JF 51 Orion Gum is such a rare issue that of the 21 cards thought to be part of the set, only 15 have been discovered to date. The set has been given the designation R5 in the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide, Vintage Edition 4.0, indicating that five or fewer copies of this card are known to exist. The inscription across the top of this card is "Ace".

Tadashi Sugiura was the ace of the Nankai Hawks pitching staff for several years beginning in 1958. A teammate of Shigeo Nagashima at Rikkio University, Sugiura, unlike Nagashima, spurned the Yomiuri Giants to sign with the Hawks. He was Pacific League ROY in 1958, winning 27 games and fashioning a 2.05 ERA. The following season, Sugiura dazzled Japan with a 38-4 won/loss record and miniscule 1.41 ERA.

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

Condition: Ex/Mt (very high grade for JF 51 cards