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The story
The Chunichi Dragons have missed out on the Climax Series (CS) again this season, stretching their playoff drought to 14 consecutive years since 2013. It’s now the longest such streak among all 12 NPB teams, and this season the Dragons became the first Central League team eliminated from playoff contention. From 2007, when the CS took its current format, through 2012, Chunichi was a fixture in the postseason — but everything changed starting in 2013, and the slump has continued ever since. On 5ch, discussion ranged widely: doubts about manager Kazuki Inoue’s in-game decisions and the front office’s approach, attendance comparisons with J.League side Nagoya Grampus, debate over the team’s reliance on its mascot “Doala,” and even broader questions about a pro baseball system with no relegation.
Chunichi suffered a lopsided loss to the Yomiuri Giants in their final game of the season, extinguishing any chance of reaching the Climax Series (CS). Manager Kazuki Inoue said, “We’re not in a position to talk big. We’ll just keep fighting hard in the games right in front of us.
I want to put on games that feel fun to watch, so the fans don’t get too discouraged. We’ll keep working to show solid baseball through the rest of the season,” he said. Chunichi became the first team in this season’s Central League to be eliminated from CS contention.
This marks the 14th consecutive year Chunichi has missed the CS, dating back to 2013. Since the CS adopted its current format in 2007, Chunichi reached it six years running through 2012 — during that stretch, they were, alongside the Giants, one of the Central League’s playoff regulars. But starting in 2013, they haven’t made it back once.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They actually did finish 3rd once, under manager Yoda
Just unlucky that it happened to be a year the CS wasn't held
If anything, it's precisely because there was no CS that year that other teams didn't fight as hard to lock down an A Class spot — that's how Chunichi snuck into 3rd
More popular than soccer here — packed stadiums even on weekdays
Isn't Ochiai just some old guy doing baseball YouTube these days?
But will the "Tatsunami Kids" ever actually develop?
Too much time has passed for that — can't really blame Ochiai anymore
Muramatsu, Tanaka, Fukunaga
Individual talent has actually improved a lot, but the manager's in-game calls and sloppy fundamentals just keep dragging the team down
Tatsunami was a master of making the wrong call, but Inoue's calls aren't even that bad — they just always backfire anyway. A total reverse-Midas touch
Nothing good comes of having a media company as the owner
Yomiuri's doing just fine though
It's simply that Chunichi's management is bad
Time for a new mascot to start fresh
If anything, relying on that koala is the root cause
The team won't admit it, but the koala's popularity subconsciously works as a brake — an excuse not to try as hard to actually win
That's where Black Doala comes in
Wasn't there talk that the higher-ups said something like, "if we win, payroll goes up, and that's bad for us"?
Made it a year I couldn't sleep from frustration
Nagoya Grampus annual attendance: 450,000, averaging in the low 20,000s per game
Chunichi's average attendance is actually 35,658
And it keeps growing every year
What was that about the empty-seat "subsidy league" that only plays once a week on weekends?
It's got zero popularity
When Chunichi wins the pennant, the whole region celebrates and they even throw a big parade
When Grampus wins, nobody even notices
Also I keep seeing news about the manager blowing up in anger
Pro baseball works fine without one, so that's totally fine
Why are you sticking your nose into other sports' business anyway?
They need someone like Toyota to become the parent company, or it's hopeless
The parent company is technically listed as Chunichi Shimbun
But in reality the Dragons ("ChuniDora") are jointly funded and owned by Nagoya-based companies led by QP Kowa
Meanwhile the Hawks, despite Kyushu's strong local pride, still cut local guys if they're not good enough
Aichi is completely baseball-dominant territory
And the media backing is airtight too
They cheer regardless of wins or losses and are satisfied either way… probably have other hobbies too
It's basically like idol fan culture ("oshi-katsu")
Plenty of young fans too, and families can casually go watch together
Are you making fun of Mazda?
Background and Key Points
The Climax Series (CS) was first introduced by the Pacific League in 2004, and the current format — where the top three teams in each league, including the Central League, advance — began in 2007. Chunichi was a fixture on par with the Giants during that first six-year stretch, but hasn’t finished in the top three (A Class) even once since 2013. It’s worth noting that 2020 doesn’t count toward the “missed playoffs” streak: the CS wasn’t held at all that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Chunichi actually finished in A Class that season. Without knowing this, it’s easy to get confused and wonder, “If they were unusually strong in 2020, why didn’t that break the streak?” — hence the clarification here. In the thread, opinions were split over manager Inoue’s in-game decisions, with users also questioning the front office’s management approach and pointing to attendance figures as evidence of just how popular pro baseball is in the Nagoya region — all raised as possible angles on the team’s prolonged slump.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from a 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread titled “[Baseball] Chunichi Dragons’ 14 straight years without reaching the Climax Series sets the worst record among all 12 teams — next longest is DeNA’s 9 straight years, and in the Pacific League, Orix’s 6 straight years is the longest.”
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