The franchise was founded in 1946 as Gold Star, a new post-war team in the Japanese Baseball League.
One of the team's losses that season set the record for highest run differential in Japanese professional baseball history.
[2] In 1947 the team became the Kinsei Stars ("Kinsei" meaning made of gold in Japanese) and signed long-time Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants pitcher Victor Starffin, who came over from Tamura's other team, the Taiyo Robins (formerly Asahi).
[citation needed] The team acquired Michio Nishizawa mid-season 1946, during the period he was transitioning from a once-dominant pitcher to a fearsome hitter.
This enabled the Pacific League to shrink from the ungainly seven-team arrangement caused by the 1957 merger to a more manageable six teams.