Japanese Baseball League The franchise was founded in 1946 as
Gold Star, a new post-war team in the
Japanese Baseball League. They were owned by textile manufacturer and Lucky Gold Star Telephones owner
Komajiro Tamura, who also owned the
Pacific Baseball Club (formerly known as the Asahi Baseball Club). Gold Star consisted mostly of former Asahi players and was managed by Asahi's former manager
Michinori Tubouchi. In Gold Star's inaugural season, they won 43 games and lost 60, finishing 22 games out of first place. One of the team's losses that season set the record for highest run differential in Japanese professional baseball history. In 1947 the team became the
Kinsei Stars ("Kinsei" meaning
made of gold in Japanese) and signed long-time
Tokyo Kyojin/
Yomiuri Giants pitcher
Victor Starffin, who came over from Tamura's other team, the
Taiyo Robins (formerly Asahi). Starffin pitched for the franchise for six seasons, winning 80 games and losing 70. The team acquired
Michio Nishizawa mid-season 1946, during the period he was transitioning from a once-dominant pitcher to a fearsome hitter. His two full seasons with the team were unremarkable, however, and he returned to his original team, the
Chunichi Dragons in 1949, where he really hit his stride with the bat. In 1948, the team hired
Sadayoshi Fujimoto as manager; he stayed at the helm of the team until partway through their final season, 1956. In 1949, after being bought by
Masaichi Nagata/
Daiei Film, the team changed its name to the
Daiei Stars, with Nagata serving as team president. Outfielder
Makoto Kozuru hit .361 for the Stars in 1949, leading the league in hitting and earning
Best Nine Award honors.
Nippon Professional Baseball In 1950 the Stars became charter members of the
Pacific League when the JBL reorganized into
Nippon Professional Baseball and split into the Pacific League and the
Central League. Outfielder
Shigeya Iijima was a league
Best Nine Award-winner in 1950–1951. He led the Pacific League in batting in 1952, hitting .336, while his teammate
Giichi Hayashi led the league in innings pitched, with 269-2⁄3.
Merger In 1957, the Stars merged with the
Takahashi Unions to form the
Daiei Unions. The Unions existed for a single season, finishing last in the
Pacific League, at 41-89-2, 43-1/2 games out of first. Pitcher
Masayoshi Miura led the Pacific League in losses, with 21. In 1958, the Unions merged with the
Mainichi Orions (founded in 1950) to form the
Daimai Orions. This enabled the
Pacific League to shrink from the ungainly seven-team arrangement caused by the 1957 merger to a more manageable six teams. The Orions, after a number of relocations and name changes, are now known as the
Chiba Lotte Marines. ==Managers==