Toshio Kurosawa died at age 33 of typhoid fever in June 1947. Since there are no known prewar baseball cards of professional players, and Kurosawa did not play his college baseball in the Tokyo Big Six University League, there weren't many chances for him to be featured on a card. This card is part of one of only two known sets which contains a Toshio Kurosawa card.

Toshio Kurosawa, a speedy, lefthanded hitting and fielding outfielder, was born in Osaka Prefecture. He played in five different National High School Baseball Tournaments at Koshien, appearing for Osaka Prefectural Yao High School. He then starred as an outfielder for Kansai University, one of the most powerful non-Big Six U. teams of the era. He began his career in Japan Pro Baseball during its inaugural season of 1936. He played for six different franchises through early 1947 (with three years off fighting in World War II), finally hitting his stride with the Yomiuri Giants (1943-1947).

During the 1944 season, Kurosawa stole home an incredible 10 times! In 1946, he was the Giants' cleanup hitter, batting .308 and was selected to play in the East-West All Star Series. Unfortunately, his 1947 season was limited to 16 games before he contracted typhoid fever and passed away. He is one of only a few Yomiuri Giants players to have his uniform number retired by the team (#4). It is likely that if it weren't for the war and his early death, Kurosawa would have been a Hall of Famer.

Blank backed card.

Size: 1 1/2" x 2 1/4"

Condition: Ex/Mt