Twenty Years Of First Pitch

At some point during the 2004 season, someone at BBM got the idea that they should include a subset of celebrities throwing out the first pitch at ballgames.  As a result, the 2nd Version set that year including a four card "Ceremonial First Pitch" subset featuring three retired baseball players - Tetsuharu Kawakami, Jim Paciorek and Akira Ohgi - plus a soccer player - Daisuke Ohhata.  It was popular enough that BBM brought it back for 2005.  They doubled the size of it and included non-athletes.  This apparently went over well enough that they've included in every 2nd Version set ever since.  They also included it in the Fusion set when they introduced that set in 2016.  With 2023 being the 20th season that BBM has included "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards, I thought it'd be interesting to do a bit of a deep dive into them.

From that humble four card beginning, the subset has grown steadily every year.  This year there's a total of 61 cards split between 30 in the 2nd Version set and 31 in Fusion.  The total number of "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards from 2004 to 2023 is 455 although some may disagree with my count.  I'm including 13 cards that were only available as inserts in issues of Sports Card Magazine - two with issue #101 in September of 2013, six with issue #113 in September of 2015 and five with issue #120 in November of 2016.  Which means that only 442 of those 455 cards were available in packs.  I'm also including in that count the "Secret Versions" - short printed photo variations - of three cards.  The three cards are 2017 2nd Version #FP-05 (Ami Inamura), 2022 Fusion #FP-44 (Saya Kanagawa) and 2023 Fusion #FP-60 (Haru).  So it could be argued that there are really only 439 cards total.

In 2020 COVID caused the start of the season to be delayed until late June, right around the time 2nd Version went to press.  With almost no games having happened yet (and the games that had having no fans or first pitch ceremonies), BBM instead included a "Ceremonial First Pitch History" subset in the 2nd Version set that featured first pitches from the previous three decades (conveniently tying into BBM's 30th Anniversary celebration that year).  Those 13 cards are also included in the count.  The Fusion set that year had the regular "Ceremonial First Pitch" subset with ceremonies from the 2020 season.

The subset has been called "Ceremonial First Pitch" every year except two.  It was "First Pitch Ceremony" in 2005 and "Ceremony & First Pitch" in 2008.  For the first ten years it was numbered as part of the 2nd Version set but starting in 2014 it was numbered separately.  When Fusion was introduced in 2016, its "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards were numbered in continuation of the subset from the 2nd Version set.  Starting in 2021*, the cards were short-printed.  In recent years, BBM has added serially numbered parallel versions along with autographed cards.

*It's possible they were short printed earlier but I just didn't realize it until 2021

By my count there's been 392 different subjects of the cards over the years.  Twenty three of them have been baseball players.  Besides Kawakami, Ohgi and Paciorek, there's been Masaaki Ikenaga, Masaji Hiramatsu, Masanori Murakami, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Hiromichi Ishige, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, Shigeo Nagashima, Hideki Matsui (twice - 2013 & 2023), Isao Harimoto, Hisashi Yamada, Choji Murata, Hideki Kuriyama and Randy Bass.  This count also includes Ayumi Kataoka from the Ibraki Golden Golds and Minako Uemura, Asaka Tsuru, Mizuki Bandoh, Iori Miuri and Wakana Mori from the Tigers Women's Team.

That leaves a lot of non-baseball people as subjects and BBM has brought in a wide variety of Japanese celebrities to put on these cards.  There are other athletes like soccer players, softball players, wrestlers (both sumo and pro), MMA fighters, golfers (including the 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama), skaters, skiers, snowboarders, curlers and jockeys.  There are Idols galore along with models, actors and actresses (including Minami Hamabe, the lead actress from "Godzilla Minus One"), kabuki actors, comedians, singers, TV announcers and politicians.  The last few years have seen YouTubers and a "social media personality".  Some of the subjects have't been real people but mascots and characters from anime or movies.  Some of the more interesting subjects have been Keiko Masuda, one of the singers from "Pink Lady" (for those of us old enough to remember "Pink Lady And Jeff");  "celebrity ichthyologist" Masayuki Miyazawa aka "Sakana-kun"; and Lin Xiang aka Mizuki, a cheerleader from the Rakuten Monkeys of the CPBL.

With 393 subjects on 455 cards, it's obvious that some have been on more than one card.  The person with the most cards is model/announcer Ami Inamura, who's been on a whopping 14(!) cards, ten more than the next highest person.  Six of those cards were only available in Sports Card Magazine and that total also includes a "Secret Version" but even if you didn't count those cards, she'd still be in the lead with seven cards.  There are three people tied for second with four cards each - singer Maria Makino, model Ruriko Kojima and Sadako, the main antagonist from "The Ring" franchise.  (Sadako is the only one of those three to have a Sports Card Magazine card.)

Here's the list of all the "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards, including both the Sports Card Magazine cards and the "Secret Versions".  I've made note of all the baseball players but I haven't attempted to categorize any of the other people.  I have noted which cards were the "Ceremonial First Pitch History" cards.  (And if it's not obvious, the cards marked "SV" are the "Secret Versions".)

