The Hanshin Tigers are the most popular baseball team in the Kansai area of Japan. They've remained the most popular since the formation of baseball in Japan in 1935. And all of this despite the fact that they are a terrible team that has finished dead last in their division 10 out of the past 15 years [this info being up to date as of February 2002].

I don't know why other people here in Japan continue to like them, but I for one enjoy their crazy fans as well as the crazy story about the "Curse Of Colonel Sanders" [if interested in reading about that story CLICK HERE].

I, like Babe Ruth before me, have been to Koshien Stadium (where the Tigers play). I enjoyed watching the last place Tigers defeat the 1st place Yakult Swallows (who ended up winning the Japan Series that year) in my first outing. Now I'm ready to go back and enjoy some more of the Hansin fans craziness.

I'm sure I haven't done a very good job of explaing why I like the Hanshin Tigers as much as I do, but since I'm not usually a baseball fan in any way, shape, or form that's not too suprising. I think it all boils down to the KFC thing though and the fact that Hanshin's fans are the craziest fans I've ever run across (which makes for an exciting ballpark atmosphere).

If after reading this shoddy writting, you'd like to learn more about the Tigers, I recomend the following sites:

The Hanshin Tigers Page (English)
[This is the best English site about the team. Includes roster, fight song, and history of team and stadium]

Hanshin Tigers Fan Page (Englsih)
[This site is subpar at best, but in English, thus it's here]

The Official Hanshin Tigers Page (Japanese)
[The real deal, good if you can read it I suppose]