Founded in 1950 and joining the Central League the same year, the Hiroshima Carp played like an expansion team for their first twenty-five years. With alternately poor pitching and batting, the team only once placed above fourth, posting a third place 68-62 record in 1968. One of the poorest teams in the league, Hiroshima simply couldn't afford any top level players other than pitcher Ryohei Hasegawa (197-208, 2.65 career ERA from 1950-63).

But after the draft system started in 1965, the Carp began getting young quality players. Starting with third baseman Sachio Kinugasa and pitcher Yoshiro Sotokoba, Hiroshima acquired outfielders Jitsuo Mizutani and Koji Yamamoto. It took time, but the acquisitions eventually paid off.

Though the Carp had finished in the cellar the preceding three years, in 1975 new manager Takeshi Koba led Hiroshima to their first franchise pennant and an impressive 72-47 record. Yamamoto earned the Central League MVP by leading the circuit with a .319 batting average and Sotokoba earned Sawamura Award while leading the league in wins (20-13) and strikeouts (193). The Carp lost the Japan Series that year to the Hankyu Braves, but the team was already headed in a new direction.

With Yamamoto on his way to hitting 536 career home runs and Kinugasa midway through his 2215 consecutive games played streak (and headed for 504 lifetime homers), the Carp had an offense that could match any other team's. Meanwhile Sotokoba led the pitching staff. From 1974-77, four different Carp pitchers (Motoyasu Kaneshige, Sotokoba, Kojiro Ikegaya, and Satoshi Takahashi) led the league with 20 wins. In 1976, Hiroshima acquired Manabu Kitabeppu, a right-handed pitcher who in the next two decades would win two Sawamura Awards and retire with a 213-141 record. The draft had indeed leveled the Central League playing field.

With good management and a rock solid roster, 1975 became the watershed date in Carp history. From that year forward, Hiroshima remained a contender. Since their first pennant-winning campaign, the Carp have tallied twenty winning seasons (and only three losing records) while earning five more CL flags and three Japan Series championships.

Hibernating for three years, Hiroshima captured their second pennant in 1979. By the mid-1970s, relief pitching had finally become widely recognized as an important role on any winning team. Picking up 22 saves for the Carp, former Hanshin Tiger starter Yutaka Enatsu earned the MVP while Yamamoto again powered the team's offense (42 home runs, 113 RBIs). Rallying from a two-game to zero deficit, the Carp won their first Nippon fall classic under the leadership of series MVP Nobuhiko Takahashi.

Leading the league with 44 home runs and 114 runs batted in, 1980 MVP Yamamoto blasted the Carp to their second pennant in a row. With Jim Lyttle taking the Japan Series MVP, Hiroshima defeated the Pacific League Kintetsu Buffaloes in seven games. After another three year hiatus, the Carp returned to the Japan Series in 1984 and defeated the Hankyu Braves in Seven games.

But after falling to second place in 1985, manager Koba retired. Following Hiroshima's 1986 Japan Series loss Yamamoto also called it quits, and Kinugasa followed a year later. With huge holes in their offense the Carp entered an extended period of rebuilding in the late 1980s.

With top hurlers Kitabeppu and Yutaka Ono staying on, pitching remained Hiroshima's strong point. Despite second baseman Kozo Shoda's two consecutive batting crowns (1987-88), the team's offense continued to slide as their team batting averages and home run production fell off. The Carp needed hitters.

Except for reliever Shinji Sasaoka, most of Hiroshima's key draft picks between 1986 and '91 were position players: right fielder Koichi Ogata (1986), shortstop Kenjiro Nomura (1988), third baseman Akira Eto (1988), center fielder Tomonori Maeda (1989), and left fielder Tomoaki Kanemoto (1991). While Nomura and Maeda began working regularly their first seasons, few of the other players became regular starters overnight. But by choosing their players wisely and patiently developing them, the Carp built one of the league's best homegrown offenses.

With their offense not quite back up to speed, the Carp earned their fourth pennant in 1991 with the league's best pitching. Winning the Sawamura Award with a CL best 17-9 record and 2.44 ERA in 240 innings, MVP Shinji Sasaoka led the Carp pitching staff to a 3.23 team ERA. Ono fulfilled his part, earning 26 saves and a 1.17 ERA. But the pitching wasn't enough, however, as the Seibu Lions rallied from a three game deficit to win to win four straight low-scoring games and the 1991 Japan Series. The Carp pitchers just didn't get enough run support.

In the following years, a new trend developed. As the new position players got stronger, Hiroshima's offense dramatically improved. But the overwork eventually resulted in Sasaoka struggling through two seasons and eventually winding up in the Carp bullpen (where he's been very effective). Aging and near retirement, Kitabeppu was running out of gas. Starting in 1992, Hiroshima's pitching atrophied, their ERA steadily rising from 3.23 in 1992 to 3.60 and 4.29 in the following two seasons.

Alarmed, the Carp shifted gears and began acquiring fresh young pitchers. Featuring a wind-up with a dramatic hitch, Yasuaki Yamauchi joined the Carp in 1995 and earned the Rookie of the Year Award with a 14-10 record and a 3.03 ERA. Import Robinson Checo pitched spectacularly, earning a 2.74 ERA while going 15-8. With the help of part-time starter Ono (3.03 ERA in 102 2/3 innings) the Carp managed a respectable 3.57 team ERA, second only to the Giants pitching staff (3.40). But the recovery was short-lived.

With Major League stardom in mind, Checo balked at pitching another season for the Carp and managed to wiggle out of his contract with Hiroshima. Yamauchi stayed, but Central league batters began to figure out how to work around his distracting hitch. By the end of 1996, the team's ERA rose to 4.08. Despite Ono compiling a league-best 2.85 ERA in 1997 and Rookie of the Year Toshikazu Sawazaki posting a 3.74 ERA, the Hiroshima's team ERA rose to a twenty-year high (4.44).

Meanwhile, the team's offense kept getting better and better. Luis Lopez earned his second straight RBI title in 1997 while Koichi Ogata led the league in steals for the third straight year. When slugger Akira Eto (28 home runs, 76 RBIs) hurt his foot, Tomoaki Kanemoto responded by pounding 33 home runs while compiling a .404 on base percentage. Injured part of the season, Tomohiro Maeda still managed to bat .304 and Kenjiro Nomura hit .279 with 26 stolen bases. As a whole, the Carp hit more home runs (164) than any other team while batting .259 (third in the CL) with 117 stolen bases (second). As for speed and defense, few teams are in the same class.

In the early 1970s, the Carp offense was slowly growing stronger, but it took a big drop in team ERA, from 3.61 in 1974 to 2.96 in 1975, to propel Hiroshima to the Japan Series. Two decades later, the situation is much the same. With the addition of two or three good starting pitchers, the Carp can make sure that history repeats itself.