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{{Expand Japanese|読売ジャイアンツ|date=February 2022}}
{{short description|Professional baseball team}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox baseball team
| name                = Yomiuri Giants
|native_name=読売ジャイアンツ・巨人| logo = Yomiuri Giants logo.svg
| cap_logo            = 読売ジャイアンツロゴ.svg
| league = '''[[Nippon Professional Baseball]]'''
:'''[[Central League]] (1950–present)'''
::{{nowrap|[[Japanese Baseball League]] (1936–1949)}}
:{{nowrap|Independent (1934–1935)}}
| location = [[Bunkyō]], [[Tokyo]], Japan
| stadium = [[Tokyo Dome]]
| founded = {{start date and age|1934|12|26}}
| nickname = {{nihongo3|'Giants'|巨人|Kyojin}}
|native_name_lang=ja| former_names = {{plainlist|
*Tokyo Kyojin (1941–1946)
*Tokyo Giants (1935–1940)
*Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club (1934)
}}
| series2   = JBL
| series2_champs       = '''9''' (1936 Fall, 1937 Spring, 1938 Fall, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949)
| league_champ_type  = CL pennants
| league_champs      = '''39''' ([[1951 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1951]], [[1952 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1952]], [[1953 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1953]], [[1955 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1955]], [[1956 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1956]], [[1957 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1957]], [[1958 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1958]], [[1959 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1959]], [[1961 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1961]], [[1963 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1963]], [[1965 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1965]], [[1966 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1966]], [[1967 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1967]], [[1968 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1968]], [[1969 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1969]], [[1970 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1970]], [[1971 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1971]], [[1972 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1972]], [[1973 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1973]], [[1976 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1976]], [[1977 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1977]], [[1981 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1981]], [[1983 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1983]], [[1987 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1987]], [[1989 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1989]], [[1990 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1990]], [[1994 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1994]], [[1996 Nippon Professional Baseball season|1996]], [[2000 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2000]], [[2002 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2002]], [[2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2007]], [[2008 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2008]], [[2009 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2009]], [[2012 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2012]], [[2013 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2013]], [[2014 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2014]], [[2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2019]], [[2020 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2020]], [[2024 Nippon Professional Baseball season|2024]])
| series              = [[Japan Series]]
| series_champs       = '''22''' ([[1951 Japan Series|1951]], [[1952 Japan Series|1952]], [[1953 Japan Series|1953]], [[1955 Japan Series|1955]], [[1961 Japan Series|1961]], [[1963 Japan Series|1963]], [[1965 Japan Series|1965]], [[1966 Japan Series|1966]], [[1967 Japan Series|1967]], [[1968 Japan Series|1968]], [[1969 Japan Series|1969]], [[1970 Japan Series|1970]], [[1971 Japan Series|1971]], [[1972 Japan Series|1972]], [[1973 Japan Series|1973]], [[1981 Japan Series|1981]], [[1989 Japan Series|1989]], [[1994 Japan Series|1994]], [[2000 Japan Series|2000]], [[2002 Japan Series|2002]], [[2009 Japan Series|2009]], [[2012 Japan Series|2012]])
| former_ballparks ={{plainlist|
*[[Korakuen Stadium]] (1937–1987)
}}
| colors              = Orange, Black, White<br>{{color box|#ed9e21}} {{color box|black}} {{color box|white}}
| mascot              = Giabbit
| manager             = [[Shinnosuke Abe]]
| berths              = 15 ([[2007 Central League Climax Series|2007]], [[2008 Central League Climax Series|2008]], [[2009 Central League Climax Series|2009]], [[2010 Central League Climax Series|2010]], [[2011 Central League Climax Series|2011]], [[2012 Central League Climax Series|2012]], [[2013 Central League Climax Series|2013]], [[2014 Central League Climax Series|2014]], [[2015 Central League Climax Series|2015]], [[2016 Central League Climax Series|2016]], [[2018 Central League Climax Series|2018]], [[2019 Central League Climax Series|2019]], [[2021 Central League Climax Series|2021]], [[2024 Central League Climax Series|2024]], [[2025 Central League Climax Series|2025]])
| retired_numbers     = {{hlist|[[Sadaharu Oh|1]]|[[Shigeo Nagashima|3]]|[[Toshio Kurosawa (baseball)|4]]|[[Eiji Sawamura|14]]|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami|16]]|[[Masaichi Kaneda|34]]}}
|website=https://www.giants.jp/| owner               = Legally as {{nihongo||株式会社読売巨人軍|[[Kabushiki gaisha|KK]] Yomiuri Kyojingun}} 100% owned by [[The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings]]
| management          = Toshikazu Yamaguchi
| uniform             = [[File:YomGiants Uniforms.PNG|center|175px]]
}}

The {{Nihongo|'''Yomiuri Giants'''|読売ジャイアンツ|Yomiuri Jaiantsu|formally {{nihongo||読売巨人軍|Yomiuri Kyojingun}}}} and still known by the nickname{{Nihongo|''' Kyojin'''|巨人}} are a Japanese professional [[baseball]] team competing in [[Nippon Professional Baseball]]'s [[Central League]]. Based in [[Bunkyo]], Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the [[Tokyo Yakult Swallows]]. They have played their home games at [[Tokyo Dome]] since its opening in 1988. The team's owner is [[The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings]], Japan's largest [[media conglomerate]] which also owns two newspapers (including the eponymous ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'') and the [[Nippon Television Network System|Nippon Television Network]] (which includes flagship [[Nippon TV]]).

The Giants are the oldest professional sports team in Japan. They are also by far the most successful, having won 22 [[Japan Series]] titles and an additional nine in the era of NPB's forerunner, the [[Japanese Baseball League]]. Their main rivalry is with the [[Hanshin Tigers]], a team especially popular in the [[Kansai]] region. The Yomiuri Giants are regarded as "The [[New York Yankees]] of Japan" due to their widespread popularity, past dominance of the league, and polarizing effect on fans. Most Japanese baseball fans who are indifferent about teams other than their local team often have an intense dislike for the Giants; on the other hand, the Giants have a large fan base even in cities that have a team of their own.

The English-language press occasionally calls the team the '''Tokyo Giants''', but that name has not been in use in Japan for decades. ([[Lefty O'Doul]], a former [[Major League Baseball]] player, named the team "Tokyo Giants" in the mid-1930s.) Instead, the team is officially known by the name of its corporate owner, just like the [[Hanshin Tigers]] and [[Orix Buffaloes]]. The team is often referred by fans and in news headlines and tables simply as {{nihongo||巨人|Kyojin|the Japanese word for 'giant(s)'}}, instead of the usual corporate owner's name or the English nickname.

