Unlike Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, and other all time greats of the 1950s and 1960s who had numerous rookie issues, Isao Harimoto was thought to have only four different rookie cards. Now we know there are five!

Apparently JCM 43d contains two Harimoto cards. The previous listings in the various editions of the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Guide merely had a listing for "Harimoto-portrait". But now we see that in addition to the more commonly seen JCM 43d Harimoto, in which he is wearing a home uniform with "Flyers" printed on the jersey, in this portrait, he is wearing his road uniform and thus "Toei" is printed on the jersey! So we add another Isao Harimoto rookie card to the list, and this one is truly rare! The winner of this card will own a very special artifact, and a high grade one at that.

Isao Harimoto is Japan's only member of the 500 home runs and 3,000 hits club. In fact, he is the only player to get 3,000 or more hits during his Japan Pro Baseball career. In 1959, he was named Pacific League Rookie of the Year. A left handed hitting outfielder, Harimoto was named to his league's Best 9 team 16 times and was Pacific League MVP in 1962.

Size: 1 13/16" x 3"

Condition: Ex/Mt+