Four Japan Hall of Fame Members are represented in this lot: Katsuya Nomura was Japan's greatest catcher ever. He it 657 home runs and caught in over 3,000 games between 1954 and 1980. Tatsuro Hirooka, "The Iron Shogun," was a great Yomiuri Giants shortstop who is best known to Americans as the strict Chiba Lotte Marines GM who clashed with Bobby Valentine when he managed the Marines in 1995. Futoshi Nakanishi was the most feared Pacific League slugger during the 1950s. Osamu Mihara, "The Magic Manager," was a Hall of Fame infielder for Waseda U. in the early 1930s, who achieved even greater success as a Japan Pro Baseball manager. Other players are Kiyoshi Toyoda, Yasuo Takiuchi, Shujiro Nanba and Noboru Inoue.
Uncut prize pairs were awarded to purchasers of regular single cards with winner stamps on the back. Therefore, they are not seen nearly as often as the single cards. Coincidentally, in this case, each pair contains one HOFer and one common.
Size: Each card is 1 13/16" x 3". The uncut pair is 3 5/8" x 3".
Condition: Nakanishi/Inoue-Ex/Mt to Nm, Mihara/Toyoda-Nm, Hirooka/Takiuchi-Nm/Mt, Nomura/Nanba-Nm+ corners and gloss, but a very slight surface tear at the top. There is some extra paper on the back from the pair's previous attachment to a prize sheet as is typical of prize pairs.