This, like most of my projects, started as a small idea to make a few Super Season cards and then spiraled out of control into me making a full set (with eyes on a second set already...). This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all the best seasons in Japanese baseball history, but rather a mix of legends and some fun Super Seasons. With an emphasis on players that played in both MLB and NPB, and/or players with cards in the original sets. While making the set, I found a nice YouTube video (link) with a list of the 100 best NPB players ever and the best offensive seasons ever (link). I leaned heavily on these both to fill out the set, with each of the 100 players earning at least one card. I used the defensive and WAR stats from this website as well. A truly invaluable (if slightly dubious when it comes to old defensive stats) resource, as when I started I was going off of reputation for the defensive ratings.
For players with a single card, I generally picked their best WAR season, although sometimes I just picked their best overall offensive season. For players with multiple cards, I mostly tried to pick two seasons that were good, but different enough to make two unique cards. For example, Hiromitsu Kadota's two best seasons by OPS were 1981 and 1988, but his slash lines in those years were, .313/.431/.655/1.086 and .311/.429/.633/1.062 respectively, so it wouldn't be that fun to make two almost identical cards. So he has some "worse" seasons for cards because they are more unique. Also, if they had long careers with multiple teams, I tried to represent each.
I went back and forth on the best ways to present these cards...but I think I've settled on the first post being the best 100 players in NPB history (again based on that video) and then the second post will be the rest (Don't worry plenty of fun ones there too).
Quick note on photos and logos. I did my best to match years and uniforms, but with some sparse photography out there for most of these players it is a crapshoot. And sometimes in the case of photos and logos I chose aesthetics over accuracy.
100. Kaoru Betto. Probably most known for being on The Dude's shirt in The Big Lebowski.
99. Jack Bloomfield - US born player with an okay minor league career, before making it big in Japan.
98. Shigeru Takada - Rookie of the Year in 1968. 6 Gold Gloves. Get used to seeing the 1968 Giants. They were loaded.
97. Daryl Spencer - US born player with a decent MLB career. Really found the power stroke in Japan.
95. Michiyo Arito
94. Greg "Boomer" Wells - Triple Crown winner in 1984. Won 2 batting titles after a very short lived MLB career.
92. Tokuji Nagaike - Four 40-homer seasons and 2 MVPs
91. Shosei Go - Had success as both a pitcher and hitter
90. Toshiya Sugiuchi - 2005 MVP
89. Masaaki Ikenaga - Also part of the aforementioned Black Mist Scandal, banned for life.
88. Masataka Yoshida - If you've followed my previous sets at all, you know this name. He's always a 10/11 OB stud. Has 2 batting titles to his name and is still active so will climb this list.
87. Tom O'Malley - Played parts of 9 seasons in the MLB before going to Japan and winning 4 OBP titles and the 1995 MVP. Side note: I wanted the 1992 season for another 11 OB. the 1995 season can be for another set :)
86. Atsuya Furuta - The best defensive catcher of the 90s.
85. Hideo Nomo - I think we're all familiar with Nomo, especially as Showdown fans. His 1990 rookie season is pretty amazing.
84. Warren Cromartie - Had a fairly successful 10 year MLB career (105 OPS+). Won the 1989 MVP in Japan. Nicknamed the "Black Samurai".
83. Isao Shibata
82. Masayasu Kaneda
81. Nobuhiro Matsuda - Another active player. Elite defense throughout his career.
80. Ty Woods - American born, but never made the big leagues despite 10 years in the minors.
79. John Sipin - Very brief MLB career. Was apparently notoriously difficult to work with.
78. Giichiro Shiraki
77. Juzo Sanada
76. Kenji Johjima - Came over to the MLB in 2006 and had a solid rookie and sophomore campaign before falling off and returning to Japan to put up one more good season. 10x NPB All-star, 2003 MVP, 7x gold glover, 6x Best Nine winner.