Year	Set	Number	Subject	Note
2004	2nd Version	837	Tetsuharu Kawakami	Baseball Player
2004	2nd Version	838	Jim Paciorek	Baseball Player
2004	2nd Version	839	Akira Ohgi	Baseball Player
2004	2nd Version	840	Daisuke Ohhata
2005	2nd Version	815	Masaaki Ikenaga	Baseball Player
2005	2nd Version	816	Masaji Hiramatsu	Baseball Player
2005	2nd Version	817	Masanori Murakami	Baseball Player
2005	2nd Version	818	Nobuaki Kakuda
2005	2nd Version	819	Nobuhiko Takada
2005	2nd Version	820	Yuko Ogura
2005	2nd Version	821	Tomoka Kurotani
2005	2nd Version	822	Mickey
2006	2nd Version	760	Shizuka Arakawa
2006	2nd Version	761	Tomomi Okazaki
2006	2nd Version	762	Sakura Yokomine
2006	2nd Version	763	Kinichi Hagimoto
2006	2nd Version	764	Razor Ramon HG
2006	2nd Version	765	Daijiro Hashimoto
2006	2nd Version	766	Kazuhiro Sasaki	Baseball Player
2006	2nd Version	767	Ultraman Mebius
2006	2nd Version	768	Hakuho
2006	2nd Version	769	Un Girls
2006	2nd Version	770	Kyokushuzan
2006	2nd Version	771	Mao Miyaji
2006	2nd Version	772	Aki Hoshino
2006	2nd Version	773	Lily Franky
2006	2nd Version	774	Musashi
2007	2nd Version	731	Aya Ueto
2007	2nd Version	732	Asami Mizukawa
2007	2nd Version	733	Kumiko Ikeda
2007	2nd Version	734	Hidehiko Ishiduka
2007	2nd Version	735	Shingo Suetsugu
2007	2nd Version	736	Ayumi
2007	2nd Version	737	Ayumi Kataoka	Baseball Player
2007	2nd Version	738	Akane Osawa
2007	2nd Version	739	Hiromichi Ishige	Baseball Player
2007	2nd Version	740	Akira Hokuto
2008	2nd Version	764	Takajin Yashiki
2008	2nd Version	765	Hinata Eto
2008	2nd Version	766	Yukiko Ueno
2008	2nd Version	767	Hakuho
2008	2nd Version	768	Kotomitsuki
2008	2nd Version	769	Mami Yamasaki
2008	2nd Version	770	Masako Chiba
2008	2nd Version	771	Takashi Ono
2008	2nd Version	772	Hideki Saijo
2008	2nd Version	773	Shinobu Moromizato
2008	2nd Version	774	Miki Saiki
2008	2nd Version	775	Akina Minami
2009	2nd Version	800	Tomoaki Ogura
2009	2nd Version	801	Hideo Higashikokubaru
2009	2nd Version	802	Satoko Miyata
2009	2nd Version	803	Shosuke Tanihara
2009	2nd Version	804	Mari Motohashi
2009	2nd Version	805	Yumi Kobayashi
2009	2nd Version	806	Sachi Jinno
2009	2nd Version	807	Miyuki
2009	2nd Version	808	Hidehiko Masuda
2009	2nd Version	809	Keisuke Okada
2010	2nd Version	802	Yumi Sugimoto
2010	2nd Version	803	Keiichiro Nagashima
2010	2nd Version	804	Maki Tamaru
2010	2nd Version	805	Sayaka Isoyama
2010	2nd Version	806	Nanao
2010	2nd Version	807	Maomi Yuuki
2010	2nd Version	808	Nozomi Ohashi
2010	2nd Version	809	Daisuke Takahashi
2010	2nd Version	810	Haru
2010	2nd Version	811	Kaori Nakamura
2011	2nd Version	719	Kinichi Hagimoto
2011	2nd Version	720	Mika Hazuki
2011	2nd Version	721	Conan Edogawa	Spelled "Konan"
2011	2nd Version	722	Suzuko Mimori
2011	2nd Version	723	Kazuhiro Kiyohara	Baseball Player
2011	2nd Version	724	Hiromichi Sato
2011	2nd Version	725	Yuki Himura
2011	2nd Version	726	Hirotada Ototake
2011	2nd Version	727	Tatsuya Kawagoe
2011	2nd Version	728	Akane Takayanagi
2011	2nd Version	729	Akina Minami
2012	2nd Version	671	Emi Takei
2012	2nd Version	672	Mari Natsuki
2012	2nd Version	673	Tomoe Genzaki
2012	2nd Version	674	Masami Nagasawa
2012	2nd Version	675	Risa Yoshiki
2012	2nd Version	676	Yuji Tanaka
2012	2nd Version	677	Misako Yasuda
