More New Stuff
A couple other upcoming releases of note:- BBM is not doing their traditional "Historic Collection" set this year but they are still going to do an OB set. It's called "Time Travel 1975" and as the...
View ArticleCard Of The Week November 20
The Australian Baseball League kicked off its 2016-17 season last Thursday. As usual there are a handful of former NPB and/or KBO players in the league - Mitch Dening, Hei-Chun Lee and Loek Van Mil...
View Article2016 KBO Baseball's Best Players Set Vol. 3 - Forever Ace
I received my box of the latest KBO set last weekend. This is the third edition of the "Baseball's Best Players" set overall and the second to be published this year. Dan Skrezyna has made the...
View ArticleAtsushi Okamoto
Another player who retired as of the end of the 2016 season was Saitama Seibu Lions pitcher Atsushi Okamoto. Okamoto was a sixth round pick of the Lions in the fall 2003 draft out of Meiji University....
View ArticleYoshikazu Kura
Long time Carp catcher Yoshikazu Kura is yet another 2016 retiree. Kura was drafted by the Carp in the fifth round of the fall 1997 draft out of Kyoto Sangyo University. He spent much of his career...
View ArticleByung-Kyu Lee
Long time LG Twin and one time Chunichi Dragon Byung-Kyu Lee announced his retirement this week. Lee was the first round pick of LG in the 1997 KBO draft out of Dankook University. He was a star from...
View Article2016 BBM Carp "Realization Of A Great Ambition" box set
Today I received my copy of BBM's box set commemorating the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's 2016 Central League pennant, their first since 1991. The set is entitled something like "Realization Of A Great...
View ArticleTakashi Kawai
Yet another long time NPB player who retired at the end of the 2016 season is Eagles pitcher Takashi Kawai. Kawai was drafted out of Josai University in the third round of the fall 1998 draft by the...
View ArticleKazunari Tsuruoka
Hanshin Tigers catcher Kazunari Tsuroka has decided to hang up his cleats after a 21 year career in NPB. He was the fifth round draft pick for the Yokohama Baystars in the fall 1995 draft out of...
View ArticleCard Of The Week November 27
NBP announced the Best 9 teams last Friday. For those who don't know, the Best 9 Awards are basically a post-season All Star team. There's one player at each position in each league (hence the "9"...
View ArticleTakahiro Suzuki
Long time Giants outfielder/pinch runner Takahiro Suzuki retired after this year's Climax Series. Suzuki was drafted as an infielder out of Soma, Fukushima Prefecture High School in the fourth round...
View ArticleJun Hirose
Jun Hirose of the Carp is yet another player calling it a career. Hirose attended Hosei University of the Tokyo Big Six collegiate league where he won the Triple Crown as a junior in (I think) the...
View ArticleSports Card Magazine #120
Sports Card Magazine #120 came out in Japan on Saturday. My copy showed up in my mailbox today. Here's the summary:Color Section:- Three page interview with model/actress Ami Inamura ("The Goddess Of...
View Article2016 Award Winners
The MVPs and Rookies Of The Year were announced this week. Shohei Ohtani of the Fighters was the near unanimous choice in the Pacific League and Takahiro Arai of the Carp won in the Central...
View ArticleShinobu Fukuhara
Hanshin Tigers pitcher Shinobu Fukuhara announced his retirement back in September. Fukuhara was the third round pick of the Tigers out of Toyo University in the fall 1998 draft. He worked out of the...
View ArticleCard Of The Week December 4
I mentioned the other day that Shohei Ohtani was a near unanimous winner of the Pacific League MVP award this year. He was listed as the top choice on 253 of the 254 total valid ballots submitted....
View ArticleRIP Hiroshi Arakawa
Hiroshi Arakawa has passed away at age 86. Arakawa had had a nine year career as an outfielder with the Mainichi/Daimai Orions between 1953 and 1961 (he was an All Star in 1953) and managed Yakult for...
View ArticleKenta Kurihara
Back to the retiring players...Kenta Kurihara announced his retirement a few months back. Kurihara was taken by the Carp in the third round of the fall 1999 draft. He didn't make his debut with the...
View ArticleRyosuke Morioka
Swallows infielder Ryosuke Morioka is another player who announced his retirement back in September. Morioka was originally drafted out of high school by the Chunichi Dragons in the first round of the...
View Article2016 Calbee Samurai Japan Set
Last month Calbee issued a set for the Samurai Japan, the Japan National Baseball team. I suppose to be completely accurate I should point out that this set is for the professional version of the team...
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