This is the first time in our more than 35 years of buying, selling and auctioning Japanese baseball cards that we have had the privilege of offering the 1949 JF 35i Asayama Fusen Gum Type 8 card of Kaoru Betto. Japanese Baseball Cards Checklist & Price Guide, Vintage Edition 3.0 by Gary Engel has assigned a scarcity factor of R5 to the JF 35i set, meaning that five or fewer copies of this card are known to exist.
Kaoru Betto, a right handed hitting, bespectacled outfielder is best known to Americans as the player whose visage is seen on the iconic shirt worn by Jeff Bridges in the movie, The Big Lebowski. In 1948, as a rookie, Betto batted .328 with 13 homers. In 1949, he batted .322 with an impressive 39 homers and 126 RBIs.
Blank back card
Size: 1 1/16" x 1 7/16"
Condition: Good/Vg