2012	2nd Version	678	Shizuka Arakawa
2012	2nd Version	679	Yutaka Take
2012	2nd Version	680	Kanon Miyahara
2012	2nd Version	681	Sadako
2012	2nd Version	682	Akina Minami
2012	2nd Version	683	Kamen Rider Fourze
2012	2nd Version	684	Fuku Suzuki
2012	2nd Version	685	Shinji Kagawa
2013	2nd Version	674	Kotaro Koizumi
2013	2nd Version	675	Kazumasa Osa
2013	2nd Version	676	Louis Kurihara
2013	2nd Version	677	Saya Tajima
2013	2nd Version	678	Rika Adachi
2013	2nd Version	679	Natsumi
2013	2nd Version	680	Ryoko Yonekura
2013	2nd Version	681	Sugichan
2013	2nd Version	682	Osamu Hayashi
2013	2nd Version	683	Kanon Tani
2013	2nd Version	684	Shigeo Nagashima	Baseball Player
2013	2nd Version	685	Hideki Matsui	Baseball Player
2013	2nd Version	686	Seiran Kobayashi
2013	2nd Version	687	Rie Tanaka
2013	2nd Version	688	Mai Asada
2013	2nd Version	689	Hitomi Shimatani
2013	2nd Version SCM	691	Nishikokun
2013	2nd Version SCM	692	Sadako
2014	2nd Version	FP01	Noriaki Kasai
2014	2nd Version	FP02	Kankura Kudoh
2014	2nd Version	FP03	Bob Sapp
2014	2nd Version	FP04	Ruriko Kojima
2014	2nd Version	FP05	Naoya Inoue
2014	2nd Version	FP06	Nobuo Yana
2014	2nd Version	FP07	Moeka Numata
2014	2nd Version	FP08	Eiko Kano
2014	2nd Version	FP09	Tsubasa Masuwaka
2014	2nd Version	FP10	Yuka Harada
2014	2nd Version	FP11	Megumi Kurihara
2014	2nd Version	FP12	Karen Michibata
2014	2nd Version	FP13	Erina Mano
2015	2nd Version	FP01	Megumi Asahina
2015	2nd Version	FP02	Nozomi Sasaki
2015	2nd Version	FP03	Ryoko Yonekura
2015	2nd Version	FP04	Mitsuki Ohishi
2015	2nd Version	FP05	Riho Takada
2015	2nd Version	FP06	Ruriko Kojima
2015	2nd Version	FP07	Saika Fujita
2015	2nd Version	FP08	Daisuke Miyagawa
2015	2nd Version	FP09	Sayaka Yoshimura
2015	2nd Version	FP10	Miho Tanaka
2015	2nd Version	FP11	Ayu Ohmasa
2015	2nd Version	FP12	Shozo Endoh
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP13	Nonoka Ono
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP14	Ayame Goriki
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP15	Mai Oshima
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP16	Ami Inamura
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP17	Rurika Yokoyama
2015	2nd Version SCM	FP18	Tomoka Takeuchi
2016	2nd Version	FP01	Norika Fujiwara
2016	2nd Version	FP02	Momoka Tsukishima
2016	2nd Version	FP03	Tomomi Takano
2016	2nd Version	FP04	Erika Matsumoto
2016	2nd Version	FP05	Ami Inamura
2016	2nd Version	FP06	Nagisa Yuzuki
2016	2nd Version	FP07	Mariko Shinoda
2016	2nd Version	FP08	Hinako Sano
2016	2nd Version	FP09	Sari Kobayashi
2016	2nd Version	FP10	Sachiko Kobayashi
2016	2nd Version	FP11	Shizuka Nakamura
2016	2nd Version	FP12	Sadako
2016	2nd Version	FP13	Kayako/Toshio
2016	Fusion	FP14	Ayame Goriki
2016	Fusion	FP15	Moemi Katayama
2016	Fusion	FP16	Ami Inamura
2016	Fusion	FP17	Sumire
2016	Fusion	FP18	Maki Okazoe
2016	Fusion	FP19	Manami Hashimoto
2016	Fusion	FP20	Isao Harimoto	Baseball Player
2016	Fusion	FP21	Ruriko Kojima
2016	Fusion	FP22	Hisashi Yamada	Baseball Player
2016	Fusion SCM	FP23	Ami Inamura
2016	Fusion SCM	FP24	Ami Inamura
2016	Fusion SCM	FP25	Ami Inamura
2016	Fusion SCM	FP26	Ami Inamura
2016	Fusion SCM	FP27	Ami Inamura
2017	2nd Version	FP01	Anna Ishibashi
2017	2nd Version	FP02	Yuriko Koike
2017	2nd Version	FP03	Nicole Fujita
