Baseball Challenge League

Route Inn BC League

Sport	Baseball
Founded	2006
Inaugural season	2007
President	Murayama Tetsuji
No. of teams	8
Country	Japan
Most recent champion(s)	Niigata Albirex Baseball Club
Most titles	Ishikawa Million Stars (4)
Official website	http://www.bc-l.jp/

The Route Inn BCL, formerly known as the Baseball Challenge League (ベースボール・チャレンジ・リーグ Bēsubōru Charenji Rīgu), is an independent semi-professional baseball league in Japan. The league's abbreviated designation is "BC League (BCリーグ)."

League structure

The Baseball Challenge League has two divisions, Future—East and Advance—West, with four teams in each division. Not every team has a home stadium; instead, the team travels around its home prefecture, playing in different stadiums, each one called "home” for that game.^[1]

The 72-game season runs from April–October, split into two half-terms, with the division champion from each half-term meeting in a playoff at the end of the year to determine which two teams compete for the league championship. Each team carries 27 players.^[2]

Typically, players earn 150,000 yen (c. U.S. $2,000) per month, with another 50,000 yen in potential bonuses.^[3] The league imposes a 7.2 million yen (c. U.S. $60,600) salary limit for team managers.^[4]

History

The BC League began play in 2007 as the Hokushinestu Baseball Challenge League. It originally consisted of four teams based in the Hokuriku region: the Ishikawa Million Stars, the Niigata Albirex Baseball Club, the Shinano Grandserows, and the Toyama Thunderbirds. In 2008 the league added two teams, Gunma Diamond Pegasus and the Fukui Miracle Elephants, and split into two divisions, Jōshin'etsu (Gunma, Shinano, and Niigata) and Hokuriku (Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama).

Ishikawa Million Stars Infielder Kensuke Uchimura led the league in steals in 2007, which led to him being drafted by Nippon Professional Baseball's Rakuten Golden Eagles. In 2008, he became the first player to reach NPB after playing in the BC League.

In February 2014, the league agreed to a naming rights deal with Route Inn Group, becoming the Route Inn BC League.^[5]

That same month, it was announced that a new team, the Musashi Heat Bears, based out of Saitama Prefecture, would join the league in time for the 2015 season.^[5] In July 2014, it was announced that a second new team, the Fukushima Hopes, would also join the league for the 2015 season.^[6]

Late in the summer of 2014, along with the Shikoku Island League Plus, the Route Inn BCL formed the Japan Independent Baseball League Organization.^[7]

With the addition of two new teams, in 2015 the league realigned and renamed its divisions, replacing the previous divisions Jōshin'etsu and Hokuriku with Future—East and Advance—West.

Teams

Division	Team	Founded	State	League champion	Division champion	Half term champion	Team color	Stadium
Future—East	Fukushima Hopes	2014	Fukushima Prefecture	0	0	1		Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium
	Gunma Diamond Pegasus	2008	Gunma Prefecture	3	5	9		Takasaki City Jonan Baseball Stadium
	Musashi Heat Bears	2014	Saitama Prefecture	0	0	0		Kumagai Park Stadium
	Niigata Albirex Baseball Club	2007	Niigata Prefecture	2	4	8		Niigata Prefectural (Hard Off Eco) Baseball Stadium
Advance—West	Fukui Miracle Elephants	2008	Fukui Prefecture	0	2	2		Fukui Phoenix Stadium
	Ishikawa Million Stars	2007	Ishikawa Prefecture	4	6	9		Kanazawa Municipal Baseball Stadium
	Shinano Grandserows	2007	Nagano Prefecture	0	0	0		Nagano Olympic Stadium
	Toyama Thunderbirds	2007	Toyama Prefecture	1	1	2		Takaoka Western General Park Baseball Stadium

Franchise locations

Yearly standings

Gold is the League Champion, and Silver is The Division Champion.

Year	First	Second	Third	Fourth
2007	Ishikawa	Toyama	Shinano	Niigata

Joshin'etsu Division					Hokuriku Division
Year		First	Second	Third	Year		First	Second	Third
2008	First half	Niigata	Gunma	Shinano	2008	First half	Toyama	Ishikawa	Fukui
	Second half	Gunma	Niigata	Shinano		Second half	Toyama	Ishikawa	Fukui
2009	First half	Gunma	Niigata	Shinano	2009	First half	Ishikawa	Toyama	Fukui
	Second half	Gunma	Niigata	Shinano		Second half	Ishikawa	Toyama	Fukui
2010	First half	Gunma	Shinano	Niigata	2010	First half	Ishikawa	Fukui	Toyama
	Second half	Gunma	Niigata	Shinano		Second half	Fukui	Ishikawa	Toyama
2011	First half	Gunma	Shinano	Niigata	2011	First half	Ishikawa	Toyama	Fukui
	Second half	Niigata	Shinano	Gunma		Second half	Fukui	Ishikawa	Toyama
2012	First half	Niigata	Shinano	Gunma	2012	First half	Ishikawa	Fukui	Toyama
	Second half	Niigata	Shinano	Gunma		Second half	Fukui	Toyama	Ishikawa
2013	First half	Niigata	Gunma	Shinano	2013	First half	Ishikawa	Toyama	Fukui
	Second half	Niigata	Shinano	Gunma		Second half	Fukui	Toyama	Ishikawa
2014	First half	Gunma	Niigata	Shinano	2014	First half	Toyama	Fukui	Ishikawa
	Second half	Niigata	Gunma	Shinano		Second half	Ishikawa	Toyama	Fukui

References

1. Ryo. "Independent Leagues in Japan," NPB Tracker: Baseball in Japan & Around the World (May 26, 2009).
2. "Professional Baseball Tryout," San Diego Sports Authority (2012). Archived on the Western Baseball Association website. Accessed April 7, 2015.
3. Patrick. "Japan’s Independent Leagues 2014," NPB Tracker (09 February 2014).
4. Jun Hongo, "Julio Franco, 56 Years Old, Joins a Japan Team as Player-Manager," Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2015.
5. Gen. "BC League agrees to naming rights deal with Route Inn Group," Yakyubaka.com (Feb. 25, 2014).
6. Gen. "New BC League team from Fukushima will be named the Fukushima Hopes," Yakyubaka.com (July 18, 2014).
7. Gen. "Island League, BC League to establish Japan Independent Baseball League Organization," Yakyubaka.com (Aug.30, 2014 ).

External links

• Baseball Challenge League Official Site (in Japanese)
• 2014 Final Standings, Playoff Results, Statistical Leaders