Ryan always packs some unexpected things into the boxes he sends me and the box I got last week was no exception. While digging through the cards, I discovered these four cards that I'd never seen before:
There was no player information on the card backs, just the team logo:
I didn't know anything about these cards but having a big logo certainly helped to identify the team - the Hinokuni Salamanders of the independent Kyushu Asia League. The team plays in Kumamoto prefecture which is in the central west part of Kyushu, just south of Fukuoka prefecture.
A little research on the team's website (including past versions via the Wayback Machine) allowed me to track down who the players are. "Kaneda" is Kenshiro Kaneda, "Tan" is Shoya Tan, "S. Yamaguchi" is Sho Yamaguchi and "K. Yamamoto" is Koki Yamamoto. Tan is the only one of the four who is still with the team. Yamaguchi played for the team in both 2023 and 2024 but Kaneda and Yamamoto were only with the team in 2024 which means the cards are from 2024.
One interesting note - Sho Yamaguchi is a former member of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. He was their second round pick in the 2017 draft and spent five seasons with the team, although he only got into nine games at the ichi-gun level, all in 2019. He was released by the team after the 2022 season and signed on with the Salamanders which makes sense since he was born and raised in Kumamoto prefecture. He retired as a player after last year and, according to his Wikipedia page, is working "as an employee at a fruit and vegetable wholesaler in Kumamoto".
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| 2022 BBM Carp #C26 |
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