1979 TCMA Japanese Pro Baseball Set

I've had my eye on the 1979 TCMA Japanese Pro Baseball set for years, waiting for a deal too good to pass up to come my way. I'm happy to report that the deal has finally gone down, with the set arriving in the mail earlier this week. 

And let me tell you, after looking at these cards for a couple of days now, I realize just how awesome of an addition this set will be to any collection.

Collectors of minor league and "All-Time Greats" sets are probably familiar with TCMA, which produced these kinds of small sets from 1972 through 1990. The TCMA acronym stands for company founders Tom Collier and Mike Aronstein (in this classic blog post, Night Owl takes a few random stabs at the acronym; Tooling Component Manufacturing Association and Tennessee Country Music Alliance are my favorites). With no chance of releasing cards that featured current Major Leaguers, Tom and Mike had no choice but to be creative with their topics, even releasing a small set of umpires in 1976 and at least one semi-pro baseball set in 1974. 

Getting back to the '79 Japanese Pro Baseball set, this issue was yet another creative way for TCMA to put cards on the market. The set was groundbreaking in the sense that this was the first exposure that most North American collectors had to Japanese baseball; one must remember that back in 1979 the oceans were still deep and wide in those simpler, pre-internet times. Dealers began advertising the set in Sports Collectors Digest in mid to late 1979, with an asking price in the $6 range.

Complete at 90 cards, the set features players and managers from Japan's Central and Pacific Leagues. These standard-sized cards feature large color photos on the fronts, with the subject's position and name found in a light blue half-oval along the bottom. Card backs are printed in red and black, and feature 1978 season and career stat lines. All cards are numbered.

One doesn't need to know much about Japanese baseball to recognize two prominent names found in the set: Sadaharu Oh and Masanori Murakami.  Oh, who is represented before his retirement after the 1980 season, ended his 22 year playing career with 868 home runs, nine Central League MVP Awards and eighteen All-Star appearances. Murakami is known for being the first Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball, seeing action for the San Francisco Giants in 1964 and 1965 (he was immortalized in the collecting hobby thanks to his inclusion in the 1965 Topps baseball set on card number 282). 

A little research on the information superhighway will reveal tons of other Japanese stars within the set who had Hall of Fame careers. Carp third baseman Sachio Kinugasa, Lions catcher Katsuya Nomura and legendary Giants third baseman/manager Shigeo Nagashima are among the best ever to play pro ball in Japan. Hall of Fame Buffaloes pitcher Keishi Suzuki was coming off a career year in 1978 with a 25-10 record, eight shutouts and a 2.02 ERA.

Back when this set was released, only two foreign-born players were allowed to be a part of each organization (the number was upped to three in 1981). These "gaijin" players usually were, and continue to be, players with Major League/Minor League experience. While none of the foreigners in the '79 set are considered hobby superstars, card collectors may be familiar with several names that have appeared in other baseball issues.

Outfielder Leron Lee was an average Major League player from 1969 through 1976, but was an absolute offensive terror in Japan; Over the course of eleven season with the Orions, Lee smacked 283 home runs and maintained a .320 batting average. Outfielder and future Major League manager Charlie Manuel had a career year with the Buffaloes in 1979, winning the Pacific League MVP Award in the process. Outfielder Bobby Jones spent just two years in Japan, with the Chunichi Dragons, before heading to the Texas Rangers organization in 1981. When his playing days ended, Jones would go on to spend 24 seasons as a manager in the Rangers farm system; in November of 2013, he was named a coach for the Texas Rangers. Other former major leaguers with Topps baseball cards include Wayne Garrett, Tony Muser, Leroy Stanton, Bernie Williams (1970s), Vernon Law, Jim Lyttle, Don Blasingame, Dave Hilton, Adrian Garrett, Carlos May, Felix Millan and John Scott (who shares his '77 rookie card with Andre Dawson).

TCMA cards from the 1970s tended to be cut off-centered, just like Topps cards of the day. These Japanese Pro BB cards were printed on soft white cardstock, which gives great color and contrast to the graphics, but they are prone to soft corners and the backs can tone a bit over time if stored improperly. You'll definitely want to eyeball the Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima cards before purchasing, as these are the two key cards in the set. 