2017	2nd Version	FP04	Chiaki Taguchi
2017	2nd Version	FP05	Ami Inamura
2017	2nd Version	FP05-SV	Ami Inamura
2017	2nd Version	FP06	Yukiko Kawabe
2017	2nd Version	FP07	Saki Kiyoi
2017	2nd Version	FP08	Chika Yamane
2017	2nd Version	FP09	Haruka Christine
2017	2nd Version	FP10	Ayano Kudo
2017	2nd Version	FP11	Miyu Yoshimoto
2017	2nd Version	FP12	Rena Takeda
2017	2nd Version	FP13	Maria Makino
2017	Fusion	FP14	Tatsuya Nakadai
2017	Fusion	FP15	Ayame Goriki
2017	Fusion	FP16	Tomomi Itano
2017	Fusion	FP17	Ren Ishikawa
2017	Fusion	FP18	Ami Inamura
2017	Fusion	FP19	Airi Eino
2017	Fusion	FP20	Kanako Momota
2017	Fusion	FP21	Kome Watanabe
2017	Fusion	FP22	Aya Hirano
2018	2nd Version	FP01	Nao Kodaira
2018	2nd Version	FP02	Riho Asaka
2018	2nd Version	FP03	Ryuhei Ueshima
2018	2nd Version	FP04	Norie Ichihashi
2018	2nd Version	FP05	Shinobu Sakagami
2018	2nd Version	FP06	Kazumasa Oda
2018	2nd Version	FP07	Haruhi Ryoga
2018	2nd Version	FP08	Miho Takagi
2018	2nd Version	FP09	Rena Hasegawa
2018	2nd Version	FP10	Hideki Matsuyama
2018	2nd Version	FP11	Nana Takagi
2018	2nd Version	FP12	Nanako Fujita
2018	2nd Version	FP13	Wakaba Higuchi
2018	2nd Version	FP14	Yu Serizawa
2018	2nd Version	FP15	Ami Hachiya
2018	2nd Version	FP16	Azusa Uesugi
2018	2nd Version	FP17	Maria Makino
2018	2nd Version	FP18	Shizuka Nakamura
2018	Fusion	FP19	Akari Suda
2018	Fusion	FP20	Nao Matsushita
2018	Fusion	FP21	Rika Izumi
2018	Fusion	FP22	Ami Inamura
2018	Fusion	FP23	Asuka Hanamura
2018	Fusion	FP24	Mayuko Morita
2018	Fusion	FP25	Yumiko Takino
2018	Fusion	FP26	Ao Ueshita
2018	Fusion	FP27	Ruriko Kojima
2018	Fusion	FP28	Misato Tsuboi
2018	Fusion	FP29	Kanako Momota
2018	Fusion	FP30	Shiori Tamai
2018	Fusion	FP31	Reni Takagi
2018	Fusion	FP32	Ayaka Sasaki
2019	2nd Version	FP01	Minami Hamabe
2019	2nd Version	FP02	Ryoyu Kobayashi
2019	2nd Version	FP03	Aya Sameshima
2019	2nd Version	FP04	Jimon Terakado
2019	2nd Version	FP05	Charlotte Kate Fox
2019	2nd Version	FP06	Tomokazu Harimoto
2019	2nd Version	FP07	Aiko Watarai
2019	2nd Version	FP08	Nozomi Suzuki
2019	2nd Version	FP09	Ami Yamazaki
2019	2nd Version	FP10	Kanae Watanabe
2019	2nd Version	FP11	Rika Izumi
2019	2nd Version	FP12	Suzuran Yamauchi
2019	2nd Version	FP13	Sumire Nakamura
2019	2nd Version	FP14	Pee Hayashiya
2019	2nd Version	FP15	Airi Suzuki
2019	2nd Version	FP16	Kazuchika Okada
2019	2nd Version	FP17	Tae Kimura
2019	2nd Version	FP18	Kaori Sakamoto
2019	2nd Version	FP19	Mai Mihara
2019	2nd Version	FP20	Sadako
2019	2nd Version	FP21	Hiroshi Tanahashi
2019	Fusion	FP22	Mima Ito
2019	Fusion	FP23	Mario Kuroba
2019	Fusion	FP24	Sarina Soda
2019	Fusion	FP25	Tomoka Igari
2019	Fusion	FP26	Kazusa Okumasa
2019	Fusion	FP27	Sara Honda
2019	Fusion	FP28	Airi Hatakeyama
2019	Fusion	FP29	Maria Makino
2019	Fusion	FP30	Yuzuki Hidaka
2019	Fusion	FP31	Asuka Kijima
2019	Fusion	FP32	Naoya Inoue
2019	Fusion	FP33	Riho Yoshioka
2019	Fusion	FP34	Ayumu Takeuchi
2019	Fusion	FP35	Shotaro Mamiya
2019	Fusion	FP36	Momoka Tanabe
2019	Fusion	FP37	Aimi Terakawa
2019	Fusion	FP38	Yuki Kaji
2019	Fusion	FP39	Enako
