One of the strongest teams in the first four decades of professional Japanese baseball, the Tigers have had their share of stars. Through the 1950s and '60s, the team stayed competitive with a strong pitching staff, led by Minoru Murayama and Yutaka Enatsu, but in the 1980s the Tigers surged to their first Japan Series championship with their powerful hitting. Here are some of the players who made a difference for the team.

Fumio Fujimura: Playing his entire career with the Hanshin organization (1936-58), Fumio Fujimura hit 224 home runs with 1,126 RBIs and compiled a .300 lifetime batting average (15th on the all-time list).

In his first eight professional years, the former high-school star pitched 36 games, earning a 34-11 record with a 2.34 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 345 1/3 innings. After breaking his shoulder, Fujimura joined the Hanshin infield.

While playing third and first base, the right-handed slugger earned the 1949 MVP by leading the league with 45 home runs and 142 RBIs. In addition, Fujimura became the first CL batting king with a .362 average in 1950, earned three home run crowns (1936, '49, '53), and five RBI titles (1944, '47-49, '53).

In two stints as Tigers manager (1946, '55-57), Fujimura compiled a 266-190 record (.583). In 1974, the early Tiger star was inducted into Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame.

Masaaki Koyama: With the third highest number of lifetime wins, Masaaki Koyama in his twenty-one year career (1953-73) compiled a 320-232 record. Playing for the Tigers (1953-63), Flyers ('64-68), Orions ('69-72) and Whales ('73), the right-handed hurler earned 3,159 strikeouts (third on the all-time list) and a 2.45 career ERA while throwing 73 games without a walk (second)

Winning 176 games for the Tigers from 1953-63, Masaaki Koyama led the Osaka team to their first Central League Pennant, in 1962. Earning the Sawamura Award that year, the Hanshin pitcher compiled a 27-11 record with a 1.66 ERA.

Minoru Murayama: Playing his entire career with Hanshin (1959-72), Minoru Murayama holds the current Central League record for lowest season ERA (0.98 in 1970). Winner of three Sawamura Awards (1959, '65-66) and one MVP honor (1962), the right-handed pitcher topped the CL in wins and ERA three times each.

Before joining the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993, Murayama tallied a 222-147 record with 2,271 strikeouts (ninth on the all-time list) and a 2.09 ERA (fifth). The pitcher, however, will probably be best remembered for surrendering a ninth-inning sayonara home run to Giants third baseman Shigeo Nagashima on June 25, 1959, the first professional game attended by Emperor Hirohito and his wife.

Gene Bacque: Few foreign pitchers have been as successful in Japan as Gene Bacque. A former member of the AAA Hawaii Islanders, the Louisiana-native with no Major League experience joined the Tigers in 1962. Playing with Hanshin for seven years before ending his career in 1969 with the Buffaloes, Bacque left Japan with a 100-80 record, 22 shutouts, 825 strikeouts and a career 2.34 ERA.

The only American to win Japan's Sawamura Award for pitching, in 1964 Bacque earned two pitching crowns with a 29-9 record and 1.89 ERA. Also striking out 200 batters (second in the league), the foreign pitcher helped the Tigers win the '64 Central League pennant. On June 28 the following year, Bacque no-hit the Yomiuri Giants 7-0 at Koshien Stadium, allowing only three base runners while striking out four.

Yutaka Enatsu: Playing for five teams in his eighteen year career (1967-84), Yutaka Enatsu earned a career 209-127 record with 2,987 strikeouts and a lifetime 2.49 ERA. His best years playing for Hanshin (1967-75), the southpaw won the 1968 Sawamura Award with a league record 401 strikeouts while leading the CL in wins with a 25-12 record. Earning six straight strikeout crowns (1967-72), on August 30, 1973 Enatsu no-hit the Chunichi Dragons 1-0 while walking two batters and striking out seven.

Playing for four different teams from 1976-84 (Hawks, Carp, Fighters, Lions), Enatsu moved to the bullpen and earned the 1979 CL MVP with the Carp and '81 PL MVP playing for the Fighters. After one season with the Lions, Enatsu went to America and joined the Milwaukee Brewers spring camp but failed to make the team. Years later, the former pitching ace was arrested for his involvement with drugs.

Koichi Tabuchi: Belting 474 home runs in his sixteen year career (1969-84), Koichi Tabuchi led the Tigers offense through the 1970s. Though only playing with Hanshin until 1978, the right-handed catcher belted 320 homers for the Tigers while winning the home run crown with 43 round-trippers in 1975. A career .260 hitter, Tabuchi played his last six seasons as the Seibu Lions first baseman and designated hitter.

Masayuki Kakefu: Playing his entire fifteen year career with the Tigers (1974-88), Masayuki Kakefu earned a lifetime .292 batting average while clubbing 349 home runs with 1019 RBIs. Earning three home run crowns (1979, '82, '84) and one RBI title ('82), the left-handed batter led the Tigers offense after Koichi Tabuchi moved to the Pacific League. Clubbing 40 homers in 1985, Kakefu helped propel the Tigers to their third Central League pennant and a league record 219 team home runs.

Randy Bass: Probably the most successful foreign player of all time, Randy Bass came one home run and several walks (in the final two games of the 1985 season) away from tying Sadaharu Oh's single-season record of 55 home runs. Still, the native Oklahoman walked away with his first of two triple crowns. The following year, Bass set a new single season batting record with a .389 average.

Probably the most successful player to ever wear Tigers' pinstripes, Bass batted .337 in his six-year Japanese career with 202 home runs and 486 RBIs. Despite taking leave to be with his hospitalized son, diagnosed with a brain tumor, Bass was released after playing 22 games (batting .321) in 1988. Today, the former slugger still appears in Japanese advertisements and returns occasionally to Koshien Stadium as a guest commentator on televised games.

Cecil Fielder: Proving what he could do on a day-to-day basis with the Hanshin Tigers, Cecil Fielder made playing in Japan a legitimate back door to the Major Leagues for other foreign players. Prior to Fielder, most imported sluggers were either aging Major League stars or unknown youngsters who had little chance to play above the AAA minor league level. Few had ever moved back to the big leagues, and none were very successful. Fielder changed that.

A four-year veteran with the Toronto Blue Jays who hadn't been given a chance to play regularly, Fielder joined the Hanshin Tigers in 1989 and played 106 games. Batting .302, the big first baseman slugged 38 home runs with 81 RBIs, helping the Tigers climb out of the Central League cellar (the team finished last 1987-88, '90-91).

After his one year in Japan, Fielder joined the Detroit Tigers and became their all-star slugger. Proving that what he did in Japan was no fluke, Fielder helped to raise the recognition of Japanese Baseball.

Tom O'Malley: Probably the most popular and respected foreign player of the 1990s, Tom O'Malley played four years with the Tigers, batting .318 with 74 home runs and taking the 1993 CL batting crown. Released after the 1994 season despite batting .314, O'Malley joined the Yakult Swallows.

Perhaps wanting to prove the Tigers wrong for dumping him, the New Jersey native earned the 1995 Central League MVP while batting .302 with 31 home runs, helping the Yakult Swallows win their third Japan Series Championship.

Unbelievably, O'Malley was released by the Swallows after the 1996 season in which he batted .315 with eighteen homers. In his six seasons in Japan, the former first and third baseman compiled a .315 batting average with 123 home runs and 488 RBIs.