Wednesday, November 29, 2023

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures - Where Are They Now?

Ten years ago this week, Panini released the 2013 edition of their USA Baseball set.  This set was sold in boxes that included the complete 63 card base set, seven autograph or autograph/memorabilia cards and two memorabilia cards.  There were over twenty different types of autographed cards available but the one that is the subject of this post is the one that's actually not listed in TCDB's information on the set - the "Japanese All-Stars Signatures"*

*This is not the official name of these cards but it's my best guess at it

These autographed cards featured the members of the 2013 Japanese Collegiate All Star team that took on the US Collegiate All Star team in Japan in a five game series in July of that year.  There are 24 cards available and each is serially numbered to 25.  The autographs differ from the ones on the 2019 and 2020 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes Collegiate Samurai Japan autograph/memorabilia cards in that they appear to all be in English rather than kanji.  I suspect most of the players weren't used to writing their names that way as some of them have the name written out rather than what you'd expect for a signature.

18 of the 24 players went on to play in NPB - 16 of them directly after college and the other two after playing in the corporate leagues for a couple seasons.  Sixteen of the eighteen were still active in 2023.  The other six players all played in the corporate leagues and at least one of them was still active this past season.  Here's the list of all 24 players:

Card Name College Year Drafted Notes
21 Taiga Egoshi Komazawa 3 2014 Tigers 3rd Played for Tigers 2015-22, Fighters 2023-present
5 Yudai Fujioka Asia 2 2017 Marines  2nd Played for Toyota until 2022
19 Kenta Ishida Hosei 3 2014 Baystars 2nd Played for Baystars 2015-2023.  All Star in 2016
24 Ryohei Ishikawa Kokugakuin 4 N/A Played for ENEOS after graduation
3 Kanji Kawai Hosei 4 N/A Played for Toyota until 2022
1 Ryo Miki Jobu 4 2013 Marines 3rd Played for Marines 2014-2023
20 Hiroki Minei Asia 4 2013 Baystars 3rd Played for Baystars 2014-2022, Hawks 2023-present.
7 Tomohiro Mineshita Kinki 3 N/A Still playing for Osaka Gas as of 2023
8 Gen Mizumoto Asia 1 N/A Played for Toho Gas until 2021
2 Shogo Nakamura Waseda 3 2014 Marines 1st Played for Marines 2015-present.  Won Best 9 in 2021. Golden Glove in 2018, 2021 & 2023.  All Star in 2018 & 2021
6 Naomichi Nishiura Hosei 4 2013 Swallows 2nd Played for Swallows 2014-23, Baystars 2023-present
9 Shohri Ohkido Hosei 4 N/A Last name is spelled "Ookido" on card. Played for Honda Suzuka until 2022
13 Daichi Ohsera Kyushu Kyoritsu 4 2013 Carp 1st Last name is spelled "Osera" on card.  Played for Carp 2014-present.  Won Rookie Of The Year Award in 2014.  All Star in 2018
4 Koji Ohshiro Rikkio 2 2015 Buffaloes 3rd Played for Buffaloes 2016-present
22 Hiromi Oka Meiji 4 2013 Fighters 3rd Played for Fighters 2014-18, Marines 2018-present.
11 Masaji Rokuno Tokai 4 N/A Played for Toyota until 2017
12 Seishiro Sakamoto Meiji 2 2015 Tigers 2nd Played for Tigers 2016-present.  Won Golden Glove award in 2023
18 Ryota Sekiya Meiji 4 2015 Marines 2nd Played for JR East after graduation.  Played for Marines 2016-19
17 Toshihiro Sugiura Kokugakuin 4 2013 Swallows 1st Played for Swallows 2014-17, Fighters 2017-present
15 Toyoki Tanaka Nihon Bunri 2 2015 Fighters 5th Played for Fighters 2016-19, Giants 2020-23
10 Ryutero Umeno Fukuoka 4 2013 Tigers 4th Played for Tigers 2014-present.  Golden Glove winner in 2018-20.  All Star in 2017, 2019, 2021 & 2023.  Member of Samurai Japan in 2021 Olympics
16 Sachiya Yamasaki Meiji 3 2014 Buffaloes 1st Played for Buffaloes 2015-2023.  Signed with Fighters for 2024.  All Star in 2023
14 Yasuaki Yamasaki Asia 3 2014 Baystars 1st Played for Baystars 2015-present.  Won Rookie Of The Year Award in 2015.  All Star in 2015-19 & 2021.  Member of Samurai Japan for 2015 & 2019 Premier 12 and 2021 Tokyo Olympics
23 Masataka Yoshida Aoyama Gakuin 2 2015 Buffaloes 1st Played for Buffaloes 2016-22, Boston Red Sox 2023-present.  Won five Best 9 Awards (2018-22).  Four time All Star (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022).  Member of Samurai Japan for 2019 Premier 12, 2021 Olympics and 2023 World Baseball Classic

I've got 20 of the 24 cards - I'm just missing the cards for Miki, Nakamura, Umeno and Yasuaki Yamasaki.  Here's all the cards I do have with a recent NPB card of the player:

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #21

2023 BBM 1st Version #154

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #5

2023 BBM 2nd Version #454

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #19

2023 BBM 2nd Version #501

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #20

2023 BBM 1st Version #037

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #6

2022 BBM Swallows #S43

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #13

2023 Topps NPB #180

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #4

2023 Epoch NPB #024

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #22

2023 Epoch NPB #173

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #12

2023 Epoch NPB #306

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #18

2019 BBM Marines #M06

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #17

2023 Fighters Team Set #22

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #15

2021 BBM Giants #G24

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #16

2023 BBM 1st Version #002

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japanese All Stars Signatures #23

2022 BBM 1st Version #179

Here are NPB cards for the four players don't have autographed cards for yet:

2022 BBM Marines #M50

2023 Calbee #022

2023 Calbee #041

2023 Topps NPB #127


Two of the corporate league players - Kanji Kawai and Shori Ohkido - had cards in a couple of BBM's Tokyo Big Six sets.  I don't know if any of the six players appeared in either the 2021 or 2022 JABA sets as I do not have a complete checklist for either set.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...


Very nice post. I was wondering if you had the Yoshida card, LOL.

Regards,
Scott

NPB Card Guy said...

Thanks!

I've had that Yoshida card since before he was drafted but I'm always happy to get to show it off again.