2018 Konami Baseball Collection

Late last season Konami announced a new collectible card game called "Baseball Collection".  The cards are used in an arcade game - the game rewards players with more cards but I don't know how you get your initial cards.

I've not seen a lot of details on last year's cards but they issued a set for 2019 as well and there's a little more information on line about this year's set.  There are a total of 76 cards for each team - three "P" (Premium?) cards, 13 "SR" (Super Rare?) cards, 30 "R" (Rare?) cards and 30 "N" (Normal?) cards.  There are multiple cards for players - for example Shogo Akiyama of the Lions has a "P", an "SR", a "R" and an "N" card.  In fact it looks like the list of players with "N" cards is the same as the list of players with "R" cards.

Here's the video Konami published for the 2018 cards/game:



And here's the 2019 version:



I'm not sure when the last time Konami had done baseball cards was.  I think the last time they had cards was 2014 but I could be mistaken - I know they had cards in 2013.

I picked up a handful of 2018 cards at Mint Odawara:

#201810-R-C051-00

#201810-N-F016-00

#201810-N-L055-00

#201810-N-L016-00

#201810-R-G019-00

If it's not obvious, the Suzuki and Sugano cards are "R" cards while the other cards are "N".

One thing I discovered on this trip (which Ryan had hinted at before) is there's a separation between the Konami and Bandai game cards and the rest of the Japanese card collecting world.  It is extremely rare to find game cards at a baseball card store - they are sold at game card stores.  The only place other than Mint Odawara that I saw any Konami cards at was Mint Ikebukuro's gaming store the gaming store next door to Mint Ikebukuro's second story shop. ("Mint Ikebukuro" can actually mean any of three two separate stores - a "high end" card store, a gaming store and a card store.  The "high end" store is on the first floor while the other two stores are across the hall from each other on the second floor).  I had stepped into the store looking for 2009 Konami WBC Heroes cards and saw a bunch of the Baseball Collection cards in a display case.  I feel kind of stupid - I was focused on the WBC cards and I didn't think to pick up a couple of 2019 cards.

12/6/19 UPDATE - I was incorrect in assuming that the gaming card store was part of Mint Ikebukuro.  It is not although I think it might have been at one point.

Shikoku Independents vs New Jersey Jackals

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks back, for the third time in five years the Shikoku Island League has sent an all star team to play in the Can-Am League for a couple weeks in games that actually count in the standings for the Can-Am League.  On Sunday, June 23rd, I took a trip up to New Jersey to see the team play, also for the third time in five years.  I caught the Independents (as they have been dubbed this year) at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, home of the New Jersey Jackals.  I was accompanied by my good friend Chuck (as I was in 2015 and 2016) who's not really a baseball fan but this gives us an opportunity to get together which doesn't happen anywhere near often enough.

We got to the ballpark only about a half hour before game time.  I had brought cards of the team's manager Tetsu Yohfu and coach Teppai Komai with me to try to get autographed.  As soon as we got into the ballpark I made a beeline for Shikoku's dugout on the first base side.  I immediately saw Yohfu walking up the right field line to talk to a couple players working out there.  I called out to him as he was walking back and he came over.  He seemed surprised to see a card of himself (which has pretty much been the reaction in the past from the Shikoku Island coaches and players) and asked me if I wanted him to sign it in English or Japanese.  I told him whatever he wanted to do was fine with me.  He also graciously let me take a picture of him as well:

Chuck took a video of me getting the card signed:

Things took a very interesting turn after that.  Apparently Yohfu went into the dugout and told the players there was some guy in the stands with a Japanese baseball card of him.  One of the pitchers, Suguro Ito of the Tokushima Indigo Socks, came out of the dugout looking for me.  I was still in the stands near the dugout looking for Komai.  Itoh called out to me and asked me if I was the guy with the card of the manager.  I said yes and added that I had a card of Komai as well.  Ito asked if he could borrow the cards to show his teammates.  He took my Sharpie with him so that Komai (who was in the dugout) could sign the card.

Chuck and I watched as Ito took the cards into the dugout and called his teammates over to look at them.  After a few minutes he brought the cards back out and thanked me.  He asked me why I had the cards and I told him I collected them.  It was getting close to game time so Ito headed back to the dugout and Chuck and I started to make our way to our seats which were behind home plate.  Before we got too far however Ito came back out and asked to borrow the cards again for the team's pregame meeting.  I gave them to him and he ran back over to his teammates that were clustered around the front of the dugout.  After Yohfu had finished speaking, Ito moved into the center of the group of player and held the cards up above his head.  I didn't hear what he was saying (and since it was in Japanese so I wouldn't have understood it anyway) but I think he was rallying the team around the two cards.  The players yelled something out and all crowded together so that they could touch the cards.

Ito returned the cards and thanked me yet again.  I thanked him as well and Chuck and I headed off for our seats as the game was getting ready to start.

One last note about the pregame activities - the Japanese National Anthem was played on by a guy with a trumpet which sounded pretty good.  What was odd was that the guy was wearing an LG Twins jersey.  I had to ask myself - why would someone be wearing a Korean team's jersey to play the Japanese National Anthem?  I couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to make a political statement or if he just didn't realize they were two separate countries.  Or maybe he wears it to every game and there was no deep meaning behind it.