The Yomiuri Giants name and uniforms were based on the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York (now San Francisco) Giants]]. The team's colors (orange and black) are the same colors worn by the National League's Giants (both then as now in both New York and San Francisco). The stylized lettering on the team's jerseys and caps is similar to the fancy lettering used by the Giants when they played in New York in the 1930s, although during the 1970s the Yomiuri Giants modernized their lettering to follow the style worn by the San Francisco Giants.

== Franchise history ==

=== Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club ===
The team began in 1934 as {{nihongo|'''The Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club'''|大日本東京野球倶楽部|Dai-Nippon Tōkyō Yakyū Kurabu}}, a team of all-stars organized by media mogul [[Matsutarō Shōriki]] that toured the United States<ref name="Whiting, You Gotta have Wa"/> and matched up against an American all-star team that included [[Babe Ruth]], [[Jimmie Foxx]], [[Lou Gehrig]], and [[Charlie Gehringer]]. While prior Japanese all-star contingents had disbanded, Shōriki went pro with this group, playing in an independent league. 

In 1935, the team traveled to the United States and faced off against college and minor league teams, ultimately playing 109 games in 128 days (including 34 games on 17 days as [[Doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheaders]]) across the country. The tour ended with a record of 75 wins, 33 losses, and 1 draw.

When they faced off against the [[San Francisco Seals (baseball)|San Francisco Seals]], the manager of the Seals, [[Lefty O'Doul]], stated the team needed a promotional name, as just the team being named "Tokyo Dai Nippon Baseball Club" wouldn't mean anything of note to Americans, and because the tour was heavily funded with ticket sales.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} He suggested that since [[Tokyo]] was the [[New York City|New York]] of [[Japan]], they should emulate one of the two named [[Major League Baseball|MLB]] teams in New York; either the [[New York Yankees|Yankees]] or the [[New York Giants (baseball)|Giants]] (New York's first professional baseball team and at that point the more successful team). As "[[Yankee]]s" was immediately out of the question, due to it being a uniquely American name, O'Doul suggested the name "Giants", also thanks to the fact that coincidentally, O'Doul was formerly of the Giants himself,  and the team adopted the '''Tokyo Giants''' moniker mid-tour.

However, the Giants name would face minor challenging from Shōriki himself after the tour, as he wanted to name the team the Tokyo Golden Kites, after the [[Order of the Golden Kite]], a military order of the Empire of Japan (which would be abolished in 1947 following [[World War II]]). The players, however, would hold firm, and Shōriki would retain the Giants name.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgnoIofl-QE |title=The Yankees of the East - A Brief History of the Yomiuri Giants |date=2023-01-25 |last=Gaijin Baseball |access-date=2025-01-05 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

=== Tokyo Kyojin ===
In 1936, with the formation of the [[Japanese Baseball League]], the team changed its name to the '''Tokyo Kyojin''', often called the Tokyo Giants in non-Japanese sources. It won eight league championships under that name from 1936 to 1943, including six championships in a row from 1938 to 1943.

Russian-born pitcher [[Victor Starffin]], nicknamed "the blue-eyed Japanese", starred for the team until 1944. One of the league's premier pitchers, he won two MVP awards and a [[Best Nine Award|Best Nine award]], and won at least 26 games in six different years, winning a league-record 42 games in 1939. He followed his record-setting performance with another 38 wins in 1940. Pitcher [[Eiji Sawamura]] co-starred with Starffin on the Kyojin. He pitched the first [[no-hitter]] in Japanese pro baseball, on September 25, 1936, as well as two others. In 1937, he went 33–10 with a 1.38 [[earned run average]]. From 1937 to 1943 Sawamura had a record of 63–22, 554 strikeouts, and a 1.74 ERA. Sawamura was conscripted into the [[Japanese Imperial Army]] in 1938, 1941, and 1943; he returned to play for the Giants between deployments, though injuries and time away hindered his form and velocity.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-05-01 |title=The story of Eiji Sawamura, the Japan baseball ace lost in sunk WWII transport ship |language=en |work=Mainichi Daily News |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210501/p2a/00m/0na/015000c |access-date=2023-09-18}}</ref> He was released by the team in 1943, then killed in battle when his ship was torpedoed near the end of the [[Second World War]].

Outfielder [[Haruyasu Nakajima]] was a featured hitter during the franchise's first decade-and-a-half, and as [[player-manager]] led the Kyojin to a championship in 1941. [[Tetsuharu Kawakami]] was a team fixture from 1938 to 1958, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in a season. He was the first player in Japanese pro baseball to achieve 2,000 hits and was named the league's MVP three times. Leadoff man [[Shosei Go]] starred for the team from 1937 to 1943, winning league MVP in 1943. Only {{cvt|5|ft|6|in}} and {{cvt|140|lb}}, he was nicknamed "The Human Locomotive" due to his speed.

Pitcher [[Hideo Fujimoto]] (also known as Hideo Nakagami) pitched for the team for 12 seasons from 1942 to 1955. He holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA (1.90) and seasonal ERA (0.73 in 1943), as well as best all-time winning percentage (.697). He threw two career [[no-hitters]], including the first [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] in Japanese professional baseball. In addition, he served as the Giants' [[player-manager]] in 1944 (there was no 1945 season) and part of 1946.

=== Yomiuri Giants ===
In 1947 the team became the Yomiuri Giants, winning the final JBL championship in 1949 (again under [[player-manager]] [[Haruyasu Nakajima]]). From 1938 to 1987 the Giants played at [[Korakuen Stadium]], moving to their current home the [[Tokyo Dome]] in 1988.

In 1950, the Giants were one of the founding members of [[Nippon Professional Baseball]], joining the [[Central League]].

Slugger [[Noboru Aota]] starred for the Giants from 1948 to 1952, winning the home run championship twice, and hitting a home run in the [[1951 Japan Series]], when the Giants defeated the [[Nankai Hawks]] 4 games to 2 for their first NPB championship. The Giants would also win Japan Series championships in [[1952 Japan Series|1952]], [[1953 Japan Series|1953]], and [[1955 Japan Series|1955]], all over the Nankai Hawks. The team was the Central League champion every year from 1955 to 1959, winning the [[Japan Series]] championship in 1955, but they lost four consecutive Japan Series thereafter, with the first three losses coming against the [[Nishitetsu Lions]], and then the Hawks finally got their revenge to close out the decade.

