Not a bad way to start the pack! First sticky backed decal is none other than Mr. Homerun himself, Sadaharu Oh! Very fitting that he is #001 in the set as he had a license to kill NPB pitching for 20 years. Here we see Mr. Oh as the manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and looking none too pleased at being in this photo.
Next up is one Toshihiro Noguchi (possibly one of many, who knows?).
Shinya Miyamoto
Tomohiro Nioka
Yasunori Ohshima, manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters. (or in butchered English, courtesy of Google Translate)
George Arias was another American import who had a powerful 5 year run with the Orix BlueWave and Hanshin Tigers, before hanging it up with the Yomiuri Giants.
Tatsuya Ide
And that popular Aussie, Dave Nilsson, who was registered in NPB as "Dingo" (which was presumably easier for the Japanese to say than "Dave Nilsson".
Finally, the "insert" was yet another puzzle piece. This time a chunk of the Seibu Lions championship dog-pile.
This pack also turned up the first double in the form of Shinji Sasaoka.
My Sportlots Store
Trading Card Database
CPBL Official Blog
The Hawks won the Nippon Series in 1999, so Oh leads off the set because he was their manager. Epoch is apparently following the BBM style of numbering their cards by order of team finish - first the league that won the Nippon Series, followed by the other league. So the stickers checklist should go Hawks, Lions, Blue Wave, Marines, Fighters, Buffaloes, Dragons, Giants, Bay Stars, Swallows, Carp, Tigers.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I'm aware that I need to get a life...
Ah, I was wondering about the ordering. That's pretty much how Fleer used to do their sets as well, at least back in the late 80s, early 90s. If you look at the whole set at the same time, they're ordered exactly like that:
ReplyDeletehttp://picasaweb.google.com/daclyde/Epoch