Hey all, throughout December, and into January, I'll be putting out brief history videos on all 12 NPB teams. The next video will be on the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. My Patreon: / gaijinbaseball My Twitter: / gaijinbaseball
Kintetsu has no one to blame but its own "silly" investment decisions made during the 1980s economic bubble. One of the examples is the Spain-themed resort at Ise-Shima. If the top management kept their heads smart back then, they wouldn't have to sell Buffaloes under the demand of their creditor banks in 2003.
I love this team. It’s a shame that they merged with one of their most hated rivals. And they maybe had the most painful losses in NPB history: the reverse sweep and the 10/19
I never had an attachment to this team or got to see them play, but I wish I did. The Buffaloes were truly the underdogs of underdogs. People talk about the Browns as the factory of sadness when it comes to the NFL, but the Buffaloes truly were that team. So much heartbreak after having every opportunity to seize the day and win the big one. And yet...that's what made them so lovable. A team for those who always rooted for the little guy and see them finally get that day in the sun. Long live the underdogs. Long live the Buffaloes.
I remember seeing that story about the 01 Buffaloes and then I saw them in a game and was like... These are the Buffaloes? Nah... I was barely alive while they existed but gimme them instead of Orix.
While the Kintetsu Railways is still around, it's sad that the old Buffaloes baseball team is gone. History would be quite different had Kintetsu got smart of their investment or Rakuten bought the team and possibly move to Sendai.
I'm too far gone. I can't really root for any other team in Japan. At least the Buffaloes name still exists. When they won it all this year, everyone talked about this being the franchise's first Japan Championship since 1996. No. It was the Buffaloes' first Japan Championship ever. Orix may own the franchise ... but the soul of this ballclub belongs to the Buffaloes. I just can't think about it any other way.
I respectfully disagree. The name may say Buffaloes on the front, but Orix don't have the Buffaloes. If any team has a right to carry the lineage of the original Buffaloes as a spiritual successor, it's the Rakuten Golden Eagles given the number of ex Buffaloes players who joined from the original team owned by Kintetsu. Other than that...the OG Buffaloes, along with the Braves, died and were replaced with a new team that just so happens to be named Buffaloes.
Before the very last game as the Kintetsu Buffaloes, the last manager Masataka Nashida famously said, “Keep your heads up and play for the fans. Each and every one of you are the retired number for the Kintetsu Buffaloes.”