World career [[home run]] record holder [[Sadaharu Oh]] starred for the Giants from 1959 to 1980, and fellow [[Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]] [[Shigeo Nagashima]] played for the team from 1958 to 1974. The Giants lineup, consisting of Oh batting third and Nagashima batting fourth, was nicknamed the ''ON Hou'', ("Oh-Nagashima Cannon") as the two players emerged as the best hitters in the league. Now the team's manager, [[Tetsuharu Kawakami]] led the Giants to nine consecutive [[Japan Series]] championships from 1965 to 1973,<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Robert Whiting |last=Whiting |first=Robert |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2013/11/27/baseball/kawakamis-philosophy-as-manager-never-wavered/ |title=Kawakami's philosophy as manager never wavered |work=[[The Japan Times]] |date=28 November 2013 |page=16 |access-date=28 November 2013}}</ref> and Oh and Nagashima dominated the batting titles during this period.  During his career, Oh was a five-time batting champion and fifteen-time home-run champion, and won the [[Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Central League]] most valuable player award nine times. Nagashima won the season MVP award five times, and the [[Best Nine Award]] every single year of his career (a total 17 times). Future Hall of Famer [[Tsuneo Horiuchi]] pitched for the team during its heyday, from 1966 to 1983. The renowned left-hander [[Masaichi Kaneda]] pitched for the team from 1965 to 1969, later having his number retired by the Giants.

[[Shigeo Nagashima]] was appointed manager of the Giants almost immediately after his retirement in 1974, staying in that position until 1980. After a couple of down years the Giants re-assumed their dominant position in the Central League, winning league championships in 1976 and 1977. Sadaharu Oh rejoined the team as manager from 1984 to 1988. Nagashima returned as Giants manager from 1993 to 2001, winning Japan Series championships in 1994, 1996, and 2000.

Outfielder [[Hideki Matsui]] starred for the Giants for ten seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s before migrating to [[Major League Baseball]]. He was a three-time NPB [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]], leading his team to four [[Japan Series]], winning three titles (1994, 2000 and 2002), and earning the popular nickname "[[Godzilla]]". He also made nine consecutive All-Star Games and led the league in [[home run]]s and [[Run batted in|RBI]]s three times.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Kawakami Tetsuharu 1946.JPG|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami]] in 1946
File:Yomiuri Giants4.jpg|Three Giants stars of the 1950s, [[Tetsuharu Kawakami]], [[Shigeru Chiba]], and [[Noboru Aota]] (left to right)
File:Egawa.jpg|[[Suguru Egawa]], after 1981 
File:Giants hara 88.jpg|[[Tatsunori Hara]] in 2012
File:銀座ー2.JPG|A celebration with Giants supporters for NPB championship parade in November 2009
File:国民栄誉賞おめでとうございます (8756593450).jpg|A celebration for awarding the National Honor Award served to [[Shigeo Nagashima]], former stars and manager for long period,  in [[Tokyo Dome]], May 2013.
File:Giants sugano 19.jpg|A main Giants pitcher, [[Tomoyuki Sugano]] 
File:Gk ryoDSC 97122.jpg|Main Giants player, [[Kazuma Okamoto]]
</gallery>

== Managerial history and lifetime records ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|Name 
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|Tenure
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|Games
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|W
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|L
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|T
!colspan=1 style="{{Baseball primary style|Yomiuri Giants|border=2}};"|Win %
|-
| [[Sadayoshi Fujimoto]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1936–1942
|604||422||168||14||.715
|-
| [[Haruyasu Nakajima]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1943
|84||54||27||3||.667
|-
| [[Hideo Fujimoto]]   {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1944
|35||19||14||2||.576
|-
| Hideo Fujimoto (2)  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1946  
|25||15||9||1||.625
|-
| Haruyasu Nakajima (2) {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1946–1947
|171||96||74||1||.564
|-
| [[Osamu Mihara]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1947–1949
|302||177||118||7||.600
|-
| Shigeru Mizuhara  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1950–1960
|1,407||881||497||29||.639
|-
| [[Tetsuharu Kawakami]]   {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1961–1974
|1,868||1,066||741||61||.590
|-
| [[Shigeo Nagashima]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1975–1980
|780||387||386||55||.533
|-
| [[Motoshi Fujita]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1981–1983
|390||211||148||31||.588
|-
| [[Sadaharu Oh]]  {{flagicon|TWN}} || 1984–1988
|650||347||264||39||.568
|-
| Motoshi Fujita (2)  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1989–1992
|520||305||213||2||.587
|-
| Shigeo Nagashima (2)  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 1993–2001
|1,202||647||551||4||.538
|-
| [[Tatsunori Hara]]  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2002–2003
|280||147||138||5||.535
|-
| [[Tsuneo Horiuchi]]  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2004–2005
|284||133||144||7||.480
|-
| Tatsunori Hara (2) {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2006–2015
|1,441||795||595||51||.572
|-
| [[Yoshinobu Takahashi]]  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2016–2018
|429||210||208||11||.502
|-
| Tatsunori Hara (3)  {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2019–2023
|657||344||313||35||.524
|-
| [[Shinnosuke Abe]] {{flagicon|JPN}} || 2024–present
|143||77||59||7||.566
|-
|}
{{page needed|date=October 2017}}<ref>[[:ja::読売ジャイアンツの年度別成績一覧]] Retrieved date on 24 October 2017 {{in lang|ja}}</ref>

==Rivalries==

The Giants have several rivalries with clubs in the [[Central League]], most notably rivalries with the [[Nishinomiya]]-based [[Hanshin Tigers]], the [[Nagoya]]-based [[Chunichi Dragons]] and their cross-town rivals, the [[Tokyo Yakult Swallows]]. 

===Hanshin Tigers===
The '''Giants-Tigers rivalry''' is considered the most intense professional rivalry in the history of Japanese team sports.

