The 2020 Hall Of Fame Class was announced today. No one got enough votes on the "Players Division" ballot to be elected (Shingo Takatsu was seven votes shy of the 266 necessary for election) but former Hanshin Tiger and Seibu Lion Koichi Tabuchi was elected on the "Expert Division" ballot. In addition there were two former Tokyo Big 6 managers elected via the Special Division ballot - Yukichi Maeda of Keio and Renzo Ishii of Waseda.
Tabuchi was the first round pick of the Tigers in the 1968 draft out of Hosei University (and is the fifth Hall Of Famer from that round, following Hisashi Yamada, Koji Yamamoto, Senichi Hoshino and Osamu Higashio. Meikyukai member Michio Arito was another first rounder that year). He debuted with the Tigers in 1969 and was named Rookie Of The Year. He was with Hanshin until after the 1978 season, making the All Star team 9 times and being elected to the Best 9 team five times. He also led the Central League in home runs in 1975, the only time in the 16 years between 1962 and 1977 that Sadaharu Oh didn't lead the league. He was traded to the Seibu Lions in the 1978-79 off season in the deal that sent Akinobu Mayumi to Hanshin. Seibu had just bought the Lions and moved them from Fukuoka to Tokorazawa and I've always felt that they acquired Tabuchi and Katsuya Nomura for the 1979 season to show that they were serious about building a winning team. He made the All Star team two more times with the Lions and helped them win back-to-back Nippon Series in 1982-83. He retired following the 1984 season with 474 career home runs, the 11th most in NPB history (and I think he was sixth or seventh on the list when he retired). He managed the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from 1990-92 and coached for the Tigers and Eagles as well as the 2008 Olympic baseball team, all with his friend Senichi Hoshino as manager.
Here's a couple cards showing him after different stages of his career:
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| 2011 BBM Legend Of Tokyo Big 6 #051 |
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| 1974/75 Calbee #344 |
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| 1976 Yamakatsu JY1 |
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| 1984 Calbee #72 |
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| 1992 BBM #209 |
4 comments:
I love that 1974/75 Calbee #344 card. It looks like the Japanese Thurman Munson.
@Fuji - that photo has always reminded me of Munson. I'm glad to see it's not just me. Must be the pinstripes.
Glad to see it. He is one of those guys I remember being surprised when I found out he wasn't already in the Hall!
The baseball cap design on that 1984 Calbee card is suspiciously similar to the one used for the 1981 Topps design ;-)
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