One of the most successful teams in the history of Japanese baseball, the Hanshin Tigers have recently suffered through hard times. Although finishing the 1997 season in fourth place, for most of the last decade Hanshin has lived in the Central League basement. Bad pitching, worse hitting and unenlightened personnel decisions have all taken their toll.

Representing Osaka in that city's rivalry with Tokyo, the Tigers have been the Kansai counterpoint to the Yomiuri Giants since both teams started playing in 1936. But as with politics, economics and culture, Tokyo usually prevails at the ballpark. While Hanshin has compiled the Central League's second-best franchise record, they only have three pennants and one Japan Series championship to show for it. Yomiuri, by contrast holds 37 pennants and 18 Japan Series titles.

Still, the Tigers have had their share of all-stars. Their most successful pitcher of all time, Minoru Murayama posted a CL record 0.98 ERA in 1970 while on his way to a 222-147 career record with a lifetime 2.09 ERA.

Joining Sadaharu Oh and Hiromitsu Ochiai as the only players to win triple crowns in two consecutive years, Randy Bass slugged 54 home runs in 1985 and the following year batted .389, the highest single season average ever recorded in Japan. The only two Hanshin players to win the MVP, Murayama helped the Tigers gain their first CL pennant in 1962 and Bass guided the 1985 Tigers to their first Japan Series title.

Waiting impatiently for nearly five decades, when Hanshin finally won their first Japan Series Osaka residents went berserk. Some Tigers fans shaved the team's logo on their scalps or dived into polluted canals while others were accused of hijacking a train.

In less successful times, Hanshin fans have been known to confront and assault opposing players outside the ballpark while hurling batteries and pachinko balls inside. Either Tigers fans are a very devoted bunch or there's a lot of lead in the Osaka water supply.

Today, Tigers fans have less cause for celebration. Top hurler Keiichi Yabu may pitch well but the rest of the mound staff remains unreliable. Though second baseman Yutaka Wada and outfielder Katsuhiro Hiratsuka hit better than anyone else on the team, neither is deserving all-star status. Nor is Tsuyoshi Shinjo, a decent defensive center fielder who can hit home runs but virtually nothing else.

Possessing the league's most anemic offense, the Tigers' home ballpark makes them look even worse. Maybe it's those deep power alleys at Hanshin Koshien Stadium that turns home runs into doubles and triples because no Central League team took opposing pitchers deep less often than the Tigers.

Seating 55,000 fans, Koshien Stadium is the site of the summer high school baseball tournament every August. Built in 1924, the aging concrete and steel ballpark features natural grass, an all-dirt infield and visible bullpens. Though a must-see for its history as much as its ivy-covered exterior, Koshien's large foul territory, high chain-link fences and scores of posts hamper visibility.

Still, no other Japanese park offer as much old-fashioned baseball atmosphere. And no matter how destined for disappointment, few Japanese fans show as much enthusiasm as those wearing yellow and black happi coats at Koshien Stadium.