The Giants-Tigers feud began on July 15, 1936 in Nagoya, [[Aichi Prefecture|Aichi]], Japan, at a time when Japanese clubs besides the Tigers did not have set home ballparks, and would bounce around wherever they could play. This game would set the tone for the history-setting rivalry, as the first home run in Giants professional club history would come on that day at the hands of [[Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame]] member [[Haruyasu Nakajima]] off Tigers' ace [[Tadashi Wakabayashi]], but the Tigers would win the game 8-7. On September 25, 1936, young Giants ace [[Eiji Sawamura]] threw the first no-hitter in Japanese professional baseball history against the Tigers at [[Hanshin Koshien Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web | title=巨人軍年表_1930〜1969 | website=読売ジャイアンツ（巨人軍）公式サイト | url=https://www.giants.jp/record/g-history/1/ | language=ja | ref={{sfnref | 読売ジャイアンツ（巨人軍）公式サイト}} | access-date=2024-09-02}}</ref> He would be the only Giants pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Koshien until [[Shosei Togo]] did it on May 24, 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=【データ】巨人戸郷翔征がノーノー達成 1－0、阪神戦、甲子園球場は36年沢村栄治にそっくり | website=nikkansports.com | date=2024-05-24 | url=https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/news/202405240001690.html | language=ja | ref={{sfnref | nikkansports.com | 2024}} | access-date=2024-09-02}}</ref>

The Giants-Tigers rivalry has seen mostly the Giants enjoy long standing periods of success at the expense of the Tigers. From {{npby|1956}} to {{npby|1959}}, the Giants won the Central League pennant over the Tigers in each of the four seasons; however, the Giants would lose all 4 of their [[Japan Series]] appearances during that time, three times to the [[Nishitetsu Lions]] (now the [[Saitama Seibu Lions]]) from 1956 to {{npby|1958}}, and once to the [[Nankai Hawks]] (now the [[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks]]) in 1959. Most notably during this time, the only ever baseball [[jp:天覧試合|Tenran-jiai]], or "Match viewed by the Emperor" happened on June 25th, 1959, where [[Emperor Hirohito]] decided to watch the game between the Tigers and Giants; Giants legend [[Shigeo Nagashima]] would walk off future Tigers legend [[Minoru Murayama]] in the bottom of the 9th as the Giants won 5-4. During the Giants' V9 dynasty, where the Giants would win a record setting 9 consecutive Japan Series championships from {{npby|1965}} to {{npby|1973}}, the Tigers would finish 2nd in the Central League 5 of the 9 seasons, including 3 consecutive second place finishes from {{npby|1968}} to {{npby|1970}}.

As of the end of the {{npby|2024}} season, the Giants have the edge in Japan Series championships, 22–2, Central League pennants, 39–6, overall championships, 31–6, and the Giants lead the Tigers head to head, 1127–888–77.<ref>{{cite web | title=巨人 年度別チームカード別対戦成績 ～my favorite giants～ | website=my favorite giants 【読売ジャイアンツ（巨人）データサイト】 | date=2003-11-17 | url=https://www.my-favorite-giants.net/giants_data/result/record_against.htm | language=ja | ref={{sfnref | my favorite giants 【読売ジャイアンツ（巨人）データサイト】 | 2003}} | access-date=2024-09-02}}</ref> The Giants and Tigers have met in the [[Climax Series]] 5 times, in which the Giants lead the overall head-to-head matchup 11-6-0, winning the series 4 times to the Tigers' 1.

===Tokyo Yakult Swallows===

The geographic rivalry between the Giants and the [[Shinjuku]]-based Tokyo Yakult Swallows has been around since the Swallows were founded by the former [[Japanese National Railways]] (known as '''Kokutetsu''' (国鉄) in Japanese)) as the Kokutetsu Swallows on January 12, 1950. However, the rivalry never truly began in earnest until [[Yakult Honsha|Yakult]], who bought the team from national newspaper [[Sankei Shimbun]] in 1970, added "Tokyo" to the team's name in the 2005-06 NPB offseason, where games began being referred to by the media as the "[[jp:TOKYOシリーズ|TOKYOシリーズ]]", or literally "Tokyo Series" in Japanese. In {{npby|2015}}, the Swallows and Giants officially announced plans for an annual "Tokyo Series" event with each team hosting a series.<ref>{{cite web | title=巨人ＶＳヤクルト「ＴＯＫＹＯシリーズ」４月に６試合開催 | website=スポニチ Sponichi Annex | date=2015-03-02 | url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2015/03/02/kiji/K20150302009900960.html | language=ja | ref={{sfnref | スポニチ Sponichi Annex | 2015}} | access-date=2024-09-02}}</ref> At the same time, the Swallows began producing annual alternate uniforms for said rivalry games.

Since Yakult added Tokyo to the Swallows name in 2006, the Giants lead the head-to-head regular season series 260–184–19. Overall, since the Swallows were founded in 1950, the Giants lead the head-to-head regular season series 1094–758–61. The Swallows and Giants have met in the Climax Series 4 times, in which Yakult lead the head-to-head matchups 9–4–1 (including Yakult's 1 advantage win in the [[2015 Central League Climax Series|2015]] and [[2021 Central League Climax Series]]), winning the series 3 times to the Giants' 1 series win.

===Chunichi Dragons===
The '''Giants-Dragons rivalry''' is said to be the oldest professional rivalry in the history of professional Japanese team sports.

The Giants and one of the teams that would eventually form the Dragons, then known as the Nagoya [[Shachihoko]], first met on February 5, 1936 at [[jp:鳴海球場|Narumi Baseball Stadium]] in the suburbs of Nagoya, marking the first ever game in the history of the [[Japanese Professional Baseball League]], which is now known as Nippon Professional Baseball. The Shachihoko, later known as Nagoya Kinko, would be absorbed into the [[Nagoya Baseball Club]] in 1943 as their parent company, the Nagoya Shimbun, was forced to merge into rival newspaper company Shin-Aichi Shimbun under the [[jp:新聞統制|Japanese newspaper control ordinance]], creating Chubu-Nippon Shimbun, or [[Chunichi Shimbun]] as it is known today. This created the Sangyo Baseball Club, which is now known as today's [[Chunichi Dragons]].

Like the Giants-Tigers rivalry, the Giants have enjoyed long standing success at the expense of the Dragons, creating animosity amongst Dragons fans. This came to a head in the finale of the [[1994 NPB season]], where the Giants and Dragons were tied in the standings, each sitting at 69-60-0. The Giants would win that game and the Central League pennant by a score of 6-3, in what would be known as the [[jp:10.8決戦|10.8 Showdown]], and eventually would win the [[1994 Japan Series]] over the Seibu Lions.

