page_title: Hiroshima Toyo Carp
section_title: Dark years
hierarchical_section_title: Hiroshima Toyo Carp / History / Dark years
caption_attribution_description: 広島市民球場2004年03月14日(広島対福岡ダイエー)。投稿者により撮影されました。 2005年8月6日 (土) 23:03 . . Gomurafuji . . 1065×318 (72,796 バイト)
context_page_description: The Hiroshima Toyo Carp are a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by Hajime Matsuda, who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. Mazda is the largest single shareholder, which is less than the portion owned by the Matsuda family. Because of that, Mazda is not considered the owner firm. However, the company connection is highlighted in the club name; until 1984, Mazda's official name was Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
context_section_description: The Carp would endure a lengthy period without success after their 1991 pennant.
  One of the major reasons for the team's demise wa the lack of financial support it received from its sponsors. The team never signed any free agents, and was often forced to let go of star players because they could no longer pay their salaries (recent examples include Tomoaki Kanemoto, Akira Etoh, Andy Sheets, Nate Minchey, John Bale, Greg LaRocca and Takahiro Arai). The Hiroshima Carp were the last Japanese team to have a non-Japanese player on its roster (excluding Japanese-Americans). Zoilo Versalles, the 1965 American League MVP,  was the first non-Japanese player to play for the Carp.
  Marty Brown became the manager in 2006, becoming the team's first non-Japanese manager in 31 years (since Joe Lutz). The team set a new record in April, 2006, scoring only 2 runs for the first 9 games of the season. Through still not finishing above third, the team concentrated on developing potential young players. In 2008, even though they were expected to finish last place as both the ace Hiroki Kuroda and slugger Takahiro Arai were gone by free agency, their chance of entering of playoffs was not eliminated until the very end of the season (when only 3 games remained), and they finished fourth, closely following Chunichi Dragons.
  Beginning with the 2009 season, the team's home has been the New Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, also known as Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, in the Minami (South) Ward of Hiroshima.
caption: View from Hiroshima Municipal Stadium on March 14, 2004.
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