Alt for fun
75. Tadashi Wakabayashi
74. Ryohei Hasegawa - 30 game winner in 1955.
73. Nobuhiko Matsunaka - Two-time MVP.
72. Haruki Nishikawa - Another active player, On-base/walk machine.
71. Kenjiro Tamiya - 1958 batting title.
70. Choji Murata - Noteworthy for being the first Japanese pitcher to get Tommy John surgery.
69. Shinichi Eto - 3 batting titles. Really took some liberties with the 1965 logo, cause I don't think I nailed the "CD" helmet logo.
68. Keishi Suzuki - 1978 pitching Triple Crown winner.
67. Bobby Rose - Had a brief MLB career. His 1999 season produced 153 RBIs, good for second all-time.
66. Tadashi Sugiura - Won the pitching Triple Crown in 1959. Almost pitched for the White Sox in 1960. Link to Reddit post.
65. Tetsuya Yoneda - 1968 MVP
64. Hiroshi Oshita - 1954 MVP. Allegedly known for his trademark blue bat, but photographs were limited.
63. Yoshio Itoi - Still active in 2022 at age 40. Consistently has put up over .400 OBP seasons.
62. Takashi Toritani
61, Futoshi Nakanishi - 1956 MVP
60. Kazuhiro Wada- A late bloomer who didn't really take off until his 30s. Won the 2010 MVP.
59. Tomoyuki Sugano - Another active player. 2 MVPs (2014 and 2020) to his name. and two-time Sawamura Award winner (2017 and 2018). Yes, apparently he won the MVP, but not the Sawamura award in 2014. Don't ask me.
58. Hiromitsu Kadota - The previously mentioned slugger. Hit 567 career home runs, good for 3rd all-time, and also 2,566 hits for 4th all-time. I personally think he should be much higher on this list, but his lack of defense for most of his career probably drags him down.
57. Tokuji Iida - Nicknamed "The Buddhist" due to his calm demeanor. 1955 MVP.
56. Hideto Asamura - Probably past his prime a bit, but still active and a star in 2022.
55. Tomoaki Kanemoto - 2005 MVP
54. Hiromichi Ishige - 1986 MVP
53. Yoshio Yoshida
52. Kenta Maeda - 2-time Sawamura award winner (2010 and 2015) and the pitching Triple Crown in 2010. Has been mostly pretty solid in the MLB.
51. Alex Cabrera - Played 31 big league games in 2000 (so he didn't earn his OG Showdown card), before heading to Japan and instantly mashing. I'm not sure the card truly demonstrates how large he was...I'm pretty sure he had the same trainer as Barry Bonds...lots of YouTube videos out there of him mashing, but this one is fun. MVP in 2002.
From Wikipedia on his 2002 season: "His 55 home runs tied Japan's single-season record, equaling the mark set by the legendary Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by former big leaguer Tuffy Rhodes in 2001. (In 2013, Wladimir Balentien, playing for the Yakult Swallows, established a new record with 60 home runs.)"
50. Kazuto Tsuruoka - 1951 MVP. Lost his prime years to fighting in WWII.
49. Koichi Tabuchi - 2nd highest HR rate in NPB history. One half of the "Golden Battery" with Yutaka Enatsu (who you will see later) being the other half.
48. Yoshinori Hirose
47. Kazuhiro Kiyohara - Lots of off the field problems post-career, but hit 525 home runs for 5th all-time.
46. Tatsunori Hara - 1983 MVP
45. Toshio Naka - 1967 batting title
44. Koji Akiyama - Nine 30 homer seasons in a row. 10 straight gold gloves.
43. Randy Bass - Played very limited in 6 seasons in the MLB. Was an absolute monster in Japan though, with back-to-back Triple Crowns in 1985 and 1986. Batted .389 in 1986 with 47 homers. Honestly, his Wikipedia is a worth a read as it discusses the "Curse of the Colonel" (Colonel Sanders of KFC fame), his time as an Oklahoma state senator, and it details the insanity around his release from the Tigers (it led to the general manager committing suicide...). Anyway, can't wait to see how the 12 OB card does in a league, even with the loaded pitching.
