More Memories Of Uniform - Carp Edition

The Carp were one of the new teams added in 1950 when single league system (the Japan Baseball League or JBL) transformed into the two league system (Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB).  Initially their name was simply the Hiroshima Carp - they changed it to the current name of Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1968.

As before I am using The History Of Uniform and Professional Baseball Uniforms Encyclopedia 1936-2013 as my primary sources.  Oddly enough, HOU does not specify home or away for three of the uniforms worn in the 1950-52 time frame while PBUE does - I am using the PBUE's specifications.  I am also using Yakyu Baka's Uniform posts as a reference for some of the more recent uniforms.

1950 Home

2006 BBM Nostalgic Baseball #068

1951 Home

1950-52 Away

1950 JBR 2

1952-53 Home

2009 BBM Carp 60th Anniversary #08

1952-53 Away

2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 #433

1954-56 Home

1954-56 Away

1956-57 Home 2 different

2014 BBM Pitchers Spirit Of Carp #01

1959 Hinomaru JBR 59?

1956-57 Away 2 different

1957 JBR 17

1958 Home

1959 Hinomaru JBR 59

1958 Home Alternate Cap?

2015 BBM Carp Legends #75

1958 Away

2009 BBM Carp 60th Anniversary #07

1959 Home

2009 BBM Carp 60th Anniversary #02

1959 Away

2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 #193

1960-62 Home

1960-62 Away

2015 BBM Carp Legends #77

1963-67 Home

2009 BBM Carp 60th Anniversary #15

1963-67 Away

2015 BBM Carp Legends #78

1964 Alternate?

1968-70 Home

1968-70 Away

2009 BBM Carp 60th Anniversary #18

1971-72 Home

1971-72 Away

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #049

1973-74 Home

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #050

1973-74 Away

1974/75 Calbee #205

1975-76 Home

1978 Yamakatsu JY 6

1975-76 Away

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #051

1977-88 Home

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #052

1977-88 Away

1980 Calbee #199

1989-95 Home

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #053

1989-95 Away

1994 BBM #129

1996-2001 Home

2000 Upper Deck Victory #026

1996-2001 Away

1998 BBM #84

2002-08 Home

2003 Calbee #030

2002-06 Away

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #054

2007-08 Away

2007 Konami Baseball Heroes 3 #B07B209

2008 Turn Back The Clock

2008 BBM Hiroshima Memorial #31

2009- Home

2011 Calbee #145

2009- Away

2010 BBM 1st Version #148

2010 Turn Back The Clock

2014 BBM Brilliant Teenagers #059

2011 Turn Back The Clock

2012 Turn Back The Clock

2012 BBM Rising Carp #22

2013 Alternate

2013 Front Runner Carp Season Summary #13

2014 Alternate

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #057

Notes - there are a LOT of disagreements between HOU and PBUE - especially with the late 50's uniforms.  I kind of went with what made the most sense to me but I could have messed stuff up.

The home uniform in 1958 and 1959 is exactly the same except that PBUE says there was a different cap in 58 (an interlocking "HC" design) than 59 (the stylized "ch" design used with the away uniforms).  HOU only mentions the '58 hat.  Neither source indicates the hat with just the "H" on it shown on the Kozuru card.  I have a number of menko cards that show this hat so I'm not sure why neither source has it.

The home uniform for 1960-62 looks very similar to the home uniform from 1958-59 except that it has a number on the front.  So the photo on that card for the Carp's history from 1960-69 is from 1959!

Finding cards for players from the 50's was challenging - the Carp pretty much stunk during this time and didn't have a whole lot of stars.  So appearances of 50's era Carp players in the OB sets was pretty much restricted to Katsumi Shiraishi and Ryohei Hasegawa.

The home uniform from 1954-56 and 1956-57 (the one I show Hasegawa in) only differed by the appearance of "HIROSHIMA" on the left sleeve.  I assumed that the uniform Hasegawa is shown on the 2014 Pitchers Spirit Of Carp card is from the 1956-57 era since it looks like there's something on his left sleeve, but I could be wrong.

Some of the away uniforms in the late 50's and early 60's said "HIROSIMA" on them instead of "HIROSHIMA".  Not quite sure why this happened but it's similar to the uniforms from around the same times for the Lions ("Nisitetu" instead of "Nishitetsu") and the Pearls/Buffaloes ("Kintetu" rather than "Kintetsu").

HOU says that the 1963-67 Away uniforms had the player's number on the left sleeve.  I've seen photographic evidence that the number appeared on either sleeve.

The home and away uniforms from 1968-70 only differed from the 1963-67 ones by the addition of the word "TOYO" on the left sleeve.

PBUE uses photos to illustrate the uniforms - I used five cards that share photos with the PBUE in this post.