Those Nice Nippon Cards From Walmart.....

     Yeesh, this was a while ago by now. But yes, I was in Walmart when I found this nifty pack of 2021 Nippon cards for under eight bucks, so of course, picked it up.

    I don't remember exactly how many cards it came with, but considering my unwillingness to trade them to a friend (ha ha), I bet it was the fourteen I possess now. I was actually not going to make this a post at all, but, well, changed my mind. And now we're here.

    I really like these cards, but of course, have the same beef with the 2021 design. I like that the patterns match each other up when the cards are side-by-side, but the print is too small and the front of the cards are a little bit boring. However, I actually like the look of them better on the Japanese cards.

    We got three pitchers to start things off. And look who's in the middle, it's Kodai Senga! The 'u' in his name on the card threw me off a little, but it's the same pitcher. After an awesome rookie season that saw Senga end second in Rookie of the Year voting and seventh Cy Young voting, he only made one start this season due to injuries. 
    On the right we see 24-year old Kaima Taira, who has a 2.03 ERA as a reliever in seven seasons in Japan (1.94 in the Nippon Professional Baseball League), striking out about 10 batters per nine innings.

This is the back of the Senga card. Obviously, I can't read the words, though the stats aren't very difficult to figure out.

    The first two players on this row are major-leaguers; we see Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who has looked pretty good in the MLB across his 248 games. We also see Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched seven years with the Yankees, acquiring a 78-46 record and a solid 3.74 ERA in that time. He was an all-star in 2019. He is still pitching professionally in Japan at the age of 35, though he will be 36 on November first.

    No major leaguers in this one, though we have Munetaka Murakami, who through seven years in Japan has a .272/.395/.543 slash line with 241 home runs in 934 games. At 24 years of age, the slugging third baseman will be eligible to play in the majors after the 2025 season, and that seems to be his goal. I would look out for him, and will definitely be paying close attention to him.

    Again, no major leaguers, but we have a solid player in Eigoro Mogi, who in 915 games owns a .272/.350/.418 slash line. I also have a rookie card of pitcher Ryuta Heinai, who has a 12-16 record and 4.06 ERA across 197 1/3 innings.

    We end with a couple more players, and a rookie card of Masashi Itoh. Itoh has pitched four seasons in Japan, and has a 37-26 record and 2.73 ERA.  

    Favorite Card: I gotta go with Kodai Senga. He's looked great at the big league level (though injuries devastated him this year), and he has a great picture for the card.

    Least-Favorite Card: Eigoro Mogi's card is a little bit boring. Not much of an action shot out of the utility infielder. 

    A few of these guys are really young and performing well in Japan. I wonder if any of them will get the big league call and join the majors (with either the Dodgers or the Yankees, coincidentally). I don't know all of the rules for foreign players, other than being 25 years of age to come over, and I'm not going to look it up at the moment.

    Looking back at these cards reminds me of when I used to be able to watch Nippon games on my television. Those were the glory days (though we usually only watched a few innings). Maybe I'll see if I can find them on TV again. I'd be interested for sure.

    Speaking of foreign players, rising star Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to start Game 2 of the World Series, behind Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty. I could go into detail about the filthy talent this kid possesses, but that would take a whole other post. And, sadly enough, I don't have any of his cards.

    Hopefully this World Series will be an exciting one. Have a great rest of the week, happy collecting, and, as always, thanks for reading. I'm out.