The game started and the Jackals (who were being the away team for this game) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  The Independents scored three runs in the bottom of the second and another one in the third to take a 4-2 lead.  Both teams scored single runs in alternating innings over the next four innings with Shikoku scoring in the fifth and seventh and the Jackals scoring in the fourth and sixth (the run in the sixth coming on a home run from DH Richard Stock).  Ito came in and pitched the top of the seventh in relief of starter Katsuya Yamazaki and he pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one and walking one.

Ito on the mound in the seventh

Then the top of the eighth happened.  Shikoku came into the inning leading 6-4 but the Jackals ended up sending 15 men to the plate in the inning, scoring 11 runs (only five of which were earned) on 7 hits, 3 walks and 4 errors.  The Jackals batted around before the Independents even got an out.  Shikoku used four pitchers in the inning - the first two didn't record an out.  The Jackals actually overwhelmed the scoreboard - the scoreboard only showed nine runs for the inning as it couldn't handle a double digit run count.

The game was obviously pretty much over at that point.  Shikoku pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth to make it the final 15-7.  The teams exchanged handshakes after the game and posed for a group photo as this was Shikoku's final game against the Jackals as well as their final game of the "Am" portion of their Can-Am League tour.  All their games after this one would be in Canada.

Here's some random photos from the game and afterward:

Yamazaki pitching to Santiago Chirino in the top of the first inning

Final score - you can see the scoreboard only lists 9 runs in the top of the eighth

The two teams exchanging handshakes after the game

Group photo

I was pleasantly surprised at the souvenir stand Shikoku had at the ballpark.  For their third tour they had finally laid in a supply of "American" sized shirts so I was able to get an Under Armour "Heatgear" shirt with the Independents logo on it that fit me. 

CanAmLeague.TV has the video for the game here and the Shikoku Island League's press release about the game is here. 

Shikoku's final game is tonight in Ottawa.  I think this team has played better than their two previous instances as they took two of three from both the Rockland Boulders and the Trois-Rivieres Aigles and were at .500 (with a record of 7-7) after last Saturday's game but since then they've lost four straight.  Their record will be either 8-11 (.421) or 7-12 (.368) after tonight's game.  They went 6-10 (.375) in 2015 and 8-12 (.400) in 2016 so a win tonight would give them their best winning percentage ever although either way their record this year has ended up being right around the same as the two previous seasons.

Almost forgot - here's the two cards I got autographed:

2002 BBM 1st Version #239

2001 BBM #448

Mint Grab Bag

Mint stores sell "Grab Bags" containing random selections of 20 cards for 200 yen.  I saw ones for NPB, MLB and NBA and I would expect that they have them for other sports and leagues.  I decided to buy one for NPB at Mint Shinjuku - I wasn't expecting much but I thought it'd be some cheap fun.

Most of the 20 cards were from the past three years but four of them were much older - two cards from 2000 and two cards from 2002.  All the cards were either BBM or Epoch.  There was one insert card (2000 BBM Shinya Miyamoto Golden Glove card) and one parallel (2002 BBM 1st Version Kosuke Fukudome silver facsimile signature).  Here's all the cards in somewhat chronological order:

2000 BBM #G15

2000 BBM #414

2002 BBM 1st Version #138

2002 BBM 2nd Version #725

2017 BBM Carp #C01

2017 BBM Genesis #052

2018 BBM Baystars #DB24

2018 BBM Fusion #073

2018 BBM Hawks #H72

2018 BBM Lions #L45

2018 BBM Marines #M68

2018 Epoch Carp Rookies & Stars #14

2018 Epoch NPB #154

2018 Epoch Tigers Rookies & Stars #46b

2019 BBM Icons - Teenage Memories #16

2019 BBM Icons - Teenage Memories #02

2019 BBM Swallows #S81

2019 BBM Swallows #S66

2019 Epoch Lions Rookies & Stars #07

2019 Epoch Tigers Rookies & Stars #42

There were only five cards in the bag that I didn't already have (or were about to get from Ryan) - the Epoch Rookies & Stars cards and the Miyamoto Golden Glove card.  I can't say I was really looking for any of those cards but for 200 yen it was fun picking them up.  The Miyamoto card alone would have probably run me 300 yen.

I don't regret doing this but I probably wouldn't do it again.  If you're looking for a random assortment of recent NPB cards this isn't a bad way to do it, especially if you don't have anything already.

Trip Overview Part 3 - Days 3-5 - Tokyo, Odawara & Nagoya

I began my day on Monday, May 27th by catching the Shinkansen back to Tokyo from Sendai.  When I got there in late morning I went to my hotel to drop off my luggage and met up with Ryan.  We exchanged the cards we had for each other and went off to spend the next few hours at card shops.  We headed up to Ikebukuro first as Coletre opened at 1100, the earliest of the shops we planned on hitting.  We next moved a few blocks south to Mint Ikebukuro.  From there we hopped on the Yamanote line and went two stops counter clockwise to Takadanobaba and Quad Sports, stopping for lunch on the way.  (I plan on doing separate posts to talk about the card shops.)

