Akihiro Yano

Akihiro Yano of the Tigers also retired at the end of the season. Like Arihito Muramatsu, Yano was drafted in the 1991 draft. What many people forget, however, is that Yano was actually drafted and signed by the Dragons. He played sporadically for them through the 1997 season, then was traded to Hanshin. With the Tigers he became a regular. He never lead the league in any offensive category, but he was named to the Best 9 three times (2003,2005,2006) and the All Star team seven times (1999, 2002-2006, 2008). He played in two Nippon Series in losing efforts in 2003 and 2005. He hit .417 in the four games of the 2005 Series and won the "Fighting Spirit" award for the series. He also played for the 2008 Japanese Olympic team.

His 1991 BBM rookie card (#112):


1994 Takara:


2000 Epoch stickers (#197):


2001 Upper Deck (#90):


2002 Calbee (#044):


2004 BBM Tigers (#T46):


2005 BBM Nippon Series "Fighting Spirit" (#59):


2007 BBM 1st Version (#269):


2008 BBM Japanese Olympic Team (#JPN17):