When the Yokohama BayStars surged to second place in August 1997, TV sports programs began airing footage of the last time the team had won a pennant.

The black and white images of players in baggy uniforms revealed a team that had gone from sixth to first place in one season and swept the Japan Series in four games. The year, 1960. But in the 37 years following the championship, the team has given fans very little to cheer about.

Founded in 1950 by a fishing company, the Taiyo Whales played reasonably well for an expansion team, finishing their first year in the Central League with a fifth-place 69-68 record. Despite weak pitching (a 4.47 ERA), the Whales compiled a team .273 average with 111 home runs.

But in the next few years, Taiyo slid out of contention as their hitting eroded. Then in 1953, the team merged with the Shochiku Robins.

Best known for winning the CL pennant in the first year of Japan's two league system, the Robins had been playing under several names since 1936. Though they compiled a 30-26 record as the Dai Tokyo ball club in 1936, the team soon fell out of contention for several years.

Finishing last in 1949, the Robins went all the way in 1950, compiling a 90-35 record. Though the Giants offered better pitching, Shochiku slugged their way to first place with a team .287 batting average and 179 home runs. In the first Japan Series, the Robins lost to the Mainichi Orions in six games.

Renamed after the merger, the Taiyo Shochiku Robins migrated to the bottom of the Central League standings. But after dropping to last place in 1954, Taiyo reverted their nickname back to the Whales.

The change didn't help much, as the team posted their worst ever record (31-99) the following year while compiling a team .209 batting average with a mere 51 home runs. Though their pitching improved dramatically with the arrival of rookie Noboru Akiyama in 1956, Taiyo's anemic offense kept the Whales in the cellar until 1960.

Following their sixth straight year in the league's bottom drawer, Taiyo hired former Giants skipper Shigeru Mizuhara to manage the Whales in 1960. Though their offense still lacked punch (team .230 average, 60 home runs), Mizuhara guided Taiyo's pitchers to an amazing team 2.32 ERA. Leading the mound staff, Akiyama collected 21 wins and led the circuit with a 1.75 ERA to earn the league's MVP award.

Seizing the 1960 CL pennant with a 70-56 record, the Whales crushed the Daimai Orions in four games to win their first and only Japan Series championship.

But for the Whales, success never lasted long. Within a year of their title, the team again sank to the bottom of the league before breaching in second place in 1964.

Appropriately, the Whales again dropped below the surface then came up for air in 1966, this time with their best record of all time (80-58). Though their pitching had been erratic, a sudden offensive surge (134 home runs and a team .255 average, up from 110 and .237 in 1965) lifted Taiyo to within one game of the 1966 pennant.

But with Akiyama slowing down and Taiyo batters unable to give their pitchers much run support, the Whales embarked on a decade long slide into mediocrity. Despite ace 23-year-old right-hander Masaji Hiramatsu winning the 1970 with a 25-19 record and 1.95 ERA in 332 2/3 innings, the best the Whales could muster was a third place 69-57 record. By 1976, Taiyo again dropped into the cellar.

In the late 1970s, a few more changes were brewing. Less consequential, the Whales began sporting fluorescent green and orange uniforms, an odd choices of colors for a ball club with an oceanic theme.

Then, in 1978 the Whales moved a few kilometers south from Kawasaki to Yokohama Stadium. Playing in a slightly larger park with much taller outfield walls, the Whales hit about forty fewer home runs the first year in their new ballpark but their batting average went up slightly and the pitching staff's ERA dropped considerably.

After a quick honeymoon in which the newly-named Yokohama Taiyo Whales placed second in 1979 (59-54 with 17 ties), the team dropped out of contention, hovering just below the .500 level for most of the next fifteen years.

Perhaps hoping another cosmetic makeover might help increase the team's popularity, the Whales changed their name to the Yokohama BayStars in 1993. Popular or not, the newly christened BayStars dropped 23 games out of first place that year.

But with consistent hitting from top batter Bobby Rose and great relief pitching from Kazuhiro Sasaki, in 1995 Yokohama edged above the .500 level for the first time since 1979, compiling a team 66-64 record. For his fine service, manager Akihito Kondo was promptly fired.

Replaced by skipper Akihiko Oya, the BayStars fell to fifth place in 1996. Despite having a young team with lots of good batting, Yokohama lacked a complete pitching staff. Expectations were low for the 1997 season.

But when the BayStars surged in July and August with help from a rejuvenated pitching staff many Yokohama fans abandoned their long held pessimism. Pulling to within 2 1/2 games of front-runner Yakult, the cocky BayStars stumbled on their own enthusiasm. Treating every win as if it were a pennant-clinching game, Yokohama had a lot of bravado but little self-confidence.

After Yakult's Kazuhisa Ishii no-hit the challengers on September 3, the BayStars crumbled, finishing the season 11 games behind Yakult.

But it was an experience the BayStars must go through to become champions. In 1960, the Whales went from sixth to first place, then disintegrated the following year. Their ascension was like a rocket that shot into the heavens then dropped back to earth.

But few teams are able to make that climb and stay there. Yakult spent several years becoming a champion, and their confidence is not the kind that disappears after one tough loss. Youthful and energetic, Yokohama has a chance to learn from the experience.

The next time they face a set-back during a hot pennant race, they will likely be a sturdier team, one not as prone to emotional ups and downs. And they may prevail.