The Orix Buffaloes are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in the Pacific League that splits their home games between Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. and Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium in Kobe, Japan. The team originally began play as the Hankyu Club in 1936 in the Japanese Baseball League. They rebranded as the Hankyu Braves in 1947, which they retained all the way until 1989, when the team was acquired by Orix, a financial services company founded in Osaka; they became Orix Braves in 1989. In 1991, the team was rebranded as the Orix BlueWave. In 2004, mounting financial trouble led to the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment that saw the team merge with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka and rebrand as the Orix Buffaloes starting in 2005.
In 89 combined seasons as the Braves/BlueWave/Buffaloes, the team has won the Japan Series five times (1975, 1976, 1977, 1996, 2022) while finishing first place in the Pacific League 15 times, most recently doing so in 2023. In the playoff era of the Pacific League (1973–1982, 2004-present), the Buffaloes have reached the postseason 11 times (1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2008, 2014, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025).
Table key + Key to symbols and terms in season tableWNumber of regular season winsLNumber of regular season lossesTNumber of regular season tiesGBGames behind from league's first-place teamROYRookie of the YearMVPMost Valuable PlayerESAEiji Sawamura AwardMSAMatsutaro Shoriki Award
Season-by-season records Japan Series Champions(1950–present) †Japanese Baseball League / Pacific League Pennant(1950–present)Pacific League Regular Season Champions(1950–present) ^Climax Series Berth(2007–present) ¤ SeasonLeagueFinishWinsLossesTiesWin%GBPlayoffsAwardsHankyu Club1936JBL11 70 .611 — —Autumn 1936 JBL17 12 1 .586 — Spring 1937 JBL4th28 26 2 .519 13 Autumn 1937 JBL7th17 29 3 .370 21Spring 1938 JBL3rd21 13 1 .618 7.5Autumn 1938JBL3rd21 17 2 .553 8.5 1939JBL3rd58 36 2 .617 9 1940JBL3rd61 38 5 .616 12.5 1941JBL2nd53 31 1 .631 9 1942JBL4th49 50 6 .495 23.51943JBL7th31 51 2 .378 23.51944JBL3rd19 15 1 .559 8.51945No league play because of World War II1946JBL3rd51 52 2 .495 14Hankyu Braves 1947JBL4th58 57 4 .504 20.51948JBL4th66 68 6 .493 201949JBL2nd69 64 3 .519 16 1950 Pacific4th54 64 2 .458 28.5 1951 Pacific5th37 51 8 .420 311952 Pacific5th49 58 1 .458 20.51953 Pacific2nd67 52 1 .563 41954 Pacific5th66 70 4 .485 23.51955 Pacific4th80 60 2 .571 191956 Pacific3rd8864 2 .578 10.51957 Pacific 4th71 55 6 .561 11.51958 Pacific3rd7351 6 .585 4.51959 Pacific5th48 82 4 .369 401960 Pacific4th6565 6 .500 171961 Pacific 5th53 84 3 .389 33.51962 Pacific4th60 70 1 .462 181963 Pacific6th57 92 1 .383 30.51964 Pacific2nd7965 6 .549 3.51965 Pacific 4th67 71 2 .486 21.51966 Pacific5th57 73 4 .43822 1967 Pacific 1st75 55 4 .577 —Lost Japan Series (Giants) 4–2Mitsuhiro Adachi (MVP)1968 Pacific1st80 50 4 .615 —Lost Japan Series (Giants) 4–2Tetsuya Yoneda (MVP)1969 Pacific1st76 50 4 .603 —Lost Japan Series (Giants) 4–2Tokuji Nagaike (MVP)1970 Pacific 4th64 64 2 .500 16.5 1971 Pacific1st80 39 11 .672 —Lost Japan Series (Giants) 4–1Tokuji Nagaike (MVP)1972 Pacific1st80 48 2 .625 —Lost Japan Series (Giants) 4–1Yutaka Fukumoto (MVP)1973 Pacific3rd/1st77 48 5 .616 Lost Pacific League playoffs (Hawks) 3–21974 Pacific1st/3rd69 51 10 .575 Lost Pacific League playoffs (Orions) 3–0 1975 Pacific1st/6th64 59 7 .520Won Pacific League playoffs (Buffaloes) 