This card is described in Japanese
Baseball Cards Checklist & Price Guide, Vintage Edition 3.0 as “Hiroshi
Nakao—Giants players stretching”. The
JBR 120e set has also been assigned a scarcity factor of R5, indicating that
five or fewer copies of this card are known.
In fact, this is only the second example of the card that we have seen
in our 35 years of buying, selling and auctioning Japanese baseball cards. The card was originally issued as a 3rd
prize winner card attached to a product display sheet.
A printed baseball at the
left edge contains Nakao’s surname and the Giants team name. Nakao is the player in the foreground
exercising with another player wearing uniform number 24, who is outfielder
Seiji Sekiguchi. Other players include
#12 Toshiaki Takemiya and #21 Tokuji Kawasaki.
White Japanese text on the card describes the image as “Giants army,
Korakuen Stadium, training”.
Hiroshi Nakao's lifetime statistics
make it clear as to why he is in the Hall of Fame--209 wins, 127 losses, 2.48
ERA. He threw 43 shutouts among 184 complete games and held opposing hitters to
a .216 batting average. Surprisingly, the left hander, despite his otherwise
dazzling statistics, had a penchant for wildness. During his career, he walked
nearly five batters per nine innings pitched--more than he struck out! Thus, he
was the epitome of a wild lefty.
Blank back card
Size: 3 1/2” x 5 3/8”
Condition: Ex