Fans Speak / Gary Garland

The Japnese Insider - Japanese data archive, daily game summaries and box scores. Original analysis. Links to the Japanese sites in English.

Japanese Baseball Cards

Mark wrote:

"I have a Darrel Porter autographed baseball he gave me in 1982. Any idea what it may be worth?

Also, I have two team decks of 1991 Japanese teams. The Carp and the Swallow's. There are two American players in the Carp deck but I can't tell who they are because the writing is in Japanese. Know anything about these teams?"

Thanks for your time, Mark.

Gary Garland's Response

Hi Mark:

One of the foreign players on the Carp that season was Rod Allen, who came to Japan in 1989 (career stats in Japan: G 246 HR 45 RBI 133 AVG: .288) after originally coming up with the Mariners in MLB. Allen wore 00 on his uniform.

I'm not sure who the other one is, though it may be Ty Van Burkleo, a former Angel who played mostly with Seibu (1987-1990) and did not appear in an official game with Hiroshima that year, though he did indeed sign with them and wore number 5. I suspect he bombed out in spring training.

And for any questions on Japanese baseball cards in general, I would refer you to Rob Fitts, who has published books on the subject. His website is at: http://www.robsjapanesecards.com

Take care,

Gary Garland

Japanese baseball columnist, Baseball Guru

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