Cards from the JF 76 Nippon Food Sports Gum set are very rarely seen. The majority of cards thought to be in the set have never been found! While only 24 cards from this set have been catalogued to date, players from all six Central League teams have been found. Moreover, each card contains a number in parentheses corresponding to the player’s position (1 to 9). Cards numbered (10) feature managers. Therefore, we assume there are ten cards from each of six teams in the set. Only two examples of the JF 76 Masaaki Koyama card have ever been seen.

Masaaki Koyama was one of the very best pitchers of the 20th century in Japan. He pitched in Japan Pro Baseball for 21 seasons, winning 320 games, third most in history. In 1962, Koyama had 13 shutouts, including five in a row, on his way to a 27-11 record with a 1.66 ERA and the Sawamura (Japan Cy Young) Award. In 1964 he won 30 games. Koyama's 1960 season (year of card issue) was somewhat more pedestrian. However he did win 25 games with a 2.31 ERA.

Apparently, Koyama's fame has spread not only internationally, but throughout the solar system. In 1992, a minor planet was discovered and named 13553 Masaaki Koyama!

Size: 1 1/16" x 2 1/8"

Conditon: The corners, borders, front centering, etc. would be Ex/Mt. However, the card has darkened on the front, and there are numerous dirt specks. Therefore, it is overall Fair to Good.