1948 JRM19 Japanese Menko VG+/EX Tadashi "Bozo" Wakabayashi HOF Hawaiian

Description: The JRM19 set consists of 6 1 7/8 inch round menko with blank backs. Please note that I have several of these sets so you won't receive the exact cards pictured but ones in similar condition. Tadashi Wakabayashi Tigers 1936-1949, Orions 1950-1953HOF 1964Henry Tadashi Wakabayashi, nicknamed "Bozo," was born on a Hawaiian pineapple plantation in 1906. He played baseball for McKinley High in Honolulu and in 1929 toured Japan with a Nisei team from Stockton, CA. Impressed with Wakabayashi's pitching, Hosei University recruited him. In 1935, a year after graduating, he signed with the Osaka Tigers. During most of his 16-year professional career, Wakabayashi was one of the top hurlers in Japanese baseball. From 1939 to 1947, he won 20 or more games six times and had six seasons with ERAs under 1.81. His best season came in 1944 when he went 22 and 4, led the league with a 1.56 ERA, and won the MVP Award. Overall, he led the league twice in wins, ERA, complete games and shutouts. Wakabayashi’s lifetime 1.99 ERA is the fourth best in the history of Japanese baseball. He also currently ranks ninth on the all-time list for career shutouts, seventh in complete games, and twelfth in wins. Wakabayashi was known as an outspoken critic of both Japanese society and baseball.Visit My Ebay Store for More Vintage Japanese Baseball Cards Don't Miss my Books on Japanese Baseball An Illustrated Introduction to Japanese Baseball Cards Banzai Babe Ruth: SABR's Best Baseball Book of 2012Wally Yonamine: The Biography of the Jackie Robinson of JapanMashi: The Biography of Masanori Murakami the first Japanese in the Major LeaguesRemembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the GameIssei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American Ballplayers

Price: 4.99 USD

Location: New York, New York

End Time: 2024-11-09T22:41:07.000Z

Shipping Cost: 1 USD