Professional sports teams in Arizona Professional sports teams in Arizona Arizona has four Major League sports teams, all within the Phoenix metropolitan area, plus a professional WNBA team. The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play their home games at Chase Field. They were founded in 1998 as an expansion team in the National League's West Division of the MLB. They became the fastest expansion team to win a World Series title (four seasons) when they beat three-time defending champ the New York Yankees in 2001. The Phoenix Suns play in the NBA's Pacific Division and are the only
Baseball in Japan American All-Star team that included Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Charlie Gehringer. While prior Japanese all-star contingents had disbanded, Shōriki went pro with this group, playing in an independent league. The first Japanese professional league was formed in 1936, and by 1950 had grown big enough to divide into two leagues, known as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). (It is called , which simply is a translation of "professional baseball".) The Central League included the established teams, and the Pacific League was made up of new teams and players. The Pacific League uses the designated hitter style of play.