2016 BBM Tatsunori Hara Set

Tatsunori Hara stepped down as manager of the Giants after the team was knocked out of the 2015 Climax Series.  He had been manager of the team since 2006 although this was actually his second stint at the helm of the team as he had managed them from 2002 to 2003.  BBM issued a "memorial" card set for Hara in the spring of 2016, perhaps not anticipating his return to the Giants dugout for a third time starting this year.  Ryan had picked up a set for me and it was among the cards I got from him when I met up with him in Tokyo.

The set was a box set containing a base set of 35 cards plus one "special" card that could be an autograph or memorabilia card but also various other high end cards.  Ryan just got me the base set as usual.

As single player sets go this isn't a bad little set.  There's a card for each year of Hara's career (1981-95) and cards for his retirement as a player, his coaching stint with the Giants and his years managing the team.  There's also cards highlighting his playing skills - batting, fielding and base running - and a couple cards for his personal life - a card of him with his dog, a card of him golfing and a card of him with his father who was his coach in high school.  The photographs BBM selected for the set are very good and the card design is very minimal so the photos really stand out.  Here's some of the better photos:

#03

#06

#12

#20

#29

#33

#35

I think that my only real complaint about the set is that there doesn't appear to even be a mention of the fact that he was the manager of the Japanese team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

As always you can see all the cards at Jambalaya.