2020	2nd Version	FP01	Naoko Iijima	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP02	Ryoko Hirosue	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP03	Miki Ando	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP04	Saki Aibu	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP05	Saki Fukuda	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP06	Ikumi Hisamatsu	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP07	Chiaki Kuriyama	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP08	Show Aikawa	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP09	Saori Yoshida	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP10	Toshiro Yanagida	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP11	Jurina Matsui	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP12	Koji Kikkawa	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	2nd Version	FP13	Erika Toda	Ceremonial First Pitch History
2020	Fusion	FP14	Nonoa Aoi
2020	Fusion	FP15	Choji Murata	Baseball Player
2020	Fusion	FP16	Shiori Kubo
2020	Fusion	FP17	Riho Takada
2020	Fusion	FP18	Roland
2020	Fusion	FP19	Mika Miyazato
2020	Fusion	FP20	Reika Sekimoto
2020	Fusion	FP21	Thelma Aoyama
2020	Fusion	FP22	Airi Suzuki
2020	Fusion	FP23	Timon D
2020	Fusion	FP24	Nozomi Nishida
2020	Fusion	FP25	Yuna Sano
2020	Fusion	FP26	Sachiko Kobayashi
2021	2nd Version	FP01	Shiori Tamai
2021	2nd Version	FP02	Miyu Ikeda
2021	2nd Version	FP02	Ukon Onoe
2021	2nd Version	FP04	Yukihisa Tamura
2021	2nd Version	FP05	Minako Uemura	Baseball Player
2021	2nd Version	FP06	Asaka Tsuru	Baseball Player
2021	2nd Version	FP07	Mizuki Bandoh	Baseball Player
2021	2nd Version	FP08	Conan Edogawa
2021	2nd Version	FP09	Tosa Brothers
2021	2nd Version	FP10	Yuumi Nagashima
2021	2nd Version	FP11	Mirei Suganami
2021	2nd Version	FP12	Fuku Suzuki
2021	2nd Version	FP13	Rikako Yagi
2021	2nd Version	FP14	Tokusan
2021	2nd Version	FP15	Ami Inamura
2021	2nd Version	FP16	Haruka Momokawa
2021	2nd Version	FP17	Shiori Kubo
2021	2nd Version	FP18	Maria Makino
2021	Fusion	FP19	Yui Narumi
2021	Fusion	FP20	Meicyun
2021	Fusion	FP21	Miyuki Imori
2021	Fusion	FP22	Erina Kamiya
2021	Fusion	FP23	Hinano Sakura
2021	Fusion	FP24	Miwa Asao
2021	Fusion	FP25	Yuriyan Retriever
2021	Fusion	FP26	Hifumi Abe
2021	Fusion	FP27	Hakata Hanamaru
2021	Fusion	FP28	Kaho Minagawa
2021	Fusion	FP29	Misaki Emura
2021	Fusion	FP30	Jurino Matsui
2021	Fusion	FP31	Gachapin
2021	Fusion	FP32	Asuka Terada
2021	Fusion	FP33	Airi Suzuki
2021	Fusion	FP34	Ririka Hironaka
2021	Fusion	FP35	Mokuo
2021	Fusion	FP36	Momiji Nishiya
2021	Fusion	FP37	Cowcow
2021	Fusion	FP38	Miu Goto
2021	Fusion	FP39	Moe Sasagawa
2021	Fusion	FP40	Dachou Club
2021	Fusion	FP41	Misaki Jimbu
2021	Fusion	FP42	Rikoko Ikee
2021	Fusion	FP43	Daiki Hashimoto
2021	Fusion	FP44	Masato Yoshihara
2021	Fusion	FP45	Makoto Tachibana
2021	Fusion	FP46	Aaron Wolf
2021	Fusion	FP47	Ichika Osaki
2022	2nd Version	FP01	Sena Tomita
2022	2nd Version	FP02	Seika Inoue
2022	2nd Version	FP03	Yuuki Tokunaga
2022	2nd Version	FP04	Mana Okamura
2022	2nd Version	FP05	Seiya Ishikawa
2022	2nd Version	FP06	Ryuichi Hamaie
2022	2nd Version	FP07	Akito Watabe
2022	2nd Version	FP08	Fuminori Ogawa
2022	2nd Version	FP09	Ryoyu Kobayashi
2022	2nd Version	FP10	Iori Miura	Baseball Player
2022	2nd Version	FP11	Miu Hirano
2022	2nd Version	FP12	Miho Takagi
2022	2nd Version	FP13	Manatsu Akimoto
2022	2nd Version	FP14	Ayano Kudo
2022	2nd Version	FP15	Manami Toyota
2022	2nd Version	FP16	Honoka
2022	2nd Version	FP17	Masanori Hasegawa