42. Makoto Kozuru - first player to hit 50 HR in a season in Japan.
Fun alt card.
41. Masayuki Kakefu
40. Michihiro Ogasawara - "The Northern Samurai". 2-time MVP.
39. Kihachi Enomoto - "The Hitting Machine"
38. Kaz Matsui - "Little Godzilla". Didn't quite live up to the hype when coming over to play for the Mets.
37. Fumio Fujimura - His 1950 season is tied for the all-time single season leader in WAR with 12.2 (again, according to my single source). Almost lost his leg in WWII. Was the first player to hit 40 home runs in a season.
36. Kosuke Fukudome - Somehow still active at the age of 45 in 2022. He's played 19 seasons in Japan and 5 mostly solid seasons in the US. 2006 MVP. His 2003 card may be my favorite in the set when combining looks and playability.
35. Hideo Fujimoto - Holds the record for lower career ERA (1.90). From Wikipedia:
"In 1943, he enjoyed one of the greatest seasons ever by a pitcher in Japan, winning the pitching triple crown. He won 34 games for the Kyojin, leading the league in wins, complete games (39), innings (432+2⁄3) and strikeouts (253). He threw a Japanese-record 19 shutouts and set the single-season mark for ERA at 0.73. In May 1943 he also pitched his first no-hitter, defeating Nagoya. Between August and September he threw a record six straight shutouts, going 61+2⁄3 innings without allowing a run, and 100 innings without allowing an earned run."
34. Takehiko Bessho - Two-time MVP winner.
33. Seiya Suzuki - I think we all know of Seiya Suzuki by now.
32. Wally Yonamine - Born in Hawaii, he originally was a running back for the San Francisco 49ers in 1947. 1957 MVP.
31. Shinnosuke Abe - 2012 MVP. Great defense and offense over his long career.
30. Tuffy Rhodes - After some limited playing time over 6 years in the MLB, which resulted most notably in him being the first player ever to hit 3 home runs in their first the at bats of the season (video), Tuffy went over to Japan to find huge success. The all-time foreign born home run leader with 464. And he tied the single season home run mark when he hit 55 home runs in 2001 (as mentioned previously, Wladimir Balentien would break this record). Like most times a foreign player got close to breaking Oh's record, there was an intentional walk controversy, a shame we didn't get to see a lot of guys true home run potential.
29. Yoshiharu Maru - Another name you may be familiar with, he's still going strong in 2022 (he's been with the Giants since 2019). He isn't quite the stud he was back in 2017 and 2018 when he won back-to-back MVPs, but he is still easily one of the best hitters today.
28. Yutaka Fukumoto - The Japanese Rickey Henderson. In fact, Rickey Henderson actually gave and signed the base that he stole to break Fukumoto's record of 1,065 career stolen bases (story and photo here). That base is now in the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame. In 1972 Fukumoto stole 106 bases, and then went on to steal 95 and 94 the next two seasons.
27. Minoru Murayama - His 1959 rookie season he had a 1.19 ERA in 295.1 innings pitched with 54 games pitched and 19 complete games out of 26 games he started. He won the Sawamura Award that season (BUT DIDN'T WIN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR???) and ended up winning 3 total in his career (also in 1965 and 1966). He also won the MVP in 1962.
26. Tetsuharu Kawakami - "The God of Batting", known for his red bat, he won the batting title 5 times, had 2 home run crowns, 3 RBI titles, and had the most hits 6 times. He was the first Japanese player to record 2,000 hits and also was an MVP 3 times. And as a manager, he led the Giants to 9 straight championships from 1961 to 1974.
25. Yu Darvish - We all know Yu Darvish now, as he's has a successful MLB career, but he was utterly dominant in Japan. His last 5 seasons there he had a sub 2 ERA, and four of those five seasons his WHIP was below 1. He won MVP twice and the Sawamura award once.
24. Yutaka Enatsu - The other half of the aforementioned, "Golden Battery" with Koichi Tabuchi. Owns probably one of the coolest baseball achievements ever, when he hit a walk off home run to seal his own no-hitter. He won 2 MVP awards (1979 and 1981), and in 1968 recorded 401 strikeouts (which you could consider the modern "global" record. Also, after beginning his career as a starter, he later shifted to the bullpen and continued to have success and recorded 193 saves. In 1985 at the age of 36, he pitched for the Brewers in spring training. He finished with a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings and was among the team's final cuts before the season.
23. Nori Aoki - Another familiar face, that achieved major success in Japan and had some solid success in the big leagues. He is still active at 40 years old and helped the Swallows win the championship in 2021. He's been a Best 9 winner seven times in his career.
22. Hiromitsu Ochiai - This is another player where his defense hurts his ranking on this list, because from a pure offensive standpoint his numbers are eye watering. He has the 2nd best career OBP in NPB history. He has 2 MVPs (1982 and 1985), and 3 Triple Crowns (1982, 1985, and 1986). His 510 home runs are good for 6th all-time. He was known for being a true individual and doing things, "his way" which ruffled some traditionalist's feathers, but frankly he whatever he did worked. A nice little article here.
21. Masahiro Tanaka - Easily one of the most famous Japanese players thanks to playing for the Yankees, he's had good success even after returning to Japan (still going strong in 2022). In 2013, his last season in Japan before the the big leagues, he went 24-0 in the regular season with a 1.27 ERA. From Wikipedia, "Taking postseason games into account, his 2013 record was 30–1. The lone loss came in Game 6 of the 2013 Japan Series, a 160-pitch complete game, and he avenged that loss as he picked up the save in the decisive Game 7."
20. Victor Starffin - Born in Russia, he was nicknamed "The Blue-eyed Japanese". He had 83 career shut-outs for the NPB record. He was 42-15 with a 1.73 ERA in 1939, starting 41 games, completing 38 of them and pitching 458.1 innings. In 1940 though he went 38-12 with a 0.97 ERA in 436 innings, completing 41 of the 42 games he started. He was actually put in a detention camp during WWII due to intense xenophobia, and died tragically in 1957 during a mysterious car accident. (Side note: I mostly chose his 1949 season, because I could really own find decent photos of him in his Stars uniform)
19. Shogo Akiyama - Another player that had huge success in Japan, went to the MLB and faltered, but is now active again in Japan (he recently signed with the Carp). Truly an offensive and defensive star in Japan, he has 6 gold gloves and 4 Best 9 awards.
18. Shigeru Sugishita - "God of the Forkball". He won the MVP and Sawamura award in 1954.
17. Roberto Petagine - Petagine had some mild success in the MLB in rather limited playing time (he played there before and after Japan). His 7 seasons in Japan were nothing short of sensational with an OPS of 1.051. He won the MVP in 2001 and 3 gold gloves.
16. Masaaki Koyama - From Wikipedia: "He ranks third all-time in the NPB in wins (320), strikeouts (3,159), innings pitched (4,899), and shutouts (74). He won 20 or more games 7 separate times, was selected to eleven All-Star teams, and won the 1962 Eiji Sawamura Award."
15. Shigeru Chiba - "The Bull", possibly the best defensive second baseman in NPB history.
14. Yasumitsu Toyoda - By WAR his 1956 season was one of the best ever with 11.3 wins above replacement.
13. Isao Harimoto - Almost certainly the most interesting (although tragic) life story on this list. He is actually ethnically Kprean, but born in Japan. He suffered burns on his right hand on his child that left 3 of his fingers largely useless and frozen in a curled position (fortunately that allowed him to hold a bat still). This forced him to bat and throw left-handed and to use a custom glove.
Also, somewhat insanely he survived the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. And has been identified as the only survivor of that incident to play professional baseball in Japan. From Wikipedia: "He survived without injuries because the family home was located in the shadow of a mountain and shielded from the blast, but lost a sister who was in the blast zone."
Onto his baseball career, he is the all-time hits leader in Japan with 3,085. His 504 home runs are tied for 7th all-time. He was an 18-time all-star, the MVP in 1962, a 16-time Best 9 award winner, and a 7-time batting champion.
12. Tetsuto Yamada - A part of 2021 Swallows championship team and Japan's Olympic Gold medal team, Yamada is still going strong in 2022, although definitely on the decline. From 2015-2019 he had 4 30-30 seasons (was only caught stealing 17 out of 161 times over that stretch for an 89.4 stolen base %). He put up 11.4 WAR in 2015 for one of the best single seasons ever in Japan. He's basically 2000 BS Terry Shumpert, but for 5 straight seasons.
11. Hayato Sakamoto - Another active player (and gold medalist), Sakamoto has been playing for 16 seasons and still can make the case for best shortstop in Japan. I remade his card from the 2019 set I did to reflect more what I am doing now in terms of card creation. He won the MVP in 2019 as well.
10. Ichiro - Probably a surprise he's only at #10, but safe to say that if he stayed in Japan his whole career he'd be way higher. In his 7 full seasons in Japan he won 3 straight MVPs from 1994-1996, won 7 batting titles, 7 Gold Gloves, was a 7-time All-star, and 7 Best 9 awards. And obviously, we all know what he did in the US. His first full year in Japan (1994) he batted .385 and in his final season before leaving (2000) he batter .387.
9. Katsuya Nomura - An absolute monster from the catcher position, he hit 657 career home runs (second only to Sadaharu Oh). He won 5 MVPs, won the Triple Crown in 1965, led the Pacific League in HRs 9 times, was the Best 9 winner a staggering 19 times.
8. Koji Yamamoto - Fourth on the all-time home run with 536, but Yamamoto was a true 5-tool player. His cards are so fun and some of my favorite in the set that I made two versions each.
Alts
7. Kazuhiro Yamauchi - "Master of Hitting". I think his cards live up to the nickname. Won the MVP in 1960. Again, some of my favorite cards in terms of looks and playability.
Alt
6. Yuki Yanagita - For those in the league we run, they know how much I love Yanagita...3-time Otter and champion ;) ...But his real life accomplishments are impressive as well. 2-time MVP, 4-time Japan series MVP (out of the 6 championships he's won), 6-time Best 9 winner, 6-time Gold Glove winner, Olympic Gold Medalist. The list goes on for awhile longer. He put up 11.7 WAR in 2015 for 5th best all-time.
5. Masaichi Kaneda - Debuted at 16 years old and pitched until he was 35, he got exactly 400 wins (I think by design). He was nicknamed, "The Emperor" due to his dominance on the mound. Good luck against his 1956 card...
4. Kazuhisa Inao - Very casually put up a 1.06 ERA and .86 WHIP as a 19 year old rookie in 1956. He won 42 games in 1961 with a WHIP under 1 in 404 innings.
3. Hideki Matsui - Maybe the second most famous player from Japan, it's "Godzilla". Honestly, I won't bore you too much with his accomplishments since he's obviously one of the GOATs, but his famous porn collection his worth mentioning :)
2. Shigeo Nagashima - Pretty wild that the top 2 players were long time teammates for the Giants. Not surprising how many Japan Series titles the two won together...a whopping 11, including 9 straight. Nagashima won 5 MVPs to Oh's 9. Nagashima was a Best 9 winner all 17 years of his career, I'm sure some were based on name, especially towards the end of his career, but still impressive. In 1963 his WAR was 12.2 (tied for best ever) and in 1961 it was 11.8 (tied for 2nd best).
1. Sadaharu Oh - Probably the player that actually kicked off this whole project. He was one of the few older names I was really familiar with. Just go look at his Baseball-reference page. It's worth some time. But if you are too lazy to look, there's really only one number you need to know, 868. That's the amount of home runs he hit in his 22 seasons.
These are awesome! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Glad you like!
Delete