Ryan had a doctor's appointment he had to leave for so we parted ways at Quad Sports (although not before he discovered that the store would be moving across the street and about a block closer to the train station in the next week).  I had planned on heading to Mint Urawa but between the heat (it was over 90 degrees each of my first three days in Japan), my ongoing recovery from hip surgery and the fact that I'm woefully out of shape, I didn't have it in me to make it up there that day.  It didn't help that I'd be trying to go in the middle of the late afternoon rush hour either.  I headed back to my hotel and called it a day.  Luckily there was an Udon place next door to my hotel where the wait staff spoke some English and were very patient with me so I didn't have to go far for dinner.

I started working my way towards western Japan on Tuesday morning, although my first stop was Odawara, just about a half hour away from Tokyo Station on the Shinkansen.  I was meeting up again with Ryan who is currently living there to go to Mint Odawara which is just a few blocks from the train station.  I couldn't stay too long though because I needed to catch the Shinkansen for Nagoya, my stopping point for the next two days.  I got into Nagoya in the early afternoon and again went to my hotel to drop off my suitcase and meet up with a friend to go to card shops with - this time it was Sean.  We first walked over to Nagoya BITS which was just a few blocks away from my hotel.  Then we hopped on the subway to go to Mint Ponyland.  Sean needed to head home after that so we headed back to my hotel where I was able to give him some cards I brought for him.  I thought about heading to the other card shop in Nagoya - Match Up - after Sean left but again I was pretty tired (and it was raining kind of hard) so I decided against it.  I ended up at a nearby restaurant for dinner that night where they didn't really speak any English and didn't have an English menu.  I was a little concerned about what I was going to end up with but with the help of Google Translate I managed to order a fried chicken breast with some sort of sauce on it and a beer - it turned out to be a great meal.

I didn't have a whole lot planned for Wednesday in Nagoya, at least not during the day.  All three card shops in Nagoya were closed on Wednesday so I wasn't going to be able to go to Match Up.  Given how worn out I was after my first four days of the trip having a day that I took it easy wasn't a bad idea.  I also let practicality win out over vanity and started walking with a cane again, something I had stopped doing a few weeks earlier at home.  Given I was walking over six miles every day and was still out of shape it really helped me out and I was glad I had packed it in my suitcase just in case.

I did have some things planned for the day, however.  One thing I was very disappointed about when I was scheduling my trip was that the Dragons farm team was not going to be playing at home when I was in Nagoya.  The farm team plays at Nagoya Stadium which was the home of the ichi-gun Dragons until they moved in the Nagoya Dome in 1997.  I had hoped to see a game there but it wasn't to be - in fact they wouldn't even be home when I went through Nagoya the following week on my way back to Tokyo.  What I could do though is go over and walk around the ballpark and maybe even go into it if it was open at all.

Here's what Nagoya Stadium looked like in the early 1990's:

1992 BBM #104

It used to seat 35,000 people when the Dragons played there but in the 22 years since they moved the park has gradually been downsized to the point that the maximum capacity now is 4,883 (there's a bit of chronology of the downsizing of the park on its Japanese Wikipedia page).  A lot of the stands have been demolished and the light towers have all been taken down.  The pedestrian ramp you see in the foreground is long gone - the Dragons' indoor practice facility sits in the space it and the parking lot took up.

To get to the ballpark you take a JR Tokaido line train to Otobashi Stadium and walk about a half mile west.  You have to cross under the Shinkansen tracks to get there (you can see the tracks in the lower left corner of the above picture).

I did a loop around the park and associated facilities, trying to peer in to see the field as much as I could.  I could see and hear players working out on the field but the park was closed - I asked a guard at the parking lot behind home plate if I could go in and he said it was not open to the public.  Here are a bunch of photos I took while walking around it:

Looking in from the right field corner

Behind home plate

Indoor practice facility

Looking at the field from the left field corner

Field (and players) from the left field corner again

Another side of the indoor practice facility

Backside of the scoreboard

After leaving the ballpark I made a stop at a store called Mandarake.  Mandarake is a chain of vintage toy stores in Japan.  Sean had recommended that I take a look at them.  I wandered around the area around the store a little and then headed up to the Oasis 21 Mall to take a look at the dinosaur topiaries (that have seen better days):

It was mid-afternoon by this point and I headed back to my hotel to rest up for the evening's main event - the Baystars-Dragons game at Nagoya Dome.

The Dragons and the Lions are my two favorite Japanese teams so I was really looking forward to seeing the Dragons at home.  The Baystars took an early 1-0 lead but the Dragons tied it up in the bottom of the sixth.  The game went into extra innings - I started to wonder if I might see a 12 inning tie which would give me a chance to share this video on Facebook - but the Baystars pushed a run across in the top of the 11th off Dragons closer Hiroshi Suzuki.  DeNA's closer Yasuaki Yamasaki came in and got his seventh save of the season despite giving up two hits.  Final score was 2-1.  I had another early morning Shinkansen trip scheduled for Thursday so I headed straight back to my hotel after the game and went to bed.