 The first was between 1973–1982, when a split-season was applied with a 5-game playoff between the winning teams from both halves of season (unless a team won both of the halves so that they did not need to play such a game).The second time was between 2004–2006, when the top three teams played a two-staged stepladder knockout (3 games in the first stage and 5 games in the second stage) to decide the League Champion (and the team playing in the Japan Series).After this system was applied, the Seibu Lions (now Saitama Seibu Lions), Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, which claimed the Pacific League Championship under this system, were all able to clinch the following Japan Series in that season.