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:
Very nice post. I was wondering if you had the Yoshida card, LOL.
Regards,
Scott
Thanks!
I've had that Yoshida card since before he was drafted but I'm always happy to get to show it off again.
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