3–1Won Japan Series (Carp) 4–0–2Hideji Kato (MVP)1976 Pacific1st79 45 6 .637 —Won Japan Series (Giants) 4–3Hisashi Yamada (MVP)1977 Pacific1st/2nd69 51 10 .575Won Pacific League playoffs (Orions) 3–2Won Japan Series (Giants) 4–1Hisashi Yamada (MVP)1978 Pacific1st82 39 9 .678 —Lost Japan Series (Swallows) 4–3Hisashi Yamada (MVP)1979 Pacific2nd/1st75 44 11 .630Lost Pacific League playoffs (Buffaloes) 3–01980 Pacific4th/5th58 67 5 .4641981 Pacific3rd/2nd68 58 4 .540 1982 Pacific2nd/5th62 60 8 .508 1983 Pacific 2nd67 55 8 .549 1984 Pacific 1st7545 10 .625 —Lost Japan Series (Carp) 4–3Greg Wells (MVP)1985 Pacific 4th64 61 5 .512 15.51986 Pacific3rd63 57 10 .525 6.5 1987 Pacific 2nd64 56 10 .533 91988 Pacific4th60 68 2 .469 15Orix Braves 1989 Pacific 2nd72 55 3 .567 0 1990 Pacific2nd69 57 4 .548 12Orix BlueWave 1991 Pacific 3rd64 63 3 .504 18.51992 Pacific3rd61 645 .488181993 Pacific 3rd70 56 4 .556 3.51994 Pacific 2nd68 59 3 .535 7.5 Ichiro Suzuki (MVP)1995 Pacific1st82 47 1 .636 — Lost Japan Series (Swallows) 4–1Ichiro Suzuki (MVP)1996 Pacific1st74 50 6 .597 —Won Japan Series (Giants) 4–1Ichiro Suzuki (MVP)1997 Pacific 2nd71 61 3 .538 51998 Pacific3rd66 663 .500 4.51999 Pacific3rd68 65 2 .511 10.5 2000 Pacific4th64 67 4 .489 8 2001 Pacific4th70 66 4 .515 72002 Pacific6th50 87 3 .365 392003 Pacific6th48 88 4 .353 33.52004 Pacific6th49 82 2 .37429Orix Buffaloes2005 Pacific4th62 70 4 .470 262006 Pacific5th52 81 3 .39128.52007 Pacific6th62 77 5 .446 172008 Pacific2nd75 68 1 .524 2.5Lost Climax Series First Stage (Fighters) 2–02009 Pacific6th56 86 2 .394 262010 Pacific5th69 71 4 .493 7.52011 Pacific4th69 68 7 .504 20.52012 Pacific6th57 77 10 .425 17.52013 Pacific5th66 73 5 .475 152014 Pacific2nd80 62 2 .563 0 Lost Climax Series First Stage (Fighters) 2–1Chihiro Kaneko (MVP)2015 Pacific5th61 80 2 .433 302016 Pacific6th57 83 3 .407 302017 Pacific4th63 79 1 .444 30.5 2018 Pacific4th65 73 5 .471 21.52019 Pacific6th61 75 7 .449 162020 Pacific6th45 68 7 .398 27 2021 Pacific1st70 55 18 .560 — Won Climax Series Final Stage (Marines) 3–1–0Lost Japan Series (Swallows) 4–2Yoshinobu Yamamoto (MVP)2022 Pacific1st76 65 2 .539 — Won Climax Series Final Stage (Hawks) 4–1Won Japan Series (Swallows) 4–2–1Yoshinobu Yamamoto (MVP)2023 Pacific1st86 53 4 .619 —Won Climax Series Final Stage (Marines) 4–1Lost Japan Series (Tigers) 4–3Yoshinobu Yamamoto (MVP)2024 Pacific5th63 77 3 .450 28 2025 Pacific3rd74 66 3 .529 13.5Lost Climax Series First Stage (Fighters) 2–0
Notes This is determined by calculating the difference in wins plus the difference in losses divided by two. The award was not open to the Pacific League until 1989. The award was not given out in the following years: 1971, 1980, 1984, 2000, 2019, and 2024. Records for the 1936 season are not complete. For all but the first season of 1936, the JBL did not institute a playoff of any kind. The 1936, 1937, and 1938 seasons were the only seasons in its existence with first and second half champions. Excluding ties, the Kintetsu Buffaloes finished 71–54 (.568) while the Orix Braves finished 72–55 (.567) Excluding ties, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks finished 78–60 (.5652) while the Orix Buffaloes finished 80–62 (.5633) Extra innings were not played in Climax Series games in 2021 because of pandemic restrictions. Game and series ended when tying run was scored since NPB rules state if a Climax Series round ends in a tie, the higher seed advanced as Lotte could do no better than tie the series.
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