An English Guide To Baseball Cards From Japan

Привет, подумал, что может кому-то будет интересен данный пост, а именно - японские бейсбольные карточки из книги Sayonara Home Run!: The Art of the Japanese Baseball Cards . Карточки из вышеупомянутой книги и коллекции John Gall:

I don’t know much about Japanese baseball. I don’t know much about Japanese baseball cards. I *really* don’t know much Japanese. Apparently, Japanese baseball is relatively similar to American base…

An English Guide To Baseball Cards From Japan

Привет, подумал, что может кому-то будет интересен данный пост, а именно - японские бейсбольные карточки из книги Sayonara Home Run!: The Art of the Japanese Baseball Cards . Карточки из вышеупомянутой книги и коллекции John Gall:

PSA articles contain a wealth of information about athletes, cards, card sets, autographs, auctions, prices and top hobby sales. Browse the entire library today to learn more about your collection.

I don’t know much about Japanese baseball. I don’t know much about Japanese baseball cards. I *really* don’t know much Japanese. Apparently, Japanese baseball is relatively similar to American base…

PSA articles contain a wealth of information about athletes, cards, card sets, autographs, auctions, prices and top hobby sales. Browse the entire library today to learn more about your collection.

Otakon is taking place this week in Baltimore. Otakon is a convention that celebrate Japanese pop culture, especially anime and manga. My youngest daughter is a big fan of many different mangas and animes and attended the convention with a friend and my wife the last two days. Funny thing happened this morning - my wife had a schedule conflict this morning and I had to deliver my daughter and her friend to the convention and pretty much hang around until my wife could meet up with them. My daughter gave me strict instructions not to wear any Japanese baseball stuff - no jerseys, no t-shirts. She was OK with me wearing my Dragons hat because she figured no one would really notice it. So of course, as soon as we got in line to get into the convention this morning, the guy in front of us turns around, looks at my hat and says "Hey, another Dragons fan". Turns out that he used to live near Nagoya and was a big Dragons fan. We spent the next ten minutes or so talking about how much we preferred Ochiai over Takagi as manager and how the entire Dragons lineup was freaking old. My poor daughter, she can't take me anywhere. I posted this story to Facebook this morning just after it happened and the story then took another humorous turn - the Dragons fan is a friend of Deanna Rubin's. It's a small world and apparently Deanna knows everyone in it... In honor of Otakon, I thought I'd show off a couple of cards that are related to anime and manga. There's lots of baseball manga out there and a couple of the characters play for professional teams. I know of at least two that have ended up having cards. There's Toru Yamada from the Dokaben who had a card in BBM's Seibu Lions 20th Anniversary set in 1999: #SL29 The main character from Abu-san, Yasutake Kageura, has actually had his uniform number retired by the Hawks. Here's his card from 1998 BBM Hawks boxed set: #FD74 (I featured this card in a Card Of The Week post a few years ago.) In 2011, the BBM 2nd Version subset for Ceremonal First Pitches included a couple of cards that were related to manga/anime. One of them featured Konan Edogaawa, the primary character from Case Closed: #721 The other was actress Suzuko Mimori, who is pictured wearing the costume of a character she does the voice for, Sherlock "Sheryl" Shellingford, in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (at least I think that's who she's dressed as): #722

Привет, подумал, что может кому-то будет интересен данный пост, а именно - японские бейсбольные карточки из книги Sayonara Home Run!: The Art of the Japanese Baseball Cards . Карточки из вышеупомянутой книги и коллекции John Gall:

I'd been seeing these oddball cards from the Helmar Brewing Company on eBay lately, featuring portraits of Japanese players from the 30's, 40's and 50's, but other than checking out their website, I really hadn't looked into them too much. Luckily, Bill Ellis has, and he was kind enough to write up an essay on them and send it to me: The Japanese Player Helmar Brewing Baseball Cards In 2005, Helmar Brewing Company, Pleasant Ridge, Michigan produced a set of sports cards called the “Famous Athletes Series”. The set contains original artwork depicting mostly classic American baseball players, but also baseball players from the Negro Leagues and the Japanese Leagues, as well as boxers. The cards are about 2 ¾ inch high by 1 5/8 inch wide, in the style of the old tobacco cards, but on much thicker cardboard (about 1/16 inch thick). The set included 7 cards of classic Japanese players and managers: ● Kaoru Betto ● Sadayoshi Fujimoto ● (Tsuguo) Goto ● Tetsuharu Kawakami ● Tokuji Iida ● Jiro Noguchi ● 4-player card: Aota, Chiba, Kawakami, Noguchi The cards, and the back of one card, are shown. The design and artwork on the cards is attractive, but not very accurate. I referred to “The History of Uniform”, 2005, for uniform illustrations, and to the online Japan Baseball Daily Data Warehouse for teams, years, and positions. The uniform worn by Betto, who was a Hall of Fame slugging outfielder for the Osaka Tigers during 1948-49, shows a red “O” on the cap (used only in 1936-40 and 1953-57) that should be black or blue; the leggings are missing the two yellow bands; and the red piping on the sleeves never existed. Fujimoto was the manager of the Pacific team (which became the Robins, then the Whales, and now the BayStars) in the Japanese Baseball League in 1946. His Hall of Fame managing career included nine league championships. His cap is missing the “P”. The Goto card (which must be Tsuguo, though his first name is not given), says Chunichi Dragons but shows him in the unique alternate Osaka Tigers uniform of 1948-49. He wore, as shown, uniform #8 as center fielder for the Tigers from 1948 to 1957, and never played for the Dragons. Tokuji Iida was a star first baseman for the Nankai Hawks during 1947-1956. His name is misspelled on the card as “Lida”. He is shown in a pinstripe uniform, but the 1948-1949 Hawks uniform actually had pairs of pinstripes, a dark blue cap, and red- and blue-striped socks. Tetsuharu Kawakami was a superstar first baseman for the Yomiuri Giants during 1938-1942 and 1946-1958. His uniform on the Helmar card appears to be the only one that is correct for the period when he played. Jiro Noguchi was a star pitcher for the Hankyu Braves, of the Japanese Baseball League and then the Pacific League, during 1946-53. The uniform is right, but the red brim on the cap should be dark blue. The four-player card shows them in Yomiuri Giants uniforms that are close, but not correct for any years. The caps are right for 1947-1950, but the orange stripes were on the 1950 shirts that had “GIANTS” in orange, not black. Including Japan baseball stars in the Helmar Famous Athletes Series was a nice touch, and justified by the quality of these players, but a little more research by the card artists was needed. I am not tempted to acquire the other card series issued by Helmar: Series 2 (2007), or Series 3 (2008). Thanks for the information, Bill. I've seen some of the later cards on eBay - instead of being patterned on the 1910 T206 tobacco set, some of them are based on the 1933 Goudey design. There are some nice looking cards out there, but they might also have the accuracy issues that Bill has pointed out here. I had never thought about having a guest blogger before, but it's not a bad idea at all. If anyone else wants to write an essay on a relevant topic, let me know.

