Card #1
This isn't a card per-se. It's technically a bunch of stickers. Very unique ones (how many sticker sheets do you see offering both home AND away jersey motifs?!) at that.
This Kyuji Fujikawa sticker is from 2006 and made by Lotte. It was one of those stickers you'd get that came along with a chocolate wafer treat (the kind that kills Portlandians). I bought one and pulled this myself in Japan 13 years ago when I was on summer vacation. Oh how the time flies. This is one of the cards* I've got a lot of attachment to in spite of me not being a Tigers fan or really having any real ties to Fujikawa.
The back is fairly nice and looks like a baseball card. It comes with Fujikawa's stats from the previous year, some nice bits about Fujikawa himself (no blood type though), and the best part is that the rows of "HOME RUN!, HIT!, OUT!" you see on the top and bottom is for playing a game with friends. I'm pretty sure no one actually did, but what a fun little thing to add regardless. Reminds me of Hot-Button baseball. This is a sticker that I truly think went the extra mile to be as fun, collectible and unique for children (and man-children) as it could be given the limitations placed on it as a sticker sheet. I commend Lotte and the people who designed this. This type of extra-credit creativity is extremely refreshing.
Card #2
Joe "Akaoni" Stanka here enjoyed a 17 year career as a pitcher across multiple levels of competition in baseball. In the states Stanka was basically a career minor leaguer who got a brief cup of coffee with the Chicago White Sox in 1959. He signed with the Nankai Hawks before the 1960 season and went on to have a pretty short but good career in Japan. His peak came especially in the 1960-64 seasons where he led the league in starts or complete game shutouts. 1964 especially proved to be a career year for him as he put up 26 wins en route to an MVP award.
In fact this card in particular commemorates how during the 1964 season he won 11 games in a row from June 20th to August 19th. He had 15 complete games that season too. His .788 winning percentage won him MVP honors, and he and the Hawks won the Nippon Series Championship that year against the Hanshin Tigers.
The 6'6 righty was in Japan until 1966 before retiring. The late Joe Stanka passed away last year at the age of 87 but remains one of the most winningest foreigners in the NPB to this day with 100 career NPB wins.
Card #3
If you're a Yomiuri Giants fan then Tatsunori Hara's been a figure in your orbit for almost 40 years. Hara was originally a third baseman/outfielder/first baseman for the Giants and spent his entire 15 year career as a player with the Giants (and ONLY the Giants). Following his playing career he spent some time as a writer and even some time as a baseball analyst. But in the late 90's he started being a coach in the Giants org and by 2002 he was promoted to being their manager.
Manager Hara's had three separate stints as the Giants manager but for the most part he's delivered as he won the Nippon Series in 2002, 2009 and 2013. He's led his team to a total of five Nippon Series appearances and during his 12 year (non-consecutive) stints as the Giants manager his team finished in first place seven times.
Of course it's important to remember that the Giants are the Japanese (George Steinbrenner era) New York Yankees. They're the team with the asshole owner nobody likes who spends every yen in existence on the best players other teams have to offer. Of course their power has been absolutely neutralised now because the best players in Japan tend to either play in Pacific League powerhouses like SoftBank or Nippon Ham, or they come to the states to play in the big leagues.
Still, Hara's in the Japanese Hall of Fame and I'll forever have a soft spot for him as the guy who managed Team Japan in the 2009 WBC, where they won it all!
Also one of my favorite baseball momentos is this Hara handkerchief that was given out for free at a department store (can't remember which) after the Giants won the Nippon Series title in 2009. Yes, they gave this out even in deep blue Chunichi Dragons territory lmao.
The gesture Hara's making there is his siganture clenched fists "グー" pose. Every time a player performs well he greets them at the dugout with a double fist bump.
Awesome. Not crazy about the Giants but can't hate Hara too much lol.
And that was another edition of three cards. Three non-Dragons at that. This is new territory for the 3 Cards series folks!
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
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