Nippon Professional Baseball merged with the Orix BlueWave and were replaced by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Until 1993, baseball was the only team sport played professionally in Japan. In that year, the J.League professional soccer league was founded. The new soccer league placed teams in prefectural capitals around the country—rather than clustering them in and around Tokyo—and the teams were named after their locations rather than after corporate sponsors. The wave of players moving to Major League Baseball, which began with Hideo Nomo "retiring" from the Kintetsu Buffaloes, then signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, has also added to the financial problems.
Chan Ho Park was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates. On October 1, Park recorded a record for most wins by an Asian pitcher in MLB history, tossing three scoreless innings for his 124th career victory. He passed Hideo Nomo for the most ever by an Asian-born pitcher. He became a free agent at the end of the season. On December 20, 2010, Park signed one-year deal with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2011 season. On November 24, 2011, Park signed one-year deal with the Hanwha Eagles of Korea Baseball Organization for the 2012 season. On December 20,