Since Nagoya Kinko merged into the Nagoya Baseball Club in 1943, the Giants lead the Dragons in Japan Series championships, 22-2, Central League pennants, 39-9, and head-to-head, 1061-871-61. The Giants and Dragons have met in the Climax Series 5 times, in which the overall head-to-head is tied, 12-12-1, including 1 game advantage wins in the [[2008 Central League Climax Series|2008]], [[2009 Central League Climax Series|2009]], [[2010 Central League Climax Series|2010]], and [[2012 Central League Climax Series]]. The Giants also have won the head to head series in the Climax Series 3 times to Chunichi's 2.

== Roster ==
{{Yomiuri Giants roster|state=expanded}} 

== Players of note ==
=== Former players ===
{{colbegin|colwidth=28em}}
*{{player||USA|[[Chuck Cary]] – P}}
*{{player||USA|[[Bryan Corey]] — P}}
*{{player||USA|[[Jesse Barfield]] – OF}}#
*{{player||USA|[[Phil Bradley]]}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shigeru Chiba (baseball)|Shigeru Chiba]]|千葉 茂}}}} 
*{{player||USA|[[Keith Comstock]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Warren Cromartie]] – OF}} 
*{{player||MEX|[[Luis Cruz]] – IF}}
*{{player||DOM|[[Mariano Duncan]]}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Suguru Egawa]]|江川 卓}}}}
*{{player||DOM|[[Balvino Gálvez]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Dan Gladden]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Gary Glover]] – P}}
*{{player||VEN|[[Luis González (infielder)|Luis González]] – 2B}}
*{{player||USA|[[Bill Gullickson]] – P}}
*{{player||KOR|{{nihongo|[[Isao Harimoto]] (Jang Hun)|張本勲}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Tatsuro Hirooka]]|広岡 達郎}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Osamu Mihara]]|三原 脩}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[Damon Hollins]] – OF}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Tsuneo Horiuchi]]|堀内 恒夫}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[Gabe Kapler]] – OF, later manager of the [[San Francisco Giants]]}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Masumi Kuwata]]|桑田 真澄}} – P}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami]]|川上 哲治}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Kazuhiro Kiyohara]]|清原 和博}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Yoshinobu Takahashi]]|高橋 由伸}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Norihiro Komada]]|駒田 徳広}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[Davey Johnson]] – Manager}} 
*{{player||DOM|[[Domingo Martínez (baseball)|Domingo Martínez]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Chris Latham (baseball)|Chris Latham]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Shane Mack (baseball)|Shane Mack]]}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Yukinaga Maeda]]|前田 幸長}} – P}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Hiromi Makihara]]|槙原 寛己}}}} 
*{{player||DOM|[[Gregory Polanco]]}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Kimiyasu Kudo]]|工藤 公康}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Hideki Matsui]]|松井 秀喜}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[Miles Mikolas]] – P}}  
*{{player||CAN|[[Scott Mathieson]]}}
*{{player||AUS|{{nihongo|[[Micheal Nakamura]]|マイケル 中村||MICHAEL}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shigeo Nagashima]]|長嶋 茂雄}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Kiyoshi Nakahata]]|中畑 清}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Hiromitsu Ochiai]]|落合 博満}}}}
*{{player||TWN|{{nihongo|[[Sadaharu Oh]]|王貞治}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Sho Nakata]]|中田 翔}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Hideki Okajima]]|岡島 秀樹}}}} 
*{{player||VEN|[[Roberto Petagine]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Jeremy Powell]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Tuffy Rhodes]]}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Masaki Saito (baseball)|Masaki Saito]]|斎藤 雅樹}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Eiji Sawamura]]|沢村 栄治}}}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The All-Stars vs. the kid |date=November 6, 2002 |last=Takabayashi |first=Kenji |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20021106&content_id=171904&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp |website=[[MLB.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317050929/http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20021106&content_id=171904&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp |archive-date=March 17, 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Hirokazu Sawamura]]|澤村 拓一}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Isao Shibata]]|柴田 勲}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Kazunori Shinozuka]]|篠塚 和典}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[Reggie Smith]]}}
*{{player||RUS|[[Victor Starffin]]}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Kazumi Takahashi (baseball)|Kazumi Takahashi]]|高橋 一三}}}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shigeru Takada]]|高田 繫}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Koji Uehara]]|上原 浩治}}}}
*{{player||USA|[[John Wasdin]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Roy White]]}}
*{{player||USA|[[Clyde Wright]]}}
*{{player||USA|{{nihongo|[[Wally Yonamine]]|与那嶺 要}}}}
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shohei Baba]]|馬場 正平, ジャイアント馬場||pitcher; later a pro wrestler, founder of [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]]}}}}
*{{player||KOR|{{nihongo|[[Lee Seung-Yeop]]|李承燁}}}} 
*{{player||VEN|[[Alex Ramírez]]}} 
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Haruyasu Nakajima]]|中島 治康}}}}
*{{player||DOM|[[Cristopher Crisostomo|C. C. Mercedes]]}}  
*{{player||JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shinnosuke Abe]]|阿部 慎之助}}}}
{{colend}}

=== Retired numbers ===
*{{player|1|TWN|{{nihongo|[[Sadaharu Oh]]|王貞治}}}}
*{{player|3|JPN|{{nihongo|[[Shigeo Nagashima]]|長嶋 茂雄}}}}
*{{player|4|JPN|{{nihongo|[[Toshio Kurosawa (baseball)|Toshio Kurosawa]]|黒沢 俊夫}}}}
*{{player|14|JPN|{{nihongo|[[Eiji Sawamura]]|沢村 栄治}}}}
*{{player|16|JPN|{{nihongo|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami]]|川上 哲治}}}}
*{{player|34|JPN|{{nihongo|[[Masaichi Kaneda]]|金田 正一}}}}

