Here we see the All Japan team marching onto the field to face the
San Francisco Seals. HOFer and manager
Kazuto Tsuruoka is leading the parade.
HOFer Shigeru Chiba is right behind him, carrying the team banner. Third in line is the immortal Victor Starffin
who is seen towering over the rest of the Japanese contingent. The manufacturer has stamped the legend "for everyone" on the back of this otherwise blank back card. Most small square sepia bromide team cards contain this notation.
This card is from a set thought to consist of about 2,000
different cards, encompassing the 1948, 1949 and 1950 seasons! Since there is no text on the front or back
of cards in this set, it has never been catalogued in Japanese Baseball
Cards Checklist & Price Guide.
Furthermore, of the estimated 2,000 cards, only about 750 have been
discovered to date. In fact, we have
seen this card only one other time in our nearly 35 years of buying, selling
and auctioning Japanese baseball cards.
The San Francisco Seals played the All Japan team in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka
during the tour. We are unsure of the
specific game for which this march took place.
However, we do know that this is an exceedingly rare image that includes
Starffin and Co. during one of the most significant series of games ever played
in Japan.
Size: 2 3/16” x 2 5/16”
Condition: Ex to Ex/Mt with
a sharp image