2022	2nd Version	FP18	Marin Honda
2022	2nd Version	FP19	Masaharu Miyake
2022	2nd Version	FP20	Kokomo Murase
2022	2nd Version	FP21	Nagisa Aoyama
2022	2nd Version	FP22	Naomi Payton
2022	2nd Version	FP23	Anju Inami
2022	2nd Version	FP24	Rikako Aida
2022	2nd Version	FP25	Yua Shinkawa
2022	2nd Version	FP26	Hiroe Igeta
2022	Fusion	FP27	Sayuri Date
2022	Fusion	FP28	Nako Misaki
2022	Fusion	FP29	Anna Yamada
2022	Fusion	FP30	Yui Okada
2022	Fusion	FP31	Yuuka Suzuki
2022	Fusion	FP32	Misato Ugaki
2022	Fusion	FP33	Shu Uchida
2022	Fusion	FP34	Naenano
2022	Fusion	FP35	Wakaba Higuchi
2022	Fusion	FP36	Fumiya Takahashi
2022	Fusion	FP37	Ourin
2022	Fusion	FP38	Daigo
2022	Fusion	FP39	Keiko Masuda
2022	Fusion	FP40	Mayu Sagara
2022	Fusion	FP41	Akana Ikeda
2022	Fusion	FP42	Saria Seira
2022	Fusion	FP43	Mario Kuroba
2022	Fusion	FP44	Saya Kanagawa
2022	Fusion	FP44-SV	Saya Kanagawa
2022	Fusion	FP45	Miyabi Kondou
2022	Fusion	FP46	Tomokazu Miura
2022	Fusion	FP47	Sei Matobu
2022	Fusion	FP48	Sakana-kun
2022	Fusion	FP49	Rei Matsuzaki
2022	Fusion	FP50	Hiroiki Ariyoshi
2022	Fusion	FP51	Hohomi Nasu
2022	Fusion	FP52	Maiko Kano
2022	Fusion	FP53	Matsuya Onoe
2022	Fusion	FP54	Chihiro Kawakami
2022	Fusion	FP55	Sora Tokui
2023	2nd Version	FP01	Hideki Kuriyama	Baseball Player
2023	2nd Version	FP02	Haruka Kaki
2023	2nd Version	FP03	Randy Bass	Baseball Player
2023	2nd Version	FP04	Rika Adachi
2023	2nd Version	FP05	Toshimitsu
2023	2nd Version	FP06	Akiyoshi Nakao
2023	2nd Version	FP07	Wakana Mori	Baseball Player
2023	2nd Version	FP08	Pekopa
2023	2nd Version	FP09	Karen Hara
2023	2nd Version	FP10	Katsuhiro Higa
2023	2nd Version	FP11	Keisuke Okada
2023	2nd Version	FP12	Hideo Tokoro
2023	2nd Version	FP13	Ryota Osaka
2023	2nd Version	FP14	Yuna Taira
2023	2nd Version	FP15	Machico
2023	2nd Version	FP16	Yuki Ono
2023	2nd Version	FP17	Kaori Sakamoto
2023	2nd Version	FP18	Shiori Kubo
2023	2nd Version	FP19	Nanase Aikawa
2023	2nd Version	FP20	Kumiko Kaneda
2023	2nd Version	FP21	Ayano Kudo
2023	2nd Version	FP22	Marina Kawano
2023	2nd Version	FP23	Hideki Matsui	Baseball Player
2023	2nd Version	FP24	Yoki Tanaka
2023	2nd Version	FP25	Honoka
2023	2nd Version	FP26	Junpei Mizobata
2023	2nd Version	FP27	Minami Sakuma
2023	2nd Version	FP28	Koyakky's Studio
2023	2nd Version	FP29	Akane Sakanoue
2023	2nd Version	FP30	Risa Yukihira
2023	Fusion	FP31	Saki Fujita
2023	Fusion	FP32	Yuuko Ogura
2023	Fusion	FP33	Midori Oka
2023	Fusion	FP34	Airi Tanaka
2023	Fusion	FP35	Ichikawa Danjuro XIII Hakuen
2023	Fusion	FP36	Anna Yamada
2023	Fusion	FP37	Yuuka Kikuchi
2023	Fusion	FP38	Sae Takemoto
2023	Fusion	FP39	Shiori Nagata
2023	Fusion	FP40	Momo Sakurai
2023	Fusion	FP41	Moeko Kanizawa
2023	Fusion	FP42	Megumu Nakazato
2023	Fusion	FP43	Ayae Hakamada
2023	Fusion	FP44	Sarina Soda
2023	Fusion	FP45	Chihiro Kawakami
2023	Fusion	FP46	Risa Yukihira
2023	Fusion	FP47	Ano
2023	Fusion	FP48	Ami Inamura
2023	Fusion	FP49	U-JIKOJI
2023	Fusion	FP50	Nabuaki Kakuda
2023	Fusion	FP51	Nicole Fujita
2023	Fusion	FP52	Hazuki Mukai
2023	Fusion	FP53	Yuzuki Hidaka
2023	Fusion	FP54	Masashi Sada
2023	Fusion	FP55	Yuri Komogata
2023	Fusion	FP56	Harami-chan
2023	Fusion	FP57	Wakana Matsumoto
2023	Fusion	FP58	Lin Xiang
2023	Fusion	FP59	Hiyuka Sakagawa
2023	Fusion	FP60	Haru
2023	Fusion	FP60-SV	Haru

