Daisuke Miura

Things have finally settled down at work - the testing is over and my trips to Arizona have come to an end as well.  Time to start getting caught up on all the guys who retired at the end of the 2016 season - luckily this isn't as long a list as last year - otherwise I might never catch up.

Long time Yokohama pitcher Daisuke Miura announced his retirement on September 19th.  Miura was drafted out of Takada Shogyo high school in the sixth round of the fall 1991 draft by the then Yokohama Taiyo Whales (Takashi Saitoh was the first round pick).  He debuted with a two inning appearance against the Giants on October 7, 1992.  He was the final Yokohama Taiyo Whale still playing as the Whales changed their name to the Baystars that offseason.  While he didn't have any cards showing him with the Whales in 1992, there have been a couple since then showing him in their uniform:

2003 BBM Rookie Edition #117

2014 BBM Brilliant Teenagers #041

His BBM rookie card was #124 in the 1994 set.  His Calbee rookie card (which I don't have) is #79 from the 1996 set.

1994 BBM #124

Miura was the workhorse of the Baystars staff for 21 seasons, starting at least 15 games for the team from 1995 until 2015.  He lead the league in Winning Percentage in 1997 and in ERA and Strikeouts in 2005.  He made the All Star team six times (2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2013) but he never made a Best 9 team.  He played in one Nippon Series - 1998 which the Baystars won although he lost the game he appeared in - and was a member of the Bronze medal winning Japanese team for the 2004 Olympics (which there unfortunately are no cards for).

Here's some other cards of his from throughout his career:

1998 BBM Nippon Series #S6

2001 Upper Deck #26

2004 BBM Baystars #YB71

2006 BBM 1st Version #455

2009 BBM 1st Version #523

2012 BBM All Stars #A51

2015 BBM Baystars "Blue Flash" insert #BF02

2016 Calbee #142