For a franchise that hasn't even come close to a pennant in over two decades, it may be difficult to imagine the Hawks overpowering their competition. But that's exactly happened from 1950 to to 1966 when the Hawks either placed first or second in the Pacific League every year. Unlike the expansion Mainichi Orions who took the Japan Series in 1950, however, the Hawks didn't start winning their first season.

Established in 1938, the team floundered in its early years, scoring only one winning season before the end of the Second World War. Batting .196 as a team, the Hawks earned their worst franchise record in 1940, winning 28 games while losing 71.

Owned by Nankai, until 1989 the team carried the name of its parent company except for a few years when the club was known as Kinki Nihon (1944), and Kinki Great Ring (1946-47). In 1947, the franchise finally settled on the name Nankai Hawks.

The more important change after the war, however, was the promotion of Kazuto Tsuruoka (aka Kazuto Yamamoto) to the rank of player-manager. Batting .314 and leading the league in RBIs, the third baseman led the team to their first league title in 1946.

Even though his playing career ended in 1952, Tsuruoka remained as Nankai's skipper until 1968. In his twenty-eight years at the helm, the team had just one losing season (a 64-66 record in 1967) and fell below second place only twice (1947 and '67).

When the two league system was formed in 1950, Nankai joined the Pacific League with several other Kansai (Osaka-area) teams. Although the first PL pennant went to the Mainichi Orions (now the Chiba Lotte Marines), the Hawks completed their best-ever record (72-24) in 1951 to take their first of three consecutive league flags. Nankai lost to the Central League Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series all three years.

Because tie games are allowed to remain in the official standings, one of the biggest anomalies in Japanese baseball is that the team with the most wins occasionally places second in their league. That's what happened to the Hawks in 1955. Earning a 90-47 record with three ties and a .657 winning percentage, the Nishitetsu Lions swiped the PL pennant from the Hawks, who only had a .650 winning percentage despite posting 91 wins.

(Although the Central League began requiring tie games to be replayed in 1990, the PL still allows them to count in the final league standings.)

As if seeking vindication a year later, the Hawks won a record 99 games (while losing 41) to earn their fourth PL pennant. Perhaps one of the greatest Pacific League teams of all-time, the 1955 Hawks fell to the Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series four games to three.

After placing second three years in a row, Nankai won their fifth pennant in 1959 and finally went all the way, sweeping the Yomiuri Giants in that year's Japan Series. That victory and another championship in 1964 are the only two times the team has won it all.

For such a strong ball club, the Hawks had few top drawer players in the 1950s. Hawks hitters won two batting titles (Isami Okamoto in 1953 and Kohei Sugiyama in 1959), one home run crown (Katsuya Nomura, 1957), and two RBI titles (Tokuji Iida, 1951-52). The team's pitchers did slightly better, leading the league four times in both in wins and ERA.

By the early 1960s, however, two Nankai players had begun to dominate their opponents. Before burning out his pitching arm, Tadashi Sugiura earned an ERA title and led the league in wins in 1959. In the four years from 1958-61, Sugiura won 116 games. Catcher Katsuya Nomura led the league in home runs every year from 1961-68 while earning six RBI titles and one triple-crown in 1965.

Although individual players found success, the team began to drift after manager Tsuruoka retired in 1968. A year later, the Hawks finished in the cellar for the first time since 1944. In addition to his catching duties, slugger Nomura was asked to manage the team in 1969.

During the erratic Nomura years, the Hawks finished in every spot in the standings except last. Despite leading the team to one pennant (1973) and six winning seasons, the player-manager was released at the end of the 1977 season. Batting 645 home runs for Nankai, Nomura remains the finest all-time Hawks player and their second most successful manager.

In the two decades since Nomura left Nankai, the Hawks have only had one winning season (1995) and have finished in the bottom half of the league every year. Some have referred to this as the "curse of Nomura." To some extent, this hex may have some validity.

Aside from being a great batting asset, Nomura was also a pretty good backstop, capable of handling his pitchers. That experience came in handy as manager.

Although the Hawks have generally hit well in the past two decades their pitching has been awful. In only one year (1987) has the team's ERA dropped below 4.00. Perhaps not having a decent catcher, or at least a manager with a good understanding of pitchers, has something to do with the Hawks' terrible ERA.

After a decade of losing, Nankai sold the team to the Daiei supermarket chain after the 1988 season. Perhaps hoping that a change in venue might help the team attract more fans, the new owners moved the Hawks from Osaka to Fukuoka in 1989. With a new city and owner, the team changed their name to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.

Playing in Heiwadai Stadium for a few years, the Hawks moved to the newly completed Fukuoka Dome in 1993. With a retractable roof, luxury seats and a wide array of restaurants and bars, the move was probably made to increase the team's attendance. Unless the owners were completely inept (not impossible), the change in ballparks sure wasn't made to help the Hawks win games.

In their first full year in the Fukuoka Dome, Daiei had their third worst season since 1950, earning a 45-80 record. A team that had hit a lot of home runs in the past, the Hawks saw their homer production fall from 139 in their last season at Heiwadai Stadium to 75 in the new dome.

The Fukuoka Dome's "Major League" dimensions and a 5.8 meter (19 feet) high outfield wall had something to do with that. In his brief stay with the Hawks, Major Leaguer Kevin Mitchell called it one of the largest ballparks he had ever seen. In 1996, the Fukuoka Dome was also the worst place to try to hit a home run in Japan, averaging just 1.15 round-trippers a game.

Also, in a move probably more calculated for its publicity value than in an earnest attempt to help the team, Daiei hired home run king Sadaharu Oh to manage the Hawks. In three years, Oh took a team that had a winning record (in 1994 under manager Rikuo Nemoto) and delivered three straight losing seasons.

Unless Sadaharu Oh can figure out a way to win in the Fukuoka Dome, the curse of Nomura may continue for several years.