Takashi Saito

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field. Also known as the D-Backs, Arizona has one World Series title, in 2001, becoming the... fastest expansion team in the majors to win a championship, doing it in only the fourth season since their expansion in 1998. Between 1940 and 1990, Phoenix jumped from the 99th largest city in the nation to the 9th largest . As such, it was frequently mentioned as a possible location for either a new or relocated MLB franchise. Baseball had a rich tradition in Arizona long before talk of bringing a big-league team even started. The state has been a frequent spring training site since 1946. With a large number of people relocating to the state from the Midwest and the Northeast, as well as from California, many teams have normally had large followings in Arizona.
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Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region. In 2005, the city had a population of one million, and was one of Japan's 19 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the daimyo Date Masamune, and is well known by its nickname, the... City of Trees ; there are about 60 zelkova trees on Jōzenji Street and Aoba Street . In the summer, the Sendai Tanabata Festival, the largest Tanabata festival in Japan, is held. In winter the trees are decorated with thousands of lights for the Pageant of Starlight , lasting through most of December. On 11 March 2011, coastal areas of the city suffered catastrophic damage from a magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake which triggered a destructive tsunami. Although the Sendai area was inhabited as early as 20,000 years ago, the history of Sendai as a city begins from 1600, when the daimyo Date Masamune relocated to Sendai. Masamune was not happy with his previous stronghold, Iwadeyama. Iwadeyama was located to the north of his territories and was also difficult to access from Edo .
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