==Top starting pitchers==
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"  style="text-align: center;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Player
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Years
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Games
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Win
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Defeat
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Save
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Innings Pitched
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Strikeout
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|ERA
|-
! scope="row"| [[Takehiko Bessho]]
| 1949–1961
| 476
| 221
| 102
| 0
| 2925 2/3
| 1372
| 2.20
|-
! scope="row"|[[:ja:中村輝夫 (野球)|Teruzo Nakao]]
| 1939–1957
| 516
| 209
| 127
| 0
| 3057
| 1597
| 2.48
|-
! scope="row"|[[Tsuneo Horiuchi]]
| 1966–1983
| 560
| 203
| 139
| 6
| 3045
| 1865
| 3.27
|-
! scope="row"|[[Victor Starffin]]
| 1936–1944
| 311
| 199
| 61
| 0
| 2245
| 1225
| 1.37
|-
! scope="row"|[[Hideo Fujimoto]]
| 1942–1946 1948–1955
| 332
| 183
| 72
| 0
| 2353 2/3
| 1100
| 1.90
|-
! scope="row"|[[Masaki Saito (baseball)|Masaki Saito]]
| 1983–2001
| 426
| 180
| 96
| 11
| 2375 2/3
| 1707
| 2.77
|-
! scope="row"|[[Masumi Kuwata]]
| 1986–2006
| 442
| 173
| 141
| 14
| 2761 2/3
| 1980
| 3.53
|-
! scope="row"|[[Hiromi Makihara]]
| 1982–2001
| 463
| 159
| 108
| 56
| 2485
| 2111
| 3.19
|-
! scope="row"|[[:ja:城之内邦雄|Kunio Jonouchi]]
| 1962–1971
| 354
| 141
| 88
| 0
| 1966 2/3
| 927
| 2.56
|-
! scope="row"|[[Suguru Egawa]]
| 1979–1987
| 266
| 135
| 72
| 3
| 1857 1/3
| 1366
| 3.02
|}
Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==Top leading hit players==
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"  style="text-align: center;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Player
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Years
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Games
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Number
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Hit
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Homerun
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|RBI
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Stolen base
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Strikes
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Batting average
|-
! scope="row"| [[Sadaharu Oh]]
| 1959–1980
| 2831
| 9250
| 2786
| 868
| 2170
| 84
| 1319
| .301
|-
! scope="row"|[[Shigeo Nagashima]]
| 1958–1974
| 2186
| 8094
| 2471
| 444
| 1522
| 190
| 729
| .305
|-
! scope="row"|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami]]
| 1938–1955
| 1979
| 7500
| 2351
| 181
| 1319
| 220
| 422
| .313
|-
! scope="row"|'''[[Hayato Sakamoto]]'''
| 2008–ongoing
| 1985
| 7580
| 2205
| 266
| 944
| 160
| 1315
| .291
|-
! scope="row"|[[Shinnosuke Abe]]
| 2001–2019
| 2282
| 7514
| 2132
| 406
| 1285
| 13
| 1306
| .284
|-
! scope="row"|[[Isao Shibata]]
| 1962–1981
| 2208
| 7570
| 2018
| 194
| 708
| 579
| 1087
| .267
|-
! scope="row"|[[Yoshinobu Takahashi]]
| 1998–2015
| 1819
| 6028
| 1753
| 321
| 986
| 29
| 1173
| .291
|-
! scope="row"|[[Kazunori Shinozuka]]
| 1976–1994
| 1651
| 5372
| 1696
| 92
| 628
| 55
| 580
| .309
|-
! scope="row"|[[Tatsunori Hara]]
| 1981–1995
| 1697
| 6012
| 1675
| 382
| 1093
| 82
| 899
| .279
|-
! scope="row"|[[Shigeru Chiba (baseball)|Shigeru Chiba]]
| 1938–1956
| 1512
| 5645
| 1605
| 96
| 691
| 155
| 575
| .284
|}
Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==Top leading homerun players==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center;"
|+Most caps
|-
!width=35|Rank
!Player
!width=40|Homeruns
!width=80|Years
|-
|1
|style="text-align:left"|[[Sadaharu Oh]]
| 868
| 1959–1980
|-
|2
|style="text-align:left"|[[Shigeo Nagashima]]
| 444
| 1958–1974
|-
|3
|style="text-align:left"|[[Shinnosuke Abe]]
| 406
| 2001–2019
|-
|4
|style="text-align:left"|[[Tatsunori Hara]]
| 382
| 1981–1995
|-
|5
|style="text-align:left"|[[Hideki Matsui]]
| 332
| 1993–2002
|-
|6
|style="text-align:left"|[[Yoshinobu Takahashi]]
| 321
| 1998–2015
|-
|7
|style="text-align:left"|'''[[Hayato Sakamoto]]'''
| 266
| 2008–ongoing
|-
|8
|style="text-align:left"|[[Isao Shibata]]
| 194
| 1962–1981
|-
| 9
|style="text-align:left"|[[Kazuhiro Kiyohara]]
| 185
| 1997–2005
|-
|10
|style="text-align:left"|[[Tetsuharu Kawakami]]
| 181
| 1938–1958
|}
Sourse:Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB){{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

== Season-by-season record ==
{{main article|List of Yomiuri Giants seasons}}
'''''Note:''' GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, % = Win Percentage''
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#ddd;"
| Season || GP || W || L || T || % || Finish || Playoffs
|-
| 2017 || 143 || 72 || 68 || 3 || .514 || 4th, Central || Did not qualify
|-
| 2018 || 143 || 67 || 71 || 5 || .486 || 3rd, Central || Lost in League Final Stage, 0–4 (Carp)
|-
| 2019 || 143 || 77 || 64 || 2 || .546 || 1st, Central || Lost in Japan Series, 0–4 (Hawks)
|-
| 2020 || 120 || 67 || 45 || 8 || .598 || 1st, Central || Lost in Japan Series, 0–4 (Hawks)
|-
|2021 ||143||61||62||20||.496||3rd, Central||Lost in League Final Stage, 0–3 (Swallows)
|- 
| 2022 || 143 || 68 || 72 || 3 || .514 || 4th, Central || Did not qualify 
|- 
| 2023 || 143 || 71 || 70 || 2 || .504 || 4th, Central || Did not qualify
|}

== "Japan's team" and allegations of corruption ==
[[File:Tokyo_Dome_2015.jpg|thumb|[[Tokyo Dome]] is the Giants' home field since 1988]]
Due to the Yomiuri company's vast influence in Japan as a major media conglomerate, the Giants have long been branded as "Japan's Team". In fact, for some years the Giants' uniforms had "Tokyo" on the jersey instead of "Yomiuri" or "Giants", seeming to imply that the Giants represent the vast metropolis and geopolitical center of Japan, even though the [[Yakult Swallows]] are also based in Tokyo and three other teams play in the [[Greater Tokyo Area]]. This bandwagon appeal has been compared with the marketability of the [[New York Yankees]], [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]], and [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], except that support for the Giants nearly exceeds 50% of those polled, while in the United States and England, support is judged to be between 30% and 40% for the Yankees and Manchester United, respectively.  Correspondingly, fans of other professional baseball teams in Japan are often openly derisive and contemptuous of the Giants' bandwagon marketing tactics, and an "anti-Giants" movement exists in protest of the Giants' near-hegemony.<ref name="Whiting, You Gotta have Wa">Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989).</ref>

