2022 BBM Roki Sasaki - Perfect Game

In late August BBM published a box set celebrating Roki Sasaki's perfect game from last April.  Entitled descriptively but unimaginably* "Roki Sasaki - Perfect Game", the box contained an 18 card base set along with a bonus card which could be an insert card, an autograph card or a memorabilia card.  I picked up an opened box containing just the base set and it was one of the sets I got in the mail a week or so ago.

*Not that the person who called his blog "Japanese Baseball Cards" should really be criticizing anyone else for using an unimaginative name...

This is kind of a cool little set.  Cards #1-9 feature each inning Sasaki threw in his perfect game.  The fronts of these cards show a photo of Sasaki pitching - presumably in the featured inning - and the backs have a pitch by pitch breakdown of the inning.  Here's the front and backs of the cards for the third and ninth innings:

The backs of the remaining cards in the set all feature various aspects of the game.  Card #10 breaks down the Marines' offense in the game (and has catcher Kou Matsukawa on the front).  Card #11 has the box score of the game.  Card #12 lists the 13 consecutive strikeouts Sasaki registered while #13 highlights all 19 he had in the game.  Card #14 details the 26 consecutive innings (over four games) that he had at least one strikeout while #15 highlights his 17 consecutive perfect innings by listing every perfect game in NPB history along with how the pitcher did in their next outing.  Both of these cards feature photos of Sasaki from his start on April 17th, his next start after the perfect game in which he threw eight perfect innings before being lifted for a reliever.  Card #16 highlights the fact that it had been 28 years since the last perfect game in NPB, the longest gap in league history.  Card #17 commemorates Sasaki and Matsukawa being the youngest battery to have a perfect game by listing the pitcher and catcher for each perfect game in NPB history along with their respective ages.  The front of this card shows both Sasaki and Matuskawa.  Card #18 lists all the "putouts" in the game by Matsukawa which pretty much is all the strikeouts plus one foul popup that he caught - the front of the card shows him catching this ball.  Here's the front and back of a few of these cards:

#11

#11

#12

#12

#14

#14

#17

#17

If you were counting along, you'll have seen that there are 15 cards showing Sasaki, two cards showing Matsukawa and one card showing both of them.  You can see the fronts of all the cards over at Jambalaya.