Kaoru Betto spent his first two seasons in Japan Pro Baseball (1948 and 1949) with the Osaka Tigers, before moving to the Mainichi Orions for the remainder of his career. Those two seasons with the Tigers were memorable, as the outfielder was named to the league's Best 9 teams both years. As a result of Betto's popularity, various items of Betto memorabilia were produced, along with numerous baseball cards.


One of these collectors pieces is this colorful plate, produced by YMK China. Betto, a right handed batter, is shown at the end of one of his mammoth swings. He is wearing his Osaka Tigers uniform. His facsimile autograph is seen in the right hand portion.  As we see here, the slugger whose memorabilia became famous in the 1998 movie, The Big Lebowski, had been the subject of some pretty impressive memorabilia half a century earlier.


Size: 6 1/8" in diameter


Condition: Ex due to some wear at the facsimile autograph portion.