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A year after electing two former Hiroshima Toyo Carp pitchers to the Hall Of Fame, the voters have again elected two former Carp pitchers to the Hall Of Fame - Yoshiro Sotokoba and Yutaka Ono. Sotokoba pitched for the Carp for 15 seasons from 1965 to 1979. He threw three no hitters (including one perfect game) in his career, which ties him with Eiji Sawamura for most in Japanese baseball history. Sotokoba actually had a losing record for his career (131-138) due to having pitched his first nine years or so with some truly bad Carp teams. 2012 BBM No-Hitters #40 - Commemorating his first no-hitter 1975-76 Calbee #222 1976 Yanakatsu JY-1 Ono pitched 22 years for the Carp (1977-1998). He alternated between starting and relieving throughout his career. In recent years, he has been a pitching coach for the Japanese National Team at several international tournaments. 1984 Takara Carp #24 1989 Calbee #302 2008 BBM Japanese National Team #JPN04

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OK, minor mystery solved. Once I got a copy of "The History Of Uniform" I went back through some of the OB sets I had and tried to identify the uniforms that players were wearing. When I reached this card of Jiro Noguchi (2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 #124), I was a little puzzled. Obviously, the uniform was for the Mainichi Orions from 1950 to 1955, but Noguchi never played for Mainichi. He started his career with the Tokyo Senators in 1939 and continued playing for them through various name changes until 1943 when he went into the military. He resumed his career in 1946 with the Hankyu Braves and played until 1953. (And his other three cards in the 20th Century Best 9 set are either for the Senators or Braves.) Turns out that according to his entry in Baseball Reference's Bullpen, he coached for Mainichi after his retirement. Not a shocking revelation, but it is odd that BBM chose a picture of him coaching rather than pitching for the set. It may be that there aren't many pictures of him available (and in fact the four cards from the 20th Century Best 9 set are the only four cards I have of him, so he didn't show up in any of the recent OB sets or in the "Nostalgic Baseball" set from 2006).

I thought I'd show a bunch of cards of guys who didn't make the new Legendary Foreigner set. First up, a bunch of guys who had reasonably long NPB careers but were left out for some reason (in Sledge's case it may be because he may return to Japan after he recovers from his injury last season): 1984 Calbee Bobby Marcano (#356) 2000 Victory Phil Clark (#26) 2008 BBM 2nd Version Terrmel Sledge (#639) Next, one of the handful of Americans to play in Japan in the 1930's, Harris McGalliard (aka "Bucky Harris"): 2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 Harris McGalliard (#025) Finally, a bunch of guys more famous for playing in the States (or in one case for the Cuban National team): 1979 TCMA Tony Muser (#4) 1990 Calbee Roy White (#241) 1984 Takara Kids Giants Reggie Smith (#7) 1987 Play Ball Ben Oglivie (#19) 1988 Takara Swallows Doug Decinces (#15) 1989 Lotte Mike Easler (#29) 1991 BBM Phil Bradley (#352) 1992 BBM Mike Marshall (#378) 1993 BBM Jesse Barfield (#312) 1993 BBM Rex Hudler (#327) 1995 BBM Glenn Davis (#454) 1995 BBM Late Series Pete Incaviglia (#636) 1995 BBM Shane Mack (#291) 1997 BBM Mike Greenwell (#440) 2004 BBM 2nd Version Omar Linares (#683)

Vintage Japanese Menko Baseball Card. Card is printed on cardboard with plain backs and cardboard "kickstand." Probably from a 1950's era baseball game. 7 inches in diameter.