The current value for a NRMT set is in the $40 to $70 range. These cards weren't a particularly hot commodity when first released, and are probably appreciated more today than ever before. 

Random Facts: Brothers Leron and Leon Lee played together for the  Lotte Orions from 1978 through 1982. Leon is the father of retired Major Leaguer Derrek Lee, who was a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.

Click here to hunt for 1979 TCMA Japanese sets on eBay

1. Sadaharu Oh, Giants

2. Jinten Haku, Orions

3. Toshizo Sakamoto, Hawks

4. Tony Muser, Lions

5. Makoto Matsubara, Whales

6. Masayuki Nakatsuka, Whales

7. Daisuke Yamashita, Whales

8. Koji Yamamoto, Carp

9. Sachio Kinugasa, Carp

10. Bernie Williams, Braves

11. Bobby Marcano, Braves

12. Koichi Tabuchi, Lions

13. Katsuya Nomura, Lions

14. Jack Maloof, Lions

15. Masahiro Doi, Lions

16. Hiroyuki Yamazaki, Lions

17. Vernon Law, Lions

18. Dave Hilton, Swallows

19. Katsuo Osugi, Swallows

20. Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Swallows

21. John Scott, Swallows

22. Toru Sugiura, Swallows

23. Akihiko Kondo, Swallows

24. Shintaro Mizutani, Swallows

25. Tatsuro Hirooka, Swallows

26. Kojiro Ikegaya, Carp

27. Yutaka Enatsu, Carp

28. Tomehiro Kaneda, Carp

29. Yoshihiko Takahashi, Carp

30. Jitsuo Mizutani, Carp

31. Adrian Garrett, Carp

32. Jim Lyttle, Carp

33. Takeshi Koba, Carp

34. Sam Ewing, Fighters

35. Kazumi Takahashi, Fighters

36. Kazushi Saeki, Fighters

37. Masanori Murakami, Fighters

38. Toshio Kato, Fighters

39. Junichi Kashiwabara, Fighters

40. Masaru Tomita, Fighters

41. Bobby Mitchell, Fighters

42. Mikio Sendoh, Fighters

43. Chris Arnold, Buffaloes

44. Charlie Manuel, Bufflaoes

45. Keishi Suzuki, Buffaloes

46. Toru Ogawa, Buffaloes

47. Shigeru Ishiwata, Buffaloes

48. Kyosuke Sasaki, Buffaloes

49. Iwao Ikebe, Buffaloes

50. Kaoru Betto, Whales

51. Gene Martin, Whales

52. Felix Millan, Whales

53. Mitsuo Motoi, Whales

54. Tomio Tashiro, Whales

55. Shigeo Nagashima, Giants

56. Yoshikazu Takagi, Whales

57. Keiichi Nagasaki, Whales

58. Rick Krueger, Giants

59. John Sipin, Giants

60. Isao Shibata, Giants

61. Isao Harimoto, Giants

62. Shigeru Takada, Giants

63. Michiyo Arito, Giants

64. Hisao Niura, Giants

65. Teruhide Sakurai, Hawks

66. Yoshito Oda, Hawks

67. Leron Lee, Orions

68. Carlos May, Hawks

69. Frank Ortenzio, Hawks

70. Leon Lee, Orions

71. Mitsuru Fujiwara, Hawks

72. Senichi Hoshino, Dragons

73. Tatsuhiko Kimata, Dragons

74. Morimichi Takagi, Dragons

75. Yasunori Oshima, Dragons

76. Yasushi Tao, Dragons

77. Wayne Garrett, Dragons

78. Bob Jones, Dragons

79. Toshio Naka, Dragons

80. Don Blasingame, Tigers

81. Mike Reinbach, Tigers

82. Masashi Takenouchi, Tigers

83. Masayuki Kakefu, Tigers

84. Katsuhiro Nakamura, Tigers

85. Shigeru Kobayashi, Tigers

86. Lee Stanton, Tigers

87. Takenori Emoto, Tigers

88. Sohachi Aniya, Tigers

89. Wally Yonamine, Giants

90. Kazuhiro Yamauchi, Orions