Here's a card from each year (with two from 2020 to show one of the "Ceremonial First Pitch History" cards).  I tried to pick a wide variety of folks although baseball players probably ended up being over-represented:

2004 BBM 2nd Version #837

2005 BBM 2nd Version #821

2006 BBM 2nd Version #770

2007 BBM 2nd Version #737

2008 BBM 2nd Version #766

2009 BBM 2nd Version #804

2010 BBM 2nd Version #811

2011 BBM 2nd Version #721

2012 BBM 2nd Version #681

2013 BBM 2nd Version #684

2014 BBM 2nd Version #FP03

2015 BBM 2nd Version #FP06

2016 BBM Fusion #FP20

2017 BBM 2nd Version #FP07

2018 BBM Fusion #FP22

2019 BBM Fusion #FP29

2020 BBM 2nd Version #FP10

2020 BBM Fusion #FP26

2021 BBM 2nd Version #FP03

2022 BBM 2nd Version #FP10

2023 BBM 2nd Version #FP23

I think opinions on the "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards are divided.  They're obviously very popular, otherwise BBM wouldn't be expanding the subset every year.  But I also know a couple collectors who really don't like them very much.  I thought I was in that group but after I skipped getting them with my 2021 Fusion set, I found that I actually missed them.  This led me to recently decide to go back and pick them up after all.  

Love them or hate them, they're a unique aspect of BBM sets that no one else has really been able to pull off.  Topps did similar inserts between 2015 and 2017 and Epoch added a couple cards of Ami Inamura to their Japan Women's Baseball League sets in 2016 and 2018 but no one has done it as long as BBM has.

Mail Day!

I wanted to do a quick post about a couple cards I got in the mail yesterday.  First up is another custom card from Gio of "When Topps Had Balls" showing Isao Harimoto using the 1979 Topps design which will go well with the 1971 Nagashima and 1977 Oh cards I got from him last summer:

Gio also sent me a preview of what his next NPB custom will be but swore me to secrecy.  I'll just say that it's awesome and I can't wait until he prints it up.

The other card I got was a little outside of my usual space - it's the Topps Now card of Shohei Ohtani receiving word about his AL MVP award while sitting on his couch with his dog.  I don't have many MLB cards anymore but I couldn't resist getting this when I saw it (and apparently neither could 37,584 other people).  

Card Of The Week December 10

After the 1980 season, Gary Thomasson of the Dodgers signed a three year, $1.2 million contract with the Yomiuri Giants, making him the highest paid player in NPB history.  There was a lot of pressure on him and not just because of the size of the contract - he was expected to replace Sadaharu Oh who had just retired.

Thomasson hit .261 with 20 home runs and 50 RBIs in 1981.  He was second on the team in home runs and fourth in RBIs.  The Giants ended up winning the Nippon Series that year, making him and teammate Roy White the third and fourth players to win both a World Series and Nippon Series championships (both had been teammates on the 1978 Yankees).  But Thomasson also struck out a near record 132 times - only his benching late in the season prevented him from breaking Lee Stanton's then-record of 136, earning him an unflattering nickname that I've seen reported as "Electric Fan", "Giant Human Fan" and "Import Fan".

1981 didn't go any better for him.  He hit .187 in 47 games, didn't get along at all with manager Motoshi Fujita and had shoulder and knee injuries that ultimately ended his career.

His two year stint with Yomiuri made his name in the art world, however, although I'm sure it's an honor he could have done with out.  Japanese artist Genpei Akasegawa had been noticing an interesting phenomenon in architecture when some feature had been rendered obsolete by a change in the building but the feature was still being maintained.  For example, Akasegawa first noticed this with a staircase on a building that used to lead to a doorway but the doorway no longer existed.  The stairway railing had recently been repaired however.  

While Akasegawa had first taken note of such objects in 1972, it wasn't until 1982 that he had a name for them.  Inspired by Gary Thomasson's performance with the Yomiuri He (and his students at the Bigakkō art school) came up with the name "Hyperart Thomasson" to describe "a useless relic or structure that has been preserved as part of a building or the built environment, which has become a piece of art in itself".  Akasegawa published a book of Thomassons in 1985 which was translated to English in 2009:

Here's a card of Thomasson from the 1981 Calbee set (#312):

Zippy Zapped Yet Again!

I got home from work yesterday to discover a surprise package waiting for me from the "Kyle Freeland Fan Club" which I pretty quickly realized was Kenny (aka Zippy Zappy).  This isn't the first time I've been the beneficiary of Kenny's generosity and I'm always thankful for whatever he sees fit to send my way.

The bulk of the package was around 200 or so Japanese baseball cards.  Kenny just recently returned from a month-long trip to Japan and a friend of his there gave him a bunch of cool cards that he mostly passed on to me.

Now, I have a lot of Japanese baseball cards.  So it was really impressive that Kenny managed to give me 200-ish cards that I mostly didn't already have.  I'm not going to show all the cards here but I thought I'd hit some of the highlights.