In addition, despite the Giants having employed many foreign players over the years, many Japanese point proudly to the "pure-blooded period" of 1958–1974 when the team enjoyed continued success — 13 pennants — despite having no foreign players.<ref name="Whiting, You Gotta have Wa"/>

It has also long been alleged that the Giants rely on underhanded tactics to recruit the best players, involving bribes to players and amateur coaches, or using their influence on the governing council of Japanese professional baseball to pass rules that favors their recruiting efforts. This may be one explanation for the Giants' abundance of success in league play.<ref name="Whiting, You Gotta have Wa"/>  In August 2004, Yomiuri president [[Tsuneo Watanabe]] resigned after it was revealed that the club had violated scouting rules by paying ¥2&nbsp;million to pitching prospect Yasuhiro Ichiba.  Ten months later, Watanabe was hired as chairman of the Yomiuri corporation.<ref name="japantimes.co.jp">[[Kyodo News]], [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111119b3.html "Giants ax Kiyotake after vocal Watanabe slight"], ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 19 November 2011, p. 16.</ref>  In 2012, ''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'' discovered that the Giants had violated NPB rules by secretly paying pitcher [[Takahiko Nomaguchi]] while he was still an amateur playing in Japan's corporate league.<ref>''[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]'', "The Small Print:  Groovin' to the Olympic Beat",  #942, 13–26 April 2012, p. 4</ref>

In 2009, the Giants played the [[Japan national baseball team]] in an unofficial goodwill game before the [[World Baseball Classic]].

== Controversies ==
=== 1973 First nine consecutive victories in professional baseball history ===
As of October 21 before this game was played, the teams only had a 0.5 game difference the [[Hanshin Tigers]], this game resulted 9 to 0 win over Tigers on October 22, [[infielder]] [[Shozo Doi]] and [[catcher]] [[Masaaki Mori (baseball)|Masaaki Mori]] each had 3 hits and Doi hit a two run homerun in the fifth inning off Kenji Furusawa in the Giants 4 to 1 win from [[Nankai Hawks]] (now [[Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks]]) in [[Japan Series]], starter [[Kazumi Takahashi (baseball)|Kazumi Takahashi]] (23 wins, 13 losses) contribution this season.<ref>[https://ja.wikisource.org/wiki/1973年セ・リーグの最終決戦 Yomiuri Giants Yearly Results List] Retrieved 16 November 2017. {{in lang|ja}}</ref>

=== Oh home run controversy ===
In 1985, American [[Randy Bass]], playing for the [[Hanshin Tigers]], came into the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs, one short of manager [[Sadaharu Oh]]'s single-season record of 55.  Bass was intentionally walked four times on four straight pitches each time, leading Bass to famously hold his bat upside down.  Bass reached over the plate on the fifth occasion and batted the ball into the outfield for a single.  After the game, Oh denied ordering his pitchers to walk Bass, but Keith Comstock, an American pitcher for the Giants, later stated that an unnamed Giants coach had threatened a fine of $1,000 for every strike that any Giants pitcher threw to Bass. The magazine Takarajima investigated the incident and reported that the Giants front office had likely ordered the team not to allow Bass an opportunity to tie or break Oh's record.  For the most part the Japanese media remained silent on the incident as did league commissioner Takeso Shimoda.<ref>Whiting, Robert, [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20081031j3.html "Equaling Oh's HR record proved difficult"], ''[[The Japan Times]]'', October 31, 2008, p. 12.</ref> A similar situation to this was presented in the 1992 movie ''[[Mr. Baseball]]''.

=== 1994 Central League tie-breaker game ===
With the Giants and [[Chunichi Dragons]] tied 69-60 after 129 games, and the makeup for the 129th game, originally scheduled for September 27, was postponed to September 29 by rain (the 130th scheduled game was played September 28 as planned), and it again was not played because of rain, the final game of the regular season was rescheduled for October 8, 1994.  The winner advances to the Japan Series, with Chunichi having the advantage in case the game ends in a tie, Chunichi would advance by rule (the previous year's better record). The Giants won 6 to 3 against Chunichi, and took the Central League pennant and advanced to the [[Japan Series]]. {{see|1994 Central League tie-breaker game}}

=== 1996 Nagashima controversy ===
The team accelerates at a stretch when winning in nine consecutive hits of professional baseball tie-record in one inning of July 9 against [[Hiroshima Carp]]'s game.
Both main starter, [[Masaki Saito (baseball)|Masaki Saito]], [[Dominica]]n [[Balvino Galvez]] raised 16 won games the most wins on this season, [[relief pitcher]], [[Mario Brito]] who reinforced during the season and Hirofumi Kono supported the team, [[Hideki Matsui]] was very success as a main season. Rookies [[Toshihisa Nishi]] and [[Takayuki Shimizu (baseball)|Takayuki Shimizu]] were active and generation change was also decided admirably. At the time I reached the biggest 11.5 game difference in league history and accomplished the league championship. Although defeated lost 1 to 4 games by [[Orix BlueWave]] (now [[Orix Buffaloes]]) on [[Japan Series]].{{page needed|date=November 2017}}

=== 2008 Miracle season ===
Despite losing five consecutive games from the opening game on March 28, On May 26, a banned drug was detected to be used by [[Luis González (infielder)|Luis Gonzalez]], so he was suspended for 1 year from Nippon Professional Baseball for violating league anti-doping policies,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-29 |title=Gonzalez fails drug test in Japan, banned a year - International Herald Tribune |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/26/sports/BBI-Japan-Doping.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529041206/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/26/sports/BBI-Japan-Doping.php |archive-date=2008-05-29  |access-date=2022-08-02 }}</ref> and on the following day, the Giants decided to release Gonzalez from his contract. At the time, October reached the biggest 13 game (as July) difference in league history and accomplished the league championship, from September 19, including their 3rd consecutive victory against the Hanshin Tigers, they recorded a total of 12 consecutive victories for the first time in 32 years, followed by 3 to 1 winning the final direct confrontation on October 8. Contributors included [[Shinnosuke Abe]], [[Yoshinobu Takahashi]], [[Michihiro Ogasawara]], [[Alex Ramirez]], [[Seth Greisinger|Seth Adam Greisinger]], [[Marc Kroon|Marc Jason Kroon]], [[Hisanori Takahashi]], and [[Tetsuya Utsumi]], The Giants, however, lost 3 games to 4 to the [[Saitama Seibu Lions]] in the [[2008 Japan Series]].{{page needed|date=November 2017}} The Yomiuri Giants drew an average home attendance of 39,948 in 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.japanesebaseball.com/writers/display.gsp?id=21682 | title=2008 NPB Attendance Numbers by Patrick Newman - Japanese Baseball }}</ref>

