandserows | 2007 | Nagano Prefecture | 1 | 3 | 3 | Nagano Olympic Stadium |
Yearly standings
[edit]| Year | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Ishikawa | Toyama | Shinano | Niigata |
| Joshin'etsu Division | Hokuriku Division | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | First | Second | Third | Year | First | Second | Third | ||
| 2008 | First half | Niigata | Gunma | Shinano | 2008 | First half | Toyama | Ishikawa | Fukui |
| Second half | Gunma | Niigata | Shinano | Second half | Toyama | Ishikawa | Fukui | ||
| 2009 | First half | Gunma | Niigata | Shinano | 2009 | First half | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui |
| Second half | Gunma | Niigata | Shinano | Second half | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui | ||
| 2010 | First half | Gunma | Shinano | Niigata | 2010 | First half | Ishikawa | Fukui | Toyama |
| Second half | Gunma | Niigata | Shinano | Second half | Fukui | Ishikawa | Toyama | ||
| 2011 | First half | Gunma | Shinano | Niigata | 2011 | First half | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui |
| Second half | Niigata | Shinano | Gunma | Second half | Fukui | Ishikawa | Toyama | ||
| 2012 | First half | Niigata | Shinano | Gunma | 2012 | First half | Ishikawa | Fukui | Toyama |
| Second half | Niigata | Shinano | Gunma | Second half | Fukui | Toyama | Ishikawa | ||
| 2013 | First half | Niigata | Gunma | Shinano | 2013 | First half | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui |
| Second half | Niigata | Shinano | Gunma | Second half | Fukui | Toyama | Ishikawa | ||
| 2014 | First half | Gunma | Niigata | Shinano | 2014 | First half | Toyama | Fukui | Ishikawa |
| Second half | Niigata | Gunma | Shinano | Second half | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui | ||
| Future-East | Advance-West | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth | Year | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | ||
| 2015 | First half | Niigata | Musashi | Gunma | Fukushima | - | - | 2015 | First half | Fukui | Shinano | Ishikawa | Toyama | - |
| Second half | Fukushima | Niigata | Gunma | Musashi | - | - | Second half | Toyama | Fukui | Ishikawa | Shinano | - | ||
| 2016 | First half | Gunma | Fukushima | Niigata | Musashi | - | - | 2016 | First half | Ishikawa | Fukui | Shinano | Toyama | - |
| Second half | Gunma | Fukushima | Niigata | Musashi | - | - | Second half | Ishikawa | Shinano | Toyama | Fukui | - | ||
| 2017 | First half | Gunma | Niigata | Fukushima | Musashi | Tochigi | - | 2017 | First half | Toyama | Shinano | Fukui | Shiga | Ishikawa |
| Second half | Gunma | Fukushima | Niigata | Tochigi | Musashi | - | Second half | Shinano | Toyama | Fukui | Ishikawa | Shiga | ||
| 2018 | First half | Gunma | Fukushima | Niigata | Musashi | Tochigi | - | 2018 | First half | Fukui | Shinano | Ishikawa | Toyama | Shiga |
| Second half | Gunma | Fukushima | Tochigi | Niigata | Musashi | - | Second half | Toyama | Fukui | Shinano | Ishikawa | Shiga | ||
| 2019 | First half | Gunma | Niigata | Tochigi | Fukushima | Musashi | Ibaraki | 2019 | First half | Shinano | Toyama | Ishikawa | Shiga | Fukui |
| Second half | Tochigi | Niigata | Gunma | Musashi | Fukushima | Ibaraki | Second half | Shinano | Ishikawa | Toyama | Fukui | Shiga | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Professional Baseball Tryout," Archived 2015-04-13 at the Wayback Machine San Diego Sports Authority (2012). Archived on the Western Baseball Association website. Accessed April 7, 2015.
- ^ Patrick. "Japan’s Independent Leagues 2014," NPB Tracker (09 February 2014).
- ^ Jun Hongo, "Julio Franco, 56 Years Old, Joins a Japan Team as Player-Manager," The Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2015.
- ^ Ryo. "Independent Leagues in Japan," NPB Tracker: Baseball in Japan & Around the World (May 26, 2009).
- ^ a b Gen. "BC League agrees to naming rights deal with Route Inn Group," Yakyubaka.com (Feb. 25, 2014).
- ^ Gen. "New BC League team from Fukushima will be named the Fukushima Hopes," Yakyubaka.com (July 18, 2014).
- ^ Gen. "Island League, BC League to establish Japan Independent Baseball League Organization," Yakyubaka.com (Aug.30, 2014 ).
- ^ "順位表".
- ^ "チーム情報".
- ^ "野球独立リーグから独立？「日本海オセアンリーグ」設立 BCリーグ西地区4球団、その狙いは("Foundation of "the Nihonkai OCEAN League")". Fukui Shimbun(ja:福井新聞) (in Japanese). 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2021-09-17.