Sports in Phoenix arrival, they changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes in 2014. The team has never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and has only made it to the conference finals once (2011–12 season), where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 4-games-to-1. Phoenix hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks during the regular season, and hosts the 15 major league teams of the Cactus League during spring training. Phoenix's Ahwatukee American Little League reached the 2006 Little League World Series as the representative from the U.S. West region. The Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (National League West Division) began play as
Professional baseball in Japan Unable to compete against the more established JBL, the Kokumin League disbanded a few games into the 1947 fall season. The Japanese Baseball League disbanded in 1949, reorganizing itself in 1950 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. The pro baseball season is eight months long with games beginning in April. Teams play 144 games (as compared to the 162 games