Nippon Ham
On November 19, 1973, meatpacking company Nippon Ham purchased the team. The club's name changed to the Nippon-Ham Fighters, its official name became the Nippon-Ham Baseball Corporation, Osamu Mihara became the team president and Futoshi Nakanishi its manager. After 27 years, the "Flyers" nickname was abandoned. The "Fighters" nickname was born from a public appeal by the team's management. A female high school student from Okayama prefecture submitted the winning name, giving the reasoning that "(former Fighters player) Katsuo Osugi has guts, so he's a fighter." Ironically, Osugi would be traded to the Yakult Swallows soon after the Fighters were rechristened.