Two card/dice games, two countries

Despite having grown up with Stratomatic and APBA baseball, I enjoy playing sports games that are challenging, take a bit of skill, and are dependent upon more than just a lucky roll of the dice. I even remember skipping a couple of classes while at the University of Iowa, in order to work with a friend on a board and dice hockey game using current players. I came up with the play mechanics and he came up with the player stat cards.

While there's a lot of baseball board games out there, again, Stratomatic comes to mind, there are very few actual baseball "card" games, especially those of the collectible kind.

Once I became a collector, there were two different baseball games I remember collecting and actually playing - Sportsclix, from WizKids, and MLB Showdown, from Wizards of the Coast, the same people who created Magic the Gathering. MLB Showdown came out first, from 2000-2005, with a slight overlap of Sportsclix, which came out 2003-05.

At the height of their popularity, a couple of local gaming shops (both since long gone), held leagues for each of these games. While I enjoyed playing Sportsclix, actually becoming a Sportsclix Coach, or WizKids envoy, who could help adjudicate and run games, I enjoyed MLB Showdown much, much more.

This was a card game I could actually get into. MLB Showdown cards were nice, bright and fairly easy to read, with nice game action shots on the front. It was a hoot to play and the gameplay seemed more realistic, especially when strategy cards came into play, plus you didn't have to click your characters after every at bat.

The only downside, is like other Wizards of the Coast games (can you say "Magic the Gathering") they would come out with multiple sets each year, including Pennant Run and Trading Deadline, as well as those must have strategy cards, such as "Go Up Hacking." In the 2001 printing alone, there were 462 cards in the base set (including 75 strategy cards), 175 in Pennant Run (25 strategy), and 50 "promo" cards.

For our 2001 MLB Showdown season, we held a pack draft. Each player bought four packs of the 2001, 1st Edition, and four packs would be opened at a time, the strategy cards were removed, and the player cards were then spread out on the table. Once you got a look at who was available, the draft began.

I believe I had the third or fourth pick, so I immediately went for Randy Johnson (foil) as my number one pick. It was a wise decision, as he became the ace of my staff. If I remember right, I believe I finished fourth in our nine-team league, but for the life of me, I don't remember any of my other player cards, except for Padre reliever Troy Hoffman, who usually got the job done for me.

I really enjoyed the look of these cards, as well as the gameplay. It's really a shame the game fell by the wayside.

Fast forward to 2020, where my collecting interests have since expanded to Japanese baseball cards.

Takara originally produced a 30-player baseball game set for the six-team Central League (from 1978 - 80) but expanded their print run to include each of the 12 teams from the Nippon Baseball League in 1981. Each set included two dice, a playing sheet, a team logo card, as well as a set  of instructions, printed in Japanese, of course.

Recently, I found a 1990 Takara Nippon-Ham Fighters set off E-Bay, with Mat Winters, who played five years with the Fighters, showing through the front slot.

These 2-1/8" x 3 - 3/8," rounded-corner cards are okay, with player shots from the chest up, as modeled by Winters. He's decked out in the  Fighters' red and yellow striped jerseys, which the team wore from 1982-1992. The players' biographical information can also be found on the front of the card.

The back of the cards, meanwhile, feature the gameplay aspects of the set, with pictograms showing what the results of dice rolls are. Yukio Tanaka and Yasunori Oshima, two Japanese Hall of Famers, are also included in this set.

One issue I've found, is since it's printed in Japanese, there are no player names, only their uniform numbers are listed. I've noticed a disparity between Gary Engel's Japanese Baseball Card Checklist  Price Guide (Vers. 2.1), and the Trading Card Database website checklist. For example, Engel lists the #9 card above as Matt Winters, while the TCDB lists him as Brian Dayett. There's also a few other differences with a few of the other players in this team set.

While I trust Engel's guide implicitly, it does get a bit confusing at times.

As for playing the game istself, Dave, over at Japanese Baseball Cards ran a post on game play a few years ago ( http://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com/2008/02/takara.html ). However, I'm pretty sure I won't be playing Takara baseball - I don't think the collector in me will allow it.

I've also since found a 1990 Toyo Carp set as well, and am awaiting delivery from Canada.

Stay safe and healthy out there.

San Diego memories rekindled, thanks to 1998 Metal Universe

Like most card collectors, certain cards, like certain songs, evoke certain memories. One particular card set that evokes those memories (in a good way) is the1998 Metal Universe, a 220-card set from Fleer/Skybox.

What's particularly enjoyable, is that each card front has a different image featuring locations from that team's city, etched in foil. As for the nine-card San Diego Padres set, it doesn't disappoint. Each card features an image I remember, and often visited, from when we lived in San Diego.

I'll begin with the Tony Gwynn (#178) card (I apologize for the bad scans - the etched foil has a tendency to do that).

On the front, is the player's picture and etched city background, along with team name, player name, and a small mug shot. Gwynn's background, which doesn't appear to fit to scale with the player, looks like it's from Coronado Island, with Point Loma in the distance. The backs are fairly nice, with a nice shot of the player from the waist up, and last years, and MLB stats.

Next up are Ken Caminiti (#166)and Kevin Brown (#165). Caminiti's background features San Diego's mountains and hillside (perhaps around Julian) while Brown's image depicts the kelp beds off the California coast. One of those kelp beds is just off Point Loma, and they have a machine that harvests just a little off the top, which then goes on to be used for products such as ice cream and toothpaste.

Steve Finley's (#64) card is an aerial photo of the San Diego Bay and Coronado Bridge, taken from Coronado, with the Hotel Del Coronado in the foreground. Ruben Rivera's (#98) card features The Presidio, which was established in 1769 by Gaspar de Portola, becoming the first permanent European structure built within the State of California.

I have the Derrek Lee (#10) and Will Cunnane (#101) on order from COMC, so I'm not sure when I'll actually get it in hand. The only two remaining cards I'm missing are Joey Hamilton (17) (either farmland or Carlsbad's Flower Fields), and Trevor Hoffman (#197) (LaJolla).

And now, a bonus question, especially for those collectors out there with an interest in Japanese Baseball cards.

I recently bought this round Menko card off E-Bay. According to the seller, he believed it was a 1948 Bonzo Wakabayashi, but he didn't know from what set. 

Henry Tadashi "Bonzo" Wakabayashi, a Hawaiian, pitched Hosei University to two Tokyo Big Six University League Baseball Championships, played 16 seasons with Osaka, Hanshin and Mainichi in Japan, managed, and became the 17th player inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

It measures about 2-1/8 inch across. However, after digging through Engel's Guide, the closest I can find is from the JRM 19 set, but that set doesn't have the "2 of Hearts" in the top left corner. I figured that could possibly be a Tigers uniform he's wearing. Unfortunately, there's no Menko numbers, and it has a blank back.

The JRM 8 set also features red and green stripes (again there's no "2 of hearts,"), but it's the same type of drawing, but there's no listing for Bozo within any of the variations.

Any ideas as to who this is, or what set?

Thanks for the help.

Stay safe and healthy out there.