[1] The plan broke down, however, when the JBL decided to reorganize and split into the Central (CL) and Pacific Leagues (PL) before the 1950 season.

After the split, the Yomiuri Shimbun, the newspaper company that owned the CL's Yomiuri Giants, persuaded Nishinippon to form their own Central League team and the Nishi Nippon Pirates were formed on September 19, 1949,[2] with the newly-built Heiwadai Stadium in Fukuoka acting as the team's home field.

However, because of the large talent discrepancy between the top and bottom teams, the Pirates' record was 50–83–3 and they finished 48 games behind the first-place Shochiku Robins.

[4][5] After the season, the team fought a proposal by Yomiuri to merge the Taiyo Whales and the Hiroshima Carp and dissolve the Pirates to create a six-team Central League.

[8] After the merger, the Giants argued that the Central League had the rights to Nishi Nippon's players and Yuko Minamimura and Saburo Hirai would both play for Yomiuri the following season.