play since Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase threw a combined perfect game for the Chunichi Dragons to end the 2007 Japan Series. The Hawks ended an injury-riddled and underwhelming with a 60-62-21 record, finishing 4th in the Pacific League, the first time the team had not qualified for the playoffs since 2013. This also was the first time since 2008 that the Hawks failed to maintain a .500 winning percentage season, as manager Kimiyasu Kudo stepped down after the conclusion of the 2021 season. Following Kudo's departure, farm team manager Hiroshi Fujimoto was promoted to the majors to be the new manager for . Yuki Yanagita was named team captain by Fujimoto, becoming the first team captain since Seiichi Uchikawa gave up the role after the season. The Hawks went on a tear to begin the season, winning eight straight games, with Fujimoto being the first new manager to win seven consecutive games, and the first time since 1955 that the Hawks won eight straight games to open the season. A solid spring, including a Maddux no-hitter by Nao Higashihama on May 12 against the Saitama Seibu Lions, followed by a less than ideal summer filled with ups and downs, including going 1-9 in their annual Hawk Festival series and being the first team since the Seibu Lions to be no-hit by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, led to the Hawks losing the pennant race to the Orix Buffaloes via tiebreaker after the Hawks lost to the Chiba Lotte Marines on the final day of the season, with both teams finishing with a record of 76-65-2. This marked the first time the top two teams in a league shared the exact same record in NPB history at the conclusion of the regular season, resulting in a tiebreaker being necessary. The Hawks lost the overall regular season series against Orix, as the Buffaloes won 15 games against them in comparison to SoftBank's 10 wins, resulting in Orix taking the 2022 Pacific League pennant. They would eventually fall to the Buffaloes in the second stage of the Climax Series, breaking an eighteen game playoff winning streak in the process. On October 10, 2022, the Hawks announced the formation of a yon-gun squad (third farm team), becoming the first team in NPB to begin operations on a third farm team, beginning play in 2023. Roster Former players Hawks former players Retired numbers none Honored