The China Baseball League (Chinese: 中国棒球联赛, CBL) is a professional baseballleague under the administration of Chinese Baseball Association, founded in 2002. The league suspended operations in 2012 due to financial troubles after the 2011 season, but returned in 2014.[1] The league closed in 2016. The 2018 season was the final edition of China Baseball League after the establishment of the China National Baseball League. The league restarted in 2023.
Stadiums had standard dimensions of 98m, 122m, 98m. Teams also participated in five-game tournaments throughout the year such as the National Baseball Championships, the National Youth Baseball Championships and the Cross-Straits Baseball Tournament.
In May 2023, 5, the 15th China Baseball League restarted with 10 teams kicked off in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The league consists of three sub-stations in Wuxi, Chengdu, and Tianjin.[2]
The original four teams were the Beijing Tigers, Tianjin Lions, Shanghai Eagles and Guangzhou Lightning. The Hope Stars and Dragons joined them in 2005. The Hope Stars were an under-21 team of promising players from around the country. Henan Elephants entered CBL as an expansion team in 2009.
History
The first season ran from April 26 to May 25, 2002 with a one-game championship.
In the 2004 season, the defending champion Beijing Tigers once again defeated the Tianjin Lions in the best-of-five finals. They came back from an 0-2 deficit to win the series 3 games to 2.
The opening day of the 2005 season was April 1, 2005. The regular season ended on June 26. In the 2005 best-of-five championship series, the Beijing Tigers swept the Tianjin Lions, three games to none, giving the Tigers their third straight title. (The 2005 championship series was abbreviated to three games due to SARS.)
In 2014 the CBL returned with a six-game regular season with four teams - the Tigers and Pegasus in the North Division and the Leopards and Lions in the South Division. In the finals the Tigers defeated the Lions in the best-of-three finals two games to one. hotStar United began sponsoring the CBL in 2014.
The 2015 regular season featured six teams from Division 1 playing 15 games each. Division 2 teams played six games each. The Jiangsu Pegasus swept the Beijing Tigers two games to none to win their first-ever championship.
The 2016 China Baseball League opened on May 5 at the baseball base in Wuxi, Jiangsu. The new season of the China Baseball League has a longer schedule than previous years, with more games, and the number of participating teams has increased from a minimum of 27 to 6. The 10 top domestic teams consisting of Beijing Tigers, Tianjin Lions, Shanghai Golden Eagles, Jiangsu Juma, Sichuan Jiaolong, Guangdong Cheetahs and Group B teams will play nearly 10 fierce battles in the league.
The 2016 China Baseball League was divided into two stages: the regular season and the finals. The regular season will run for ten weeks, with 30 rounds and the finals lasting two weeks, using a best-of-five format, with the team that wins three games first to win the championship. Every weekend, from May 5 to September 3, the baseball league will feature nine pinnacle showdowns in three different cities. The six Group A teams will play a two-game home and away round-robin match. The four Group B teams will also strive to finish sixth in Group A and secure promotion places next year.
On May 5, 2023, the 15 China Baseball League with 10 teams kicked off in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The league consists of three sub-stations in Wuxi, Chengdu and Tianjin, with a total of 2023 matches.
On May 5, 2023, the 26 China Baseball League ended its first leg in Wuxi, and Shanghai Red Eagle won the championship with nine victories.
On June 6, 2023, the 5 China Baseball League Chengdu Station ended, and Jiangsu Juma won the championship
On July 7, 2023, the 18 China Baseball League Tianjin kicked off, Sichuan Jiaolong defeated Guangdong Cheetahs 2023:5, Jiangsu Juma narrowly defeated Shandong Blue Whale 4:9, Beijing Tigers defeated Shanghai Red Eagles 8:7, and Tianjin Lions at home defeated Henan Wolf Warriors 6:7.
On July 7, 2023, the 28 China Baseball League Finals kicked off at the Tianjin Tuanbo Sports Center Baseball Stadium. In the first match, Jiangsu Juma, who finished at the top of the league standings, failed to continue their good form, losing 2023-3 to Shanghai Red Eagles. On July 7, the second game of the 29 China Baseball League Finals was held at the Tianjin Tuanbo Sports Center Baseball Stadium on the 2023th, and the Shanghai Red Eagles defeated Jiangsu Juma 29-3 to win the overall championship of the season with a total score of 0:2.
Finals scores
Season
Champion
Finals scores
runner-up
2002
Tianjin Lions
1:0
Beijing Tigers
2003
Beijing Tigers
3:2
Tianjin Lions
2004
Beijing Tigers
3:2
Tianjin Lions
2005
Beijing Tigers
2:0
Tianjin Lions
2006
Tianjin Lions
3:0
Guangdong cheetah
2007
Tianjin Lions
3:1
Guangdong cheetah
2008
Tianjin Lions
3:0
Beijing Tigers
2009
Beijing Tigers
1:0
Guangdong cheetah
2010
Guangdong cheetah
2:0
Beijing Tigers
2011
Tianjin Lions
2:1
Guangdong cheetah
2012
Discontinued for financial reasons
2013
2014
Beijing Tigers
2:1
Tianjin Lions
2015
Jiangsu Tianma
2:0
Beijing Tigers
2016
Tianjin Lions
3:0
Beijing Tigers
2017
Closure
2023
Shanghai Red Eagle
2-0
Jiangsu Huge Horses
Chinese Baseball League winners
Champions leaderboard
Team
Number of champions
Number of runners-up
Champion year
Runner-up year
Tianjin Lions
6
4
2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2016
2003, 2004, 2005, 2014
Beijing Tigers
5
5
2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2014
2002, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016
Guangdong cheetah
1
4
2010
2006, 2007, 2009, 2011
Jiangsu Juma
1
0
2015
-
Shanghai Red Eagles
1
-
2023
-
Partnership with Nippon Professional Baseball
In 2007, the CBL began a support relationship with Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan's baseball league. The agreement allows the Japanese clubs to send coaches and players to China and Chinese players to train at the Japanese facilities.