First off, he gave me two complete sets.  First up is the 81 card 2017 BBM Dragons team set:

2017 BBM Dragons #01

The other complete set was this 27 card 2015 Dragons Autographed Edition (which Jambalaya has labeled something that translates as "Dragon of Counterattack"):

2015 BBM Dragons Autographed Edition #01

There were a couple serially numbered parallels from recent BBM flagship sets:

2022 BBM 2nd Version #458

2023 BBM 1st Version #323

Inserts from some recent BBM Dragons team sets - the two "Dragonheart" ones are serially numbered parallels:

2018 BBM Dragons "Raise High" #RH9

2021 BBM Dragons "Dragonheart" #DH8

2021 BBM Dragons "Dragonheart" #DH9

Some inserts from other BBM sets:

2016 BBM Masterpiece "Superstar" #SS08

2016 BBM Fusion "Great Record" #GR22

2018 BBM Rookie Edition "Rookie Of The Year" #RY2

2023 BBM Rookie Edition "Close Relationship" #CL6

The "Close Relationship" of those four players is they all attended Asia University.

Some BBM Genesis cards - the Shuhei Takahashi card is a serially numbered parallel:

2021 BBM Genesis #077

2022 BBM Genesis #039

2022 BBM Genesis #045

Kenny sent me a couple serially numbered parallels of insert cards from the 2021 BBM Dragons History set:

2021 BBM Dragons History "Dream Team" #DT03

2021 BBM Dragons History "Dream Team" #DT09

2021 BBM Dragons History "Team Records" #TR6

A bunch of parallels.  Three of these were from card shows in Higashi Betsuin which I think is an area in Nagoya.  My bet is that the shows were held at Higashi-Betsuin Kaikan Hall.  The Noguchi promo is interesting as the actual "Prime Time Player" cards from the 2002 1st Version set were lenticular.  The 2011 Rookie Edition images are from a two sided card with Ohno on one side and Yamashita on the other.

2002 BBM 1st Version "Prime Time Player" Promo

2004 BBM Dragons Promo

2006 BBM Dragons Card Show Promo

2010 BBM Dragons Card Show Promo

2011 BBM Rookie Edition Card Show Promo

2011 BBM Rookie Edition Card Show Promo

2018 BBM 2nd Version Book Store Promo #BS11

Not all of the cards were from BBM.  Here's a couple 2022 Epoch NPB Luxury Collection cards:

2022 Epoch NPB Luxury Collection #040

2022 Epoch NPB Luxury Collection #039

A couple of cards from Epoch's various Dragons sets over recent years:

2017 Epoch Dragons #PS-02 (Printed Signature Parallel)

2018 Epoch Dragons Rookies & Stars #65

2022 Epoch Dragons Premier Edition "Metal Power" #MP-13

2022 Epoch Dragons Premier Edition "Metal Power" #MP-06

The two "Metal Power" inserts are serially numbered.

The last batch of cards I'm going to show are all from Topps.  Here's a 2021 Topps Chrome card:

2021 Topps NPB Chrome #43

Some Bowman's from last year.  The first two are Chrome while the others are serially numbered purple parallels:

2022 Bowman NPB Chrome #BP-5

2022 Bowman NPB Chrome #66

2022 Bowman NPB #92

2022 Bowman NPB #21

During his trip, Kenny picked up a pack of 2023 Bowman NPB and opened it.  He ended up sending all nine cards from the pack to me.  Here's four of them:

2023 Bowman NPB #25

2023 Bowman NPB #94

2023 Bowman NPB Chrome #95

2023 Bowman NPB #BP-39

The most interesting thing in the package wasn't the cards though.  It was this:

This is a Shikishi or "Autograph Board" featuring the signature of Masataka Iryo of the Dragons.  (H/T to the note Kenny put on it!)  It's quite large - about 11 inches high and 9 1/2 inches wide - so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  I might frame it along with a card of Iryo.  But that's a good problem to have.

So thanks, Kenny, for sending me all this.  I know you said you don't want anything in return but I'll have to figure out some way to repay you.

Card Of The Week December 3

Last week there was a late addition to the list of NPB players playing in the Australian Baseball League this winter.  Eagles pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa joined the Perth Heat in time to play in their games against the Cavalry in Canberra.  It was a wet weekend in Australia's capital with their game on Thursday night getting rained out completely and Friday night's game was suspended after two innings due to rain.  When play resumed on Saturday, Hayakawa took the mound for the Heat with the score 3-2 in favor of Perth in the third inning.  As this was the first time Hayakawa had pitched in almost two months, he was a little rusty and the Calvary scored four runs on four hits and a Perth error.  He settled down after that inning though and pitched the remainder of the game while only giving up one more run.  His numbers for the game (which was shortened to only eight innings) was ten strikeouts, no walks, seven hits and five runs (but only two earned) over six innings of work.  He also ended up with the win as the Heat rallied to win the game 9-7.

I thought I'd celebrate his ABL debut by sharing the Epoch One card for his NPB debut from 2021:

2021 Epoch One #037