title: Pacific League
text: The  or  is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan.  There are six teams in the league.
  
  History
  In 1949, The league was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union.  There were seven teams.
  
  In 1980, the name was changed to Pacific League.
  
  After the 2004 season, the Orix BlueWave and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to form the Orix Buffaloes.  At the same time, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were added to the league.
  
  Current teams
  
  Championships
  
  League champion
  The team which wins the most games in each year is the league champion or "pennant winner".
  
  Since 2004, there has been a three-team playoff system called the "climax series". The teams with the 2nd- and 3rd-best records play in the 3-game first stage.  The winner plays in a 5-game final series against the top-ranked team.
  
  Japan Series
  Each year, the winner of the league championship competes against the Central League champion in the  or .
  
  Related pages
   Sports in Japan
  
  References
  
  Other websites 
  
    Pacific League website 
  
  Baseball in Japan
  Organisations based in Japan
  1949 establishments in Asia
  1940s establishments in Japan