Japanese HOF Project

[Forza_azzurri]

Hi all, I'm pretty new here, but reading through all of this great info.

Just wanted say hello and also to show off a recent addition which I thought was cool;, a 1949 all Japan vs SF Seals card featuring Lefty O'Doul and HOF Tadashi Wakabayashi

FYI, I'm in Japan and can read kanji is anyone needs any help I could try! I'm sure there are others here that can do it to, but I'm just letting you all know

John


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[seanofjapan]

Welcome to the boards, nice to see there is someone else in Japan here now! (I am in Nagoya).

Nice menko too!

[Forza_azzurri]

Originally Posted by seanofjapan

Welcome to the boards, nice to see there is someone else in Japan here now! (I am in Nagoya).



Nice menko too!

Thanks, Sean! I'm up in Tokyo/Saitama area.
And the menko arrived with these others in the same day. It was a good mail day!

John

T206: 340/524

[nat]

Tokichiro Ishii

There are almost no sources on the English web about Ishii. Most of what follows is taken from the Japanese Wikipedia (with little bits drawn from other Japanese sources).

Ishii was born into a relatively wealthy family, at his family’s inn, the O-wash Seaside Hotel. His career in baseball started at his mother’s behest, who got him involved in the game at age five. As an adult, he was tall, almost six feet, and a notable left-handed pitcher. After participating at a “phantom” Koshien tournament that was sponsored by the Ministry of Education (and not counted as an official Koshien tournament), he enrolled at Waseda to study law, starting at age 19.

In one way or another (I don’t know if he was enlisted or drafted), he ended up in the military during the war. He survived, but was taken prisoner, and spent about two years as a POW in Siberia. In 1947 he returned to Waseda, but did not re-join the team immediately, as he was malnourished from his time in the camps.

Waseda’s fortunes had sunk through the 1940s, but Ishii led a revival. Despite having been a star pitcher, Ishii’s prowess with the bat was too much to ignore, and he transitioned to 1B/OF. Across six seasons (it sounds like the played two seasons each year, spring and fall) he hit .342 with three home runs and 58 RBIs. Waseda won the championship four out of these six seasons. He set a record for recording 114 hits in college. (That figure is currently 10th all-time.) Rather than join the professional ranks, however, he got a job at the Daishowa paper company. It seems that he played on their company team, but eventually moved into a management position.

After leaving Daishowa, he managed his old high school team in the Koshien tournament, and ran his family’s hotel. Gradually, he picked up other roles in the baseball world. In 1964 he was appointed as the manager of the Waseda University baseball team, and eventually became the manager of a the Japanese Ama Baseball Team. (No, I don't know what 'Ama' means.) He apparently coached many future professional players in this capacity.

Memories seem to differ as to his management style. Wikipedia says that he had a light touch, and made an impression upon taking up the helm of the Waseda team because he canceled practice due to cold weather. (This is not the sort of thing that happens in Japan.) One of his obituaries, however, noted that he was called “The Demon Brewery” (I’m guessing ‘brewery’ is a mistranslation, but I like the image of a nefarious manager brewing up a cask of demons) for his brutal practices.

Ishii never played professional ball, and is one of very few players to be inducted without any pro experience. One suspects that his various managerial roles helped get him elected.

Hall of fame: Yes | Mikyukai: No

Outside of those for whom no card was ever made, Ishii is probably the hardest hall of famer to acquire. This is his only catalogued card, and I’ve never heard of any uncatalogued cards. His cards are obscure enough that I didn't have him on my original list, but I'm happy to pick him up. This card is from the JRM44 set. It's large – a bit too big to fit in a binder page and by far my largest round menko. Engel gives it an R4 rarity, which means that he estimates that there are fewer than 10 known. Many thanks to Sean for hooking me up with it – he is truly a gentleman and a scholar.