=== 2011 Kiyotake controversy ===
On 18 November 2011, Giants' general manager Hidetoshi Kiyotake was fired by the Yomiuri organization for "defamation of the team and Yomiuri newspaper group".  Kiyotake had recommended that Kaoru Okazaki be retained as the team's 2012 head coach.  After Yomiuri chairman [[Tsuneo Watanabe]] ordered Kiyotake to replace Okazaki with [[Suguru Egawa]], Kiyotake called a public press conference on 11 November 2011 to complain about Watanabe's interference in the club's decision-making processes.  Yomiuri's response was to fire Kiyotake.<ref name="japantimes.co.jp"/>

Okazaki was eventually selected to remain as the next season's coach.  The story made major headlines in the Japanese media.<ref>Nagata, Kazuaki, [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111126a2.html "Giants ex-GM Kiyotake tells his side of the story"], ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 26 November 2011, p. 1.</ref>  On 13 December 2011, Kiyotake sued Yomiuri for ¥62&nbsp;million for unfair dismissal and defamation and demanded that the company issue him a formal apology, printed in the ''Yomiuri Shimbun''.<ref>[[Kyodo News]], "Giants ex-boss Kiyotake sues Yomiuri", ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 15 December 2011, p. 2.</ref>  Yomiuri counter-sued Kiyotake for ¥100&nbsp;million, saying that he had damaged the team's image.  The suits, combined into one case, opened in Tokyo District Court on 2 February 2012.<ref>Matsutani, Minoru, [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120203a6.html "Axed Giants general manager Kiyotake, Yomiuri face off in court"], ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 3 February 2012, p. 2.</ref>

=== 2012 Hara controversy ===
In 2012 Japanese weekly ''[[Shukan Bunshun]]'' reported that current team manager [[Tatsunori Hara]] had paid ¥100&nbsp;million to a former [[yakuza]] gangster in response to a threat to go public on an extra-marital affair that Hara had been involved in.  The Yomiuri corporation admitted that the payout had been made, but sued ''Shukan Bunshun'' for insinuating that the incident had underworld connections.  The suit is pending.<ref>''[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]'', "The Small Print:  How Low Can You Go?", Issue #956, 20 July – 2 August 2012, p. 4</ref>

=== 2015 gambling controversy ===
In 2015, an investigation by the league found that three Giants pitchers: [[Shoki Kasahara]], [[Ryuya Matsumoto]], and [[Satoshi Fukuda]] had bet on NPB and other sporting events with underworld bookmakers.  The Giants claimed that the three did not bet on Giants games.  Placing wagers on baseball games or associating with criminal elements is expressly prohibited in the contracts that all NPB players must sign, a rule similar to Major League Baseball's Rule 21 in North America, intended to prevent a repeat of the [[Black Sox Scandal]] of 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.<ref>[[Kyodo News]], [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/21/national/crime-legal/two-giants-pitchers-involved-baseball-gambling-panel-finds/ "Two more Giants pitchers involved in baseball gambling, panel finds"], ''[[The Japan Times]]'', 21 October 2015</ref> On 9 November 2015, the Giants organization terminated the contracts of all three players, with an indefinite suspension from ''all'' [[World Baseball Softball Confederation]] leagues on the players.  The offending players must be reinstated by the WBSC before they can participate in any league.

== MLB players ==
[[Image:A's vs Yanks 4406402 Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui.jpg|thumb|[[Hideki Matsui]]]]
;Active:
* [[Miles Mikolas]] (2015–2017) 
* [[Matt Andriese]] (2022) 
* [[Tomoyuki Sugano]] (2025–present)

;Retired:
* [[Takashi Kashiwada]] (1998)
* [[Takahito Nomura]] (2002)
* [[Joe Dillon]] (2007)
* [[Masumi Kuwata]] (2007)
* [[Ken Kadokura]] (2009)
* [[Hideki Matsui]] (2003–2012)
* [[Hideki Okajima]] (2007–2011, 2013)
* [[Hisanori Takahashi]] (2010–2013)
* [[Koji Uehara]] (2009–2017)
* [[Taylor Jungmann]] (2015–2017)
* [[Gerardo Parra]] (2020) 
* [[Eric Thames]] (2021) 
* [[Justin Smoak]] (2021)

== Mascots ==
The Giants have 6 mascots, known as the Giabbits. They are based on one of the older logos of the Giants. They have 2 adult male mascots named Giabyi and Giabba (their jersey numbers are 333 and 555 respectively), an adult female mascot named Vicky, and 2 children mascots (a boy and a girl respectively), Tsuppy and Chappy (the former wears shorts and the latter wears a skirt and a headband on their left ear). The most recent one, Grandpa Giabbit, was introduced in 2014, the team's 80th anniversary. His jersey number is 1934, the year the team was founded.

== Minor League team==
The Giants farm team plays in the [[Eastern League (Japanese baseball)|Eastern League]]. It was founded in 1949.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Fitts |first=Robert K. |year=2005 |title=Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=0-8093-2630-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Whiting |first=Robert |year=2005 |title=The Samurai Way of Baseball: The Impact of Ichiro and the New Wave from Japan |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=0-446-69403-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Whiting |first=Robert |year=1990 |title=You Gotta Have Wa |publisher=Vintage |isbn=0-679-72947-X
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|https://www.giants.jp/en/}}
* {{Official website|https://npb.jp/bis/eng/teams/index_g.html |name=NPB Official Website (Yomiuri Giants)}}

{{Yomiuri Giants}}
{{Japanese Professional Baseball}}
{{Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Yomiuri Giants| ]]
[[Category:1934 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Baseball teams established in 1934]]
[[Category:1985 controversies]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball teams]]
[[Category:Baseball teams in Tokyo]]