Takahashi Unions

The Takahashi Unions were a Pacific League expansion team in 1954, brought into the league to increase the number of teams to eight.

The Pacific League had seven teams since the Japan Baseball League split into the Central and the Pacific Leagues, but having an odd number of teams was inconvenient for scheduling and playoffs. Therefore, in 1953 it was decided that any team which finished below a winning percentage of .350 would be disbanded. However, all the teams finished above the mark (Kintetsu had the worst record at .410), therefore league decided to admit a eighth team, the Unions.

The Unions were owned by Ryutaro Takahashi, the former president of DaiNippon Beer and owner of the Eagles/Kurowashi from 1939 to 1941. The team played its games at Kawasaki Stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The team was stocked with players from the other Pacific League teams. Takahashi had originally wanted to name the team the Takahashi Eagles after himself and a beer that had been produced by DaiNippon. However, the teams's name ended up being chosen by a public vote.

The team became the Tombo Unions after the Tombow Pencil bought a share of the team in 1955, but reverted to its original name after Tombow withdrew before the following year. The Unions, now in financial trouble, only lasted one more year before they merged with the Daiei Stars on February 26, 1957, to form the Daiei Unions.

Drafted Players

• Masaru Hamasaki, Braves
• Takehiko Ueda, Braves
• Shigeru Yabe, Braves
• Yasuhiro Fukami, Flyers
• Haruyasu Eto, Hawks
• Takeo Hattori, Hawks
• Kazuo Kasahara, Hawks
• Kazuhiro Kuroda, Hawks
• Isao Kyuki, Lions
• Yoshimasa Takesue, Lions
• Susumu Aizawa, Orions
• Akira Hagiwara, Orions
• Zenzo Hasegawa, Orions
• Takuji Kouchi, Orions
• Hirohide Murata, Orions
• Takeshi Nomura, Orions
• Yoshihiko Taki, Orions
• Toshiaki Yamada, Orions
• Seiichiro Fujii, Pearls
• Kashiwa Odano, Pearls
• Masao Itakura, Stars
• Victor Starffin, Stars

Managers

• 1954: Shinji Hamazaki
• 1956: Kazuo Kasahara

New Team	Takahashi Unions 1954	Succeeded by Tombo Unions
Preceded by Tombo Unions	Takahashi Unions 1956	Merged with the Daiei Stars to form the Daiei Unions