Friday, April 21, 2023

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six Set - Where Are They Now?


Ten years ago this month BBM released the 2013 edition of their Tokyo Big Six set.  It was their tenth and final set for the league and eleventh (and also final) collegiate set overall.

This was a box set that contained 37 cards - the 36 card base set plus one "special" insert card.  The base set was split evenly between the six schools so each school had six cards - five player cards plus a team card.  The "special" insert cards were either a "Tokyo Big6 Heroes" insert card (one of six possible cards - one for each school) or an autographed version of one of the player cards.  

Of the 30 players in the set, thirteen of them went on to play in NPB.  That's the largest number from any of the ten Tokyo Big Six sets - the previous high was eleven in both the 2009 Spring and Autumn sets.  Only two of those thirteen - Kohei Arihara and Hiromi Oka - had previously appeared in one of the card sets.  Eleven of the players are still active in NPB (now that Arihara has returned from MLB).  Here's the list of future NPB players from the set:

Player College Year Drafted Notes
Arihara, Kohei Waseda 3 2014 Fighters 1st Played for Fighters 2015-2020, Texas Rangers 2021-22, Hawks 2023-present.  2015 Rookie Of The Year.  Lead PL in wins in 2019.  All Star in 2016 & 2019
Hakumura, Akihiro Keio 4 2013 Fighters 6th Played for Fighters 2014-2020.  Drafted as a pitcher, switched to outfield in 2019
Kinoshita, Takuya Hosei 4 2015 Dragons 3rd Played for Toyota after graduation.  Played for Dragons 2016-present.  All Star in 2021-22
Mogi, Eigoro Waseda 2 2015 Eagles 3rd Played for Eagles 2016-present.  All Star in 2019 (also 2017 but he declined to participate)
Nakamura, Shogo Waseda 3 2014 Marines 1st Played for Marines 2015-present.  Won Best 9 in 2021. Golden Glove in 2018 & 2021.  All Star in 2018 & 2021
Nishiura, Naomichi Hosei 4 2013 Swallows 2nd Played for Swallows 2014-present
Ohshiro, Koji Rikkio 2 2015 Buffaloes 3rd Surname spelled "Ooshiro" in set.  Played for Buffaloes 2016-present
Oka, Hiromi Meiji 4 2013 Fighters 3rd Played for Fighters 2014-18, Marines 2018-present.
Saitoh, Shunsuke Rikkio 2 2017 Baystars 4th Played for JX-ENEOS after graduation.  Played for Baystars 2018-21
Sakamoto, Seishiro Meiji 2 2015 Tigers 2nd Played for Tigers 2016-present
Takayama, Shun Meiji 2 2015 Tigers 1st Played for Tigers 2016-present.  2016 Rookie Of The Year.  All Star in 2016
Uehara, Kenta Meiji 2 2015 Fighters 1st Played for Fighters 2016-present
Yokoo, Toshitake Keio 2 2015 Fighters 6th Played for Fighters 2016-2021, Eagles 2021-present

Here's each of their cards from the set as well as a card of them in NPB.  As usual I tried to get the most recent card of theirs that I hadn't already shown when possible.  I'm also showing Hakumura's "Tokyo Big6 Heroes" card since I pulled that from the box I bought.  Ohshiro and Oka also had cards in that insert set but I don't have those.  Hakumura and Oka are shown as pitchers on their Tokyo Big Six cards but outfielders on their NPB cards.  Hakumura was drafted as a pitcher but converted to being an outfielder in 2019.  Oka had been a two way player in college but was drafted as a position player.

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #10

2020 Epoch NPB #149

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #16

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #SP03

2020 BBM Fighters #F65

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #05

2022 Topps NPB #88

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #11

2022 Calbee #050

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #08

2022 BBM 1st Version #203

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #04

2022 BBM Swallows #S43

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #26

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #B43

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #20

2022 BBM Marines #M62

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #28

2021 BBM Baystars #DB12

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #23

2022 Epoch NPB #052

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #22

2022 BBM Tigers #T61

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #21

2022 BBM Fighters #F09

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #15

2022 BBM Eagles #E54

Of the remaining 17 players in the set, had their only appearance on a BBM card in this set - Kazuki Funamoto (Hosei), Makoto Horino (Keio), Yuta Iida (Tokyo), Takushi Kasahara (Tokyo), Takudai Koo (Rikkio), Toshiya Kurozawa (Tokyo), Shori Ohkido (Hosei), Asahi Satoh (Keio), Masatsugu Seki (Tokyo), Wataru Tohjoh (Waseda), Yuho Yabe (Rikkio), Seigo Yada (Keio) and Kentaro Yoshinaga (Waseda).  The other four players appeared in at least one other BBM Tokyo Big Six set - Naoto Hatsuma (Tokyo), Yota Hirahara (Rikkio),  Kanji Kawai (Hosei), Hiroki Nakashima (Meiji), 

I should point out that at least two of the players that I said had their only BBM collegiate card in this set have other cards.  Shori Ohkido of Hosei appears in the Japanese Collegiate team autographed inserts for the 2013 Panini USA baseball set (as does Kanji Kawai of Hosei) and Sashi Satoh of Keio appears in the 2021 JABA corporate league set:

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #03

2013 Panini USA Baseball Japan Collegiate Autographs #9 

2013 BBM Tokyo Big Six #14

2021 JABA Player Cards #079

I don't have a checklist for either the 2021 or 2022 JABA sets so it's possible that some of the other 17 non-professional players from this set appear in them.

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