Identifying Japanese Bromides (Starffin, Kawakami et al)

[Frankish]

Beginning with Page 19, the album is devoted to the players of Japan’s greatest sports rivals, the Tigers and the Giants. And this era of play (the Japanese Baseball League) was one of the rivalry’s most exciting periods. Over the JBL’s history (from 1936-49 with 1945 having no season due to the war), the Giants won 8 championships and the Tigers 5. In only two of the league’s seasons did another team win (Kinki Great Ring in 1946 and the Nankai Hawks in 1948), and in both those years the Giants and Tigers came in second and third. You may have noticed that there were more champions than years…in each of 1937 and 1938 the league had two seasons (Spring and Fall).

The cards on this page (and the next several following) are from the end of the Japanese Baseball League era. After the 1949 season, Japanese professional baseball was reorganized into Nippon Professional Baseball, which was divided into the Central and Pacific leagues.

The three bromides of the top row (as well as the bottom right card) are of the famous Tigers player and manager Tadashi Wakabayashi. Wakabayashi joined the Tigers at the founding of the JBL in 1936 and played for them until the league’s reorganization in 1949 (after that he played three seasons for the Mainichi Orions). He was an ace pitcher with a career W-L record of 237-144 and a lifetime ERA of 1.99.

The cards of the second row are all of another strong Tigers pitcher, Tadayoshi Kajioka. 1947 was his rookie year, and I believe that is the season pictured here. He played all nine of his professional seasons for the Tigers.

I believed the final bromide (bottom left) to be pitcher Takao Misono. The front doesn’t show any text, but the picture closely resembles another I have seen of the player. Misono spent all seventeen of his professional seasons (starting in 1936 and finishing in 1951) with the Tigers.


Wakabayashi - Wakabayashi - Wakabayashi
Kajioka - Kajioka - Kajioka
Misono? - Wakabayashi

[prestigecollectibles]

This is Kazuo Kasahara 笠原和夫

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

This is Kazuo Kasahara 笠原和夫

Ah, yes...thank you! I was able to identify the card on page 17 and then cut and pasted the wrong name. Doh!

[Frankish]

Page 20 displays five cards (top left and all cards of the second and third rows) of Fumio Fujimura …“Mr Tigers.” Fujimura joined the Tigers in 1936 and played with the organization through 1958. While he began as a strong pitcher, he eventually moved the third base and is best remembered for his hitting and competitive demeanor. Over the course of those 23 years, he hit .300 lifetime and retired with a career slugging percentage of .501.

The remaining bromides feature Tigers catcher Takeshi Doigaki, a mainstay of the Tigers (Hanshin and Osaka) lineup from 1940-1949, after which he played for several other teams (Orions, Dragons, Flyers, Braves) through 1957. He was a consistent hitter and, in addition to catcher, also did stretches at 1B, 3B and OF.

I particularly like the graphics of the upper center Doigaki and middle left Fujimura cards and will be on the lookout for more bromides from these sets. It’s also interesting to see the difference between the B&W and colorized versions of the same image used in the middle right and bottom left cards….


Fujimura - Doigaki - Doigaki
Fujimura - Fujimura
Fujimura - Fujimura

[Frankish]

More Tiger players make up the 21st page of the album. Although I am not adept with the kanji characters, top top row appears to be bromides of Zenso Haswegawa from three different sets. Hasegawa was a starting shortstop for the Tigers from 1946-49. Before the war, he played for Nakai and after 1949 he moved around (Clippers, Lions, Dragons, Orions, Unions) until retiring after 1954.

The second row of cards read (to me) as Kaneda, which I take it means Masayasu Kaneda, career Tigers outfielder (1942-1957). The bottom left and right cards also appear to be Kaneda (judging by the picture…I can’t find any text).

The bottom middle card looks like Shosei Go. He was actually a pretty remarkable player. He started his pro career with Tokyo (Giants in 1937) and I believe played outfield. Before the war, he pitched only seven innings with an ERA of 11.57. Yet in 1946 (now on the Tigers) he pitched the first post-war no-hitter in Japanese baseball. He only pitched into 1949 although he kept playing (outfield) until 1957. In all, he won two batting titles, a stolen base title, and had a 15-7 pitching record with a career 3.48 ERA.


Hasegawa - Hasegawa - Hasegawa
Kaneda - Kaneda - Kaneda
Kaneda - Go - Kaneda

[nat]

I'm just shocked at how cool all of these are. This was one incredible find!

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by nat

I'm just shocked at how cool all of these are. This was one incredible find!

Hi Nat, thanks for the comment! I bought it mostly blind but it's turned out to be a pretty cool item.

And as long as at least one person is still reading, I'll keep posting the pages.