2022 Pacific League NPB set

 The Orix Buffaloes won their second straight PL crown on their way to the championship. They clinched it on the first pennant tie breaker in NPB history, as the Hawks had an identical 76-65-2 record. Masataka Yoshida helped lead them to the championship before requesting to be posted and signing for big money with the Boston Red Sox. The other big departure to the MLB was long-time Hawks ace, Koudai Senga, signing with the NY Mets. But as talent leaves, talent emerges. Roki Sasaki who was poised to blow up after a cup of coffee last season, certainly did just that. You should know about his perfect game by now, but if not here. He can make a claim already as the best pitcher in Japan at just 21 years old. Although, most still give the edge to the 24 year old, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, due to his longer track record and proven ace status. Yamamoto won the PL MVP (again) and the pitching Triple Crown (again). He's as bona fide as it gets. Both will get BIG pay days if/when they get posted to the MLB. 

2022 NPB Central League

While the cards in this post will focus on the Central League, I wanted to briefly discuss the 2022 NPB season as a whole before we get into it. Not unlike the MLB, offense was way down across the board. In April, Roki Sasaki had a 19 strikeout perfect game and then followed it up with another 8 perfect innings (and 14 strike outs) before being pulled due to pitch count. There were 4 other no-hitters, the first time there have been 5 in a season since 1940. The others were by Nao Higashihama of the Hawks, Shota Imanaga of the BayStars, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Buffaloes, and American Cody Ponce of the Fighters. 

The Orix Buffaloes won their first championship since 1996 (back when they were the Orix Blue Waves and Ichiro was leading the team). They defeated the defending champions, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, in four straight games after being down 0-2-1 (yes, there was a tie in Game 2).

Speaking of the Swallows, the player that kicked off my fascination (read: obsession) with the NPB all those years ago, Munetaka Murakami, put up a season for the ages. He broke the Japanese-born single-season home run record set by the legendary Sadaharu Oh (if you don't know him by now, please refer to the super seasons card post). He hit an astounding 56 home runs on the season (The Dragons as a team hit 62). He actually had a chance to get the single season overall record, but after tying Oh, the pressure seemed to get to him and he slumped, going 48 straight at-bats without a home run before hitting number 56 on the final day of the season. For good measure, he won the Triple Crown. It was the first offensive triple crown in the NPB since 2004, first in the Central League since 1986 (Randy Bass)Nobuhiko Matsunaka), and he was the youngest to ever win it at 22 years old. He won Central League MVP unanimously as well. This offseason he singed a 3-year deal with the Swallows, which stipulates that he will be posted to the MLB after the 2025 season. So 3 more years of NPB cards, before we see what the Showdown Bot has for him! 

Quick Note: Generally Pennant Run is for cards that had less than ~250 PAs, and partial seasons for pitchers. 

2022 Set -- New York Mets

 Up next is yet another 101 win NL East team -- the New York Mets! Frontrunners the majority of the year, a cold spell down the final stretch cursed the Mets to tie for the division crown and play in the "wild card" round... resulting in a brutal bouncing at the hands of the Padres! Despite playoff disappointment, the Mets are great in Showdown form, especially with the 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation!

Will DeGrom's 2022 card outdo the classic Dwight Gooden from 1985??

Let's get to the 2022 squad!

2022 Set -- Atlanta Braves

 The National League was extremely top-heavy with THREE teams earning over 100 wins in 2022, including Atlanta, the NL East champion. While none of those teams even advanced to the NLCS, they're all loaded in Showdown -- for Atlanta, even with Acuna performing well below his usual standard due to injury, that means a deep rotation and very, very fun bullpen.

At this point, I'm going to keep sharing fun cards I recently made of old stars...

So I hope you enjoy this powerful, elite defender -- HOF or no for Jones?

Let's get to the team!

2022 Set -- Los Angeles Dodgers

 We're back in the NL for the next team -- the 111 win LA Dodgers, who somehow improved on 2021's 106 campaign... and failed to win the World Series either year. This year, the Dodgers cruised to their incredible win mark due to depth at.... well, basically every position, even sans Max Scherzer. Let's just keep the refrain going -- another year, another "Dodgers would win 120 games and the World Series with me as the manager" post!

Nevertheless, the squad could always have found a space for "robbed of a Cy Young" Grienke

Let's check out the squad!

2022 Set -- New York Yankees

 At one point, it seemed like we were back in 1998: the Yankees had the best record in baseball, the pitching staff was lights out 1-5, the lineup was cruising, and Aaron Judge was the surefire MVP candidate. Unfortunately for the Bronx Bombers (and fortunately for the rest of America), only one of those midseason snapshots was still true by season's end, creating the reason most of you are excited for the Yankees post -- AL MVP Aaron Judge, the new AL home run king! That said, the Yankees still finished with 99 wins and advanced to the ALCS, where they ran into that buzzsaw of an Astros squad.

Just to keep the rivalry rolling with Houston, here's Pettitte's best Yankees card

Let's get to Judge (and crew)!!

2022 Set -- Philadelphia Phillies

 The National League pennant winner was fortunate to the playoffs expanded to allow 6 seeds... and boy oh boy, did they take advantage! Dominating the Cardinals, powering past the NL East champion Braves and then cruising past their fellow wild card Padres in five games, the 9-2 run to the World Series was a sight to behold! The Phillies are led by their big free agent pickups from the last few seasons - Bryce Harper (duh), Zack Wheeler and Kyle Schwarber. Personally, I'm excited to see if they can build on those 87 regular season wins after signing Trea Turner this offseason and, perhaps, snag their first title since 2008!

Philly phans are hoping Turner churns out a card similar to this classic from Jimmy in 2023!

Now let's get to the 2022 squad!

2022 Set -- CHAMPION Houston Astros

 After winning 106 games, Houston entered the playoffs as the #1 seed and the unquestioned favorite in the AL... and they lived up to the hype, cruising to their second title in six seasons. As I mentioned in the classics post, we switched to the 00 style for this set, so please enjoy some Houston studs! 

Another classic Astro that I made recently to enjoy before we get into our first 2022 cards!

2022 Set: New year, old style (Classic Stars)

 Matt and I have been working hard to complete a 2022 Set in the original, 2000-style! I'm happy to report that we've finished it, along with a nice assortment of classic stars that we wanted to make as we were going along... I think Matt may have a special plan in store for these cards, the 2022 set, and the OG 2000 set ;)

Without further ado, let's take a look at some classic stars to re-introduce most players favorite Showdown art style!