During the early to mid 1920s, Shunichi Amachi (1903-1976), a catcher, and Yoshio Yuasa (1902-1958), a pitcher, formed a star battery at Meiji U. In 1925, Amachi and Yuasa propelled Meiji to it's first ever Big Six University League championship. After graduating from Meiji U., Amachi became a Big Six U. umpire, donning the mask from 1929 to 1931. This card dates from Amachi's Big Six umpiring era. Amachi also umpired at the National High School Baseball Championships at Koshien during the 1930s. After the war, he went on to be a Japan Pro Baseball manager, leading the Chunichi Dragons to their first Japan Series title in 1954. The Dragons were not to win again until 2007! The text on the back refers to Amachi as a Big Six umpire at the time.

This is the only example of this card that we have seen during our 35 years of buying, selling and auctioning Japanese baseball cards. It certainly has an unusual, diecut design. Moreover, it is most likely a rookie card, in that no card of Amachi is known prior to 1930. The winner of this card will be the only person that we know of who owns a copy.

Size: 2 5/8" x 3"

Condition: Some minor wear and chipping at the edges. Overall Vg-Ex.