(Miyagi Stadium)
- Home of The Golden Eagles -
| Stadium Name | Miyagi Kyujo
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| Sponsored Name | Fullcast Stadium Miyagi (2005-2007), Kleenex Stadium Miyagi (2008-2010), Rakuten Kobo Stadium Miyagi (2014-2016), Kobo Park Miyagi (2017), Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi (2018-)
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| Location | 2-11-6 Miyagino, Miyagino-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi
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| Opened | May 5, 1950
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| Capacity | 30,508
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| Dimensions | LF:328ft (100.1m), CF:400ft (122m), RF:328ft (100.1m)
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| Surface | Natural Grass
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| Club | Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
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| League | Pacific League
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| Getting there | 5 minuites walk from JR Senseki Line Miyaginohara Station; You can also take a shuttle bus at Sendai Station
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Miyagi Prefectural Stadium
Miyagi Stadium is located at Miyaginohara Sports Park in Sendai-city. To get to the stadium, walk down straight Miyagino Avenue from JR Sendai Station for about 20 minitues. It's more convinient to go there if you take a shuttle bus or JR Senseki Line train.
Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, and the major metropolis in the Tohoku (northeast) region of Japan. Yet, the city have never had their professional baseball club since the Lotte Orions gave up the first franchise in Tohoku. Miyagi Stadium is used to be a temporary home of the Orions, which is renamed to the Chiba Lotte Marines afterward, from 1973 to 1977.
In 2004, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles joined the Pacific League as Japan's first professional expansion team in 50 years. They decided to be based in Sendai and paly most of their games at Miyagi Stadium, instead of building a all-weather domed stadium.
Miyagi Stadium was constructed in 1950, originally known as Miyagi Prefectural Stadium. So the facilities had deteriorated considerably and needed to be repaired.
Soon after NPB approved the entry of the Eagles to the PL, Rakuten started a major renovation of the 54-year-old stadium.
The project was devided into two phases. The construction period of Phase 1 was 110 days and completed in March, 2005, installing spacious seating, a hi-tech scoreboard and a new artificial turf. During 2005-2006 off-season, 3,000 more seats, including laxuary boxes, and a new food court were constructed as Phase 2 of the project.
The field demension is the largest in 12 home stadiums of NPB. On the other hand, the capacity is the smallest. It's not bad, because such small size makes the crowd seem more cohesive.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
It was September 18-19, 2004, when the Japan Pro Baseball Players Association went on strike, the first time in the history of Japan's professional baseball.
The strike took place, boosted by huge baseball fan, oppossing a plan of the merger of the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes, which would lead to another merger of ailing clubs and a reduction in the numbers of the teams in NPB, from 12 to 10.
During this turmoil, an internet service firm Livedoor attempted to purchase the Buffaloes, but the owner of the Buffaloes declined the offer. Then Rakuten announced that they would seek an entry to the Pacific League to fulfill the void of the league. After 2004 season, Livedoor and Rakuten applied for membership to NPB, finallly Rakuten was awarded a pro baseball team.
Rakuten hired Marty Kuehnert, former Birmingham Barons team president and a sports commentater, as the first American general manager in Japan's baseball. However, he was demoted to a team adviser after just one month into the team's inaugural season, follwing a 5-22 start.
The Eagles won their first official game in 2005, but lost the second game, 0-26, on a 1-hit shutout. The inaugural Eagles ended up 38-97-1 and 51 games away from the top of PL.
In 2013, their ninth season, they won the Pacific League pennant and also won Japan Series. Ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka finished the season with a record of 24-0 and a 1.27 ERA, and was named MVP. After the season he made a seven-year contract with the New York Yankees.
| Franchise Established | November 2, 2004
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| League Titles | 2013
(Years in bald indicate Japan Series Champions)
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| Team Song | "Habatake Rakuten Eagles" (Flap Your Wings! Rakuten Eagles)
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| Parent Company | Rakuten (Internet Shopping Mall)
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Ballpark Rating
4 riceballs
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All Photos Copyright (C) 1998-2019 Takeshi